Founded by Rolf C. Hagen in 1955 and headquartered in Canada (Montreal), Hagen has grown to become the world’s largest privately-owned, multi-national pet products manufacturer and distributor.
Hagen operates multiple brands across different pet categories, including Catit: Hagen’s first brand to start selling Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) online. Catit operates in 6 markets across North America and Europe: US, Canada, UK, Germany, Spain, and France.
Catit was using WooCommerce for these 6 country ecommerce sites but realised they needed to move away from this platform. Hagen engaged Entropy to run a process to select a new ecommerce platform and subsequently a new tech agency partner to design, build, and maintain these new sites.
With the information on hand, Entropy outlined 3 objectives for the project:
Entropy used our 6-step process to deliver the project:
Entropy held multiple workshops with the Catit team to understand their ecommerce aspirations and requirements for their new platform. Following the workshops, Entropy consolidated what they heard, outlined the requirements, and presented it back to the Catit team to map out to align on the final deliverable.
Entropy assessed the current Catit ecommerce setup, capabilities, and resources to identify gaps and opportunities.
Following the audit process, Entropy identified that Catit needed 2 new components:
Entropy split this step into 2 phases to focus on the different deliverables.
Phase 1: Ecommerce platform
Entropy produced an Initial Requirements Document (IRD) in consultation with all Catit stakeholders. This document provided the initial functional requirements for the new Catit ecommerce platform, as well as project objectives and appropriate background information.
With these requirements, Entropy longlisted 4 possible ecommerce platforms before shortlisting to 2 platforms. The IRD was issued to these 2 platforms along with an accompanying Request For Proposal (RFP), asking for a written commercial response, platform demo, and question and answer (Q&A) sessions.
Responses from the 2 ecommerce platforms were scored using various key criteria (including commercials, platform usability, match to key requirements) and Shopify Plus was selected as the optimum ecommerce platform for Catit’s needs.
Phase 2: Tech agency partner
Entropy had initial discussions with 10 candidates and shortlisted 3 agencies for the final RFP process that consisted of a written commercial response and pitch presentation. Using a similar process as phase 1, Entropy used an IRD and scoring method to select Swanky, a full-service Shopify Plus agency, as the right tech partner to join the project.
Since there were 6 markets to manage, there were numerous stakeholders involved with the project and it was imperative to establish clear roles and responsibilities. Entropy acted as the central hub for the project and worked with Catit and Swanky to define the roles and responsibilities using the RACI model (Responsible, Accountable, Consult, Inform).
The 6 markets were rolled-put in a phrased approach following an extensive UAT (User Acceptance Testing) and final end-to-end testing process.
Finally, to maximise the opportunities offered by the new Shopify Plus websites, Entropy helped to devise a programme for ongoing management and development in conjunction with Catit and Swanky.
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