Thank you for Subscribing to Retail Business Review Weekly Brief
Vince Santo, President and CEOHelping Businesses Get Unstuck
I have worked in the commerce transformation space for the last 16 years of my career. I got involved in commerce transformation because the platforms that many of my clients used were antiquated, difficult to use and were not keeping up with the industry's pace of change. I discovered that many clients were busy just maintaining their systems and lacked the time, financial resources or knowledge to innovate. They were essentially "stuck," knowing change was necessary but lacking the resources and know-how to implement it. We launched a campaign to help our clients to #GetUnstuck and this message resonated with many of our clients and prospects. This #GetUnstuck strategy has been the tip of the spear for many of our client engagements. It has helped many clients innovate again and advance their business.
From Analysis Paralysis to Action
The biggest challenge that many organizations change is being stuck with antiquated and expensive commerce platforms that consume all of their time and financial resources and knowing that they must keep up with the pace of change with consumer shopping behavior and technology innovation. They become paralyzed and unsure how to break the cycle of spending money on systems that do not properly support their business, yet they have no time or funds available to transform and change. At Maze, we help our clients to break the analysis-paralysis cycle and #GetUnstuck.
Building Long-Term Value through Strategic Decisions
As a technology company, we always start by understanding the business problem that needs to be solved. We start by identifying the business goals and objects, the metrics to measure success and we create a snapshot of the ideal future state. We then identify what people, processes and systems support the business today to understand the current state and challenges. We map the future state onto the current state and identify gaps and develop alternative solutions to cover the gaps. We evaluate each alternative and quantify the level of effort to rectify the issues and then collaborate with our clients to prioritize the initiatives based on alignment with business goals, complexity to implement and potential business risks. We develop transformation roadmaps that, based on business priorities and technology risks, sequence the initiatives over a period of time to ultimately get to the full transformation. All along the way we look for "quick hit" opportunities for improvement which in some instances helps to fund future phases of the transformation. Underpinning all of this is a detailed business case to support the transformation with total cost of ownership savings and top line growth and margin opportunities.
Navigating the Future of Digital Commerce
-
The biggest challenge organizations face is being stuck with antiquated, expensive commerce platforms that consume time and resources. They know they must keep pace with changing consumer behavior and technology, yet lack the capacity to transform. At Maze, we help clients break that analysis-paralysis cycle and #GetUnstuck.
AI is all the buzz these days, and I do believe it will have a dramatic impact on commerce. However, I do not believe that AI will completely replace all human involvement in running a commerce business. As we have already started to see, many companies that have reduced staffing levels begin to rehire many of the people that were made redundant. Most definitely AI will help reduce costs and act as an accelerator of innovation, but it will not replace humans en masse. AI will act as a smart assistant that can facilitate working more efficiently, but checking AI results and a thorough audit of the work that AI produces before going live is essential.
Advice for the Next Generation of Digital Commerce Leaders
I give this advice to my children and many of our team members at Maze. Everyone must find their passion and niche, and then work hard at mastering the skill. Too many people fall into careers that they are not passionate about and spend decades not feeling fulfilled. Life is too short and I believe we must find challenge and enjoyment in all that we do, including work. In terms of commerce, I would strongly recommend finding a niche that one is passionate about and determining how to leverage AI tools as a copilot to accomplish tasks in an innovative and efficient manner. Over the next few years, AI will become a bigger part of everyday life and understanding how to master the technology to be more productive and efficient will be key.
Choosing a Digital Commerce Transformation Partner for Sustainable Growth
Digital commerce transformation has become less about launching a new storefront and more about building a connected business environment that can adapt to changing customer expectations, platform evolution and increasingly complex technology ecosystems. Executive teams evaluating transformation partners face a difficult challenge: balancing growth ambitions against platform decisions, integration requirements and the need to generate measurable returns without creating long-term dependency on external consultants.
The most successful transformation engagements start with a vision of what a company wants to achieve rather than its technology preferences. While commerce platforms develop quickly, choosing a certain platform does not define success. Multibrand, multinational or multisegment companies often find that the biggest challenge in commerce transformation is connecting commerce experiences with marketing tools, customer data platforms, enterprise resource planning solutions and legacy back office systems. A transformation partner must therefore demonstrate an ability to align technology decisions with commercial goals while accounting for the realities of an existing environment.
Experience across both modern commerce platforms and enterprise integration environments has become increasingly important. Many consulting firms can implement front-end commerce experiences, but fewer possess deep knowledge of how those experiences interact with complex business systems. Buyers should look for evidence that a provider can navigate platform transitions, evaluate the total cost of ownership and create practical migration roadmaps that support future growth rather than simply replacing one technology stack with another.
It is also important that a partner be able to give some strategic advice after the process of implementation begins. Commerce leaders are constantly challenged by the necessity to boost conversion rates, customer engagement, revenue performance, adjust to changes in consumer behavior and embrace emerging technologies. A partner that contributes ongoing insight, performance analysis and informed recommendations often creates greater business impact than one focused exclusively on project execution. The combination of technical and commercial expertise allows transformation initiatives to evolve according to the changing business priorities instead of remaining a mere technological project.
Trust remains another defining factor in successful engagements. Large-scale commerce initiatives involve significant investment, organizational change and cross-functional coordination. The predictable model of delivery, clear communication and accountability of the results help to minimize risks for the executive sponsor. Fixed-scope transformation programs can be especially helpful when they are preceded by a thorough discovery process, setting the right expectations and timelines before the beginning of implementation.
Maze stands out as a compelling choice for organizations pursuing digital commerce transformation because its approach aligns closely with these priorities. The firm combines deep expertise across Shopify and Salesforce Commerce Cloud with extensive experience integrating commerce platforms into complex enterprise environments. Its leadership and consulting teams bring perspectives from both advisory and merchant-side roles, enabling it to understand commercial realities alongside technical requirements.
Maze emphasizes structured discovery, fixed-price delivery and long-term client relationships built on trust and accountability rather than dependency. Its proactive focus on performance improvement, platform strategy and future technology shifts positions it as a strong partner for organizations looking to modernize commerce capabilities while maintaining a clear path toward sustainable growth.
...Read more
