MACH interview with Gadero

In an interview about his MACH journey at Gadero, Niek Hindriks, a freelance eCommerce specialist, detailed the transformative process of rebuilding their eCommerce platform. He highlighted the shift from an outdated, complex custom-built CMS to a new system focused on improving customer experience with the latest technology. Key to this transformation was the implementation of a Product Information Management (PIM) system to manage a large number of products efficiently. Niek emphasized the importance of detailed requirements for each component of their tech stack and the benefits realized post-transformation, such as significantly improved website loading times and conversion rates. Despite these improvements, he noted the challenge of managing heightened customer expectations and the necessity of continuous investment in technology to maintain and enhance the platform. The interview also touched upon the strategic decisions involved in choosing between integrated systems versus specialized, separate ones in the MACH architecture.

Can you tell me about yourself, the company, and your personal MACH experience?

A few years back, my main task within Gadero was to build a new marketing team. The CEO at that time, the founder of Gadero, asked me to redesign the website, which was an old, complex, custom-built CMS eCommerce system. I suggested not just redesigning but building a brand new customer experience with the latest technology. This led to our journey with PIM (Product Information Management) as we were managing 22,000 products manually, which was extremely time-consuming. For each part of our MACH journey, we created a list of requirements to ensure we made the right choice for vendors, including requirements for the PIM, CMS, payment providers, and more. We aimed for a platform choice that would allow us to determine our roadmap and have full flexibility for our own platform.

How did you manage to convince the CEO about this major business transformation, considering he had a different budget in mind for just a website redesign?

The previous CEO had left, and new management came in. With the rise of online presence during the pandemic, it became clear that a more efficient system was needed. Our website’s loading time improved dramatically, which almost tripled our conversion rate. The improvements in efficiency and work processes convinced the CEO and CFO to invest in the project.

Can you elaborate on the tangible business benefits experienced by business users after this transformation compared to the previous monolith system?

With the new system, we can enable many new technologies without affecting performance. For instance, our customer support can now take over client screens for better assistance. Our payment experiences have improved as well. However, this improvement has also led to higher customer expectations, especially in areas like delivery dates and customer service.

What do you think are the trade-offs for business users in adopting this new approach?

One major change was in how we handle delivery dates. Previously, we couldn’t provide exact delivery dates. Now, with our new system, we can, but this has led to new kinds of customer complaints, such as slight delays. Internally, people have had to adjust to the new system, which offers features that didn’t exist in the old system.

How do you track the effectiveness of these continuous improvements?

We use tools like the new Google Analytics, Looker, and a full data warehouse running Power BI to measure and verify our results. For instance, we compare the results in the old environment with the new system to see if the changes have led to improvements in conversions.

Regarding the boundaries of MACH, how do you decide when to choose an integrated system versus a separate, specialized one?

For certain aspects like CDP and customer care, we prefer using an integrated system as it’s easier than having separate ones. The biggest challenge with MACH is managing and integrating different licenses and ensuring a strong middleware layer for error logging and management.

How do you continuously secure investment from the CEO to support ongoing MACH improvements?

We have a yearly budget for IT-related expenses. If additional funds are needed and the business case is strong, we can negotiate more development hours. The budget is usually based on revenue expectations and the development phase of the new platform.

Lastly, what would you want to ask other professionals in your role about their MACH journey?

I’m curious about how others measure their success and make decisions regarding their MACH architecture. I find it intriguing to see how different companies choose specific technologies and tools in their MACH stack.

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