Bear Group’s Head of Strategy Thomas McCutchen was recently a guest on the Future Commerce podcast, where he shared his industry secrets and career journey with hosts Brian Lange and Phillip Jackson. Check out some of his industry advice below and click on the link to listen to the full podcast. 

Creating a seamless user experience

McCutchen began his career in commerce in POS and back-office fulfillment. He recalls all of the programs he used as “thick apps” that were not geared towards a quality user experience. McCutchen said that he “wanted to make systems that were easy to use, that were delightful, and where the user experience itself was the very thing everyone was talking about.” He pivoted his career to do exactly that, and today he advises our clients on how to leverage their customer data to provide an individualized experience to every customer. Collecting data at every point in the sales process to track how customers move through a site, and where the drop-off points are, is critical for improving the user experience. The check-out cart page may not be the problem – it could be the product pages, or off-putting personalization offerings. McCutchen suggests relying on both qualitative and quantitative data to guide making changes to websites – not gut feelings.

Understanding what merchants need

As the tech space and economic climate have evolved substantially in recent years, so have what merchants want, and right now merchants are seeking more from their current websites. They are not looking for a full redesign, or a full rebuild, they hope to optimize the website they already have to better fit the needs of the consumer. Maximizing your current website is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to increase customer loyalty. Pursuing personalization and conversion rate optimization strategies, combined with improving UX, is what will turn casual visitors into loyal brand followers.

Listen to more insight from Thomas in the full podcast episode on Future Commerce here.