Operational Excellence
Objective:
Achieve operational excellence by monitoring and optimizing key operational metrics: Tender types, PLCC rewards, shipping and cancellations, returns and exchanges, order processing time, order approval rates, chargebacks, return reasons, product onboarding, and customer feedback.
Role: Product Owner
Responsibilities:
Defined and tracked key operational metrics to identify areas for improvement to be reviewed on weekly basis.
Implemented process improvements across various operational areas.
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and visibility.
Analyzed customer feedback to drive continuous improvement.
Challenges:
Ensuring consistency in data tracking and reporting across different operational areas.
Reducing operational inefficiencies without disrupting day-to-day activities.
Aligning with various departments, including IT, operations, customer service, and fulfillment teams to drive improvements.
Actions:
Tender Types and PLCC Rewards:
Analyzed data on different tender types and usage of Private Label Credit Card (PLCC) rewards.
Introduced targeted promotions and incentives to increase PLCC usage.
Identified fault in PLCC pre-approved sign-up acquisitions
Shipping and Cancellations:
Reviewed shipping processes and identified bottlenecks. Worked with distribution center to shorten fulfillment times.
Enhanced communication with customers regarding shipping status to reduce cancellations. (Wonderment post-purchase platform)
Returns and Exchanges:
Conducted a root cause analysis of high return rates and facilitated brainstorming sessions to develop effective strategies for reduction.
Improved product descriptions and sizing guides to reduce mismatches.
Introduced an easy and transparent return/exchange process. (Loop Returns)
Order Approval Rates and Chargebacks:
Analyzed chargeback data to identify common reasons.
Improved cancellation and fulfillment time
Product Onboarding:
Analyzed return reasons to identify trends and areas for improvement.
Enhanced product onboarding processes to ensure accurate product information and availability.
Collaborated with suppliers to improve product quality and reduce return rates.
Customer Feedback:
Established regular working sessions with customer service to gather feedback and prioritize improvements.
Implemented regular surveys and feedback loops to gather customer insights.
Used feedback to drive improvements in product offerings and customer service.
Outcome:
Improved PLCC Usage: Increased PLCC rewards program participation by 10%.
Enhanced Shipping Efficiency: Improved delivery times to be within SLAs communicated to customers.
Reduced Return Rates: Implemented revenue retention via exchanges and
Faster Order Processing: Decreased order processing time within SLAs communicated to customers.
Lower Chargebacks: Reduced chargeback rates by 14% through operational optimizatioons
Better Customer Satisfaction: Increased overall customer satisfaction as evidenced by customer tickets filed
Learnings:
Data-driven decision-making is crucial for identifying and addressing operational inefficiencies.
Continuous process improvement requires collaboration across multiple teams and functions.
Tracking key operational metrics paves the way to identifying site issues and enhancements, eliminating operational inefficiencies, and enhancing the customer experience.