In today’s competitive landscape, impeccable customer experience is the cornerstone of success for every eCommerce business.
But how much do you know about what goes on behind the scenes of your website to really ensure your customers are having the best possible experience?
On the latest episode of The eCommerce Toolbox: Expert Perspectives podcast, our host and co-founder Kailin Noivo sits down with Jared Poole, Solutions Delivery Manager at Bass Pro Shops, to discuss the role DevOps plays in the customer journey.
From leveraging automation to why we need to take a step back from analytics to keep shopping relevant, Jared provides a one-stop shop for everything you need to be aware of in the space.
DevOps and Customer Experience: What’s the Connection?
What do you think about when considering customer experience and user journeys?
Is it the surface level transitions from A to B?
Or do you think about what’s going on in the background; what the DevOps team is up to?
We’re going to take a guess, and assume your answer is no, you don’t think about DevOps. Not a lot of people do.
As Jared explains, the DevOps team are the cogs turning in the background; making sure your site is available for customers 99.9999% of the time (feel free to add more nines to that number!).
They are a vital part of your entire team, keeping your users happy and conversion rates high.
After all, if a customer gets to checkout and there’s an error, how likely are they really to come back and checkout?
The Power of Shifting Left as Decoded by Jared Poole
So how do DevOps teams avoid issues cropping up when customers are using your site?
Well, it all comes down to one of their first lessons: shifting left.
Now, what is this?
It’s all about finding issues as early as possible in the testing process to avoid bugs and instability at the production level.
Today, automation is being heavily leveraged for this, removing as much of the human element from the equation as possible.
Why is this necessary? Because the majority of errors come from human interference. Removing that aspect from the equation eliminates any issues caused by it.
AI: The eCommerce Trend of the Year
AI has taken the world by storm in recent years, so it is no surprise that it is one of the hottest eCommerce trends today.
Leaders are currently looking at ways they can plug AI into all aspects of their business. This is great, because it means that everyone is looking at data differently, businesses are becoming more intelligent and quick in order to make changes that are good for customers.
However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. More money is being poured into data analysis, leading to post hoc fallacies where we start believing that correlations are causations.
It’s Time to Take a Step Back from Analytics
Jared’s biggest advice to any eCommerce brand? Stop being so absorbed in analytics.
As above, focussing too hard on analytics can lead to incorrect conclusions or even over-personalization of user journeys.
Customers have their own perception of noise, and if they receive daily “don’t miss out on this product emails”, they will switch off.
Getting stuck in cycles of thinking about the next things to offer your customers lets your own opinions bleed into the objective data you have collected. In essence, personalization becomes depersonalization.
We all need to take a step back from the data and keep shopping relevant.
Listen to the Full Episode Below!
Tune in to this episode of The eCommerce Toolbox: Expert Perspectives with Jared Poole to find out more about the world of DevOps in eCommerce.
👉 Apple: https://bit.ly/3sXriyd
👉 Spotify: https://bit.ly/3RAJTdw
Jared Poole is a self-proclaimed tinkerer who can’t just do stock; he has to know how things work, how to fix them, how to build intricate halloween displays, you name it. He is currently Solutions Delivery Manager for Bass Pro Shops, North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Prior to this, he was a Solutions Engineer at Noibu, where he helped partners learn how to easily measure and prioritize their tech debt and solve bugs quickly using the Noibu platform.
