For more ecommerce webinars visit us at http://www.elasticpath.com/webinars/archive Whether you are building your requirements for an in-house developed project or just trying to deciding what to do, requirements are the cornerstone of success and need to go beyond a wish list of needed features and capabilities. This one-hour webinar will cover key strategies and tactics to help you build the most effective, bullet-proof requirements to ensure project success. Featuring: Bernardine Wu, CEO of consultancy, FitForCommerce

1. Requirements Diligence:
The Cornerstone to Ecommerce Project Success
Presented by Bernardine Wu
CEO, FitForCommerce
Listen to audio using your computer’s microphone & speakers (VoIP) or dial in:
United Kingdom: +44 (0) 161 660 8220
United States: +1 516 453 0014
Access Code: 624-947-227
Elastic Path™

2. Introducing
Elastic Path Software
• Provides a flexible, feature-rich framework
• For enterprises that have unique business
requirements and a complex IT environment
• Over 200 clients rely on Elastic Path
• #1 ecommerce blog www.getelastic.com
• For more on-demand ecommerce resources:
www.elasticpath.com/resources
Elastic Path™

3. About FitForCommerce
“The eHarmony of eCommerce”
 FitForCommerce is a consultancy founded to help online businesses ‘figure out what they
need and how/where to find it’
– Team of former multichannel retailers, marketers, technologists and service providers, with hands-
on expertise in eCommerce
 eCommerce Diligence™ is a philosophy and methodology based on diligent preparation
and decision-making to ensure success
– Strategy, Requirements/RFP, Provider Selection
– eCommerce Marketing
– Implementation Coaching
 FitBase™ is the first eCommerce market knowledge base and community, offering
– 1000s of best practices, feature evaluations, expert advice and community content on 300
features, functions and topics
– 100s of provider and solution comparative info
Our approach and philosophy for eCommerce Diligence is unbiased and vendor-
neutral. In maintaining this standard, we received no payment, sponsorship,
or other consideration for this webinar. Furthermore, the participation by
FitForCommerce or Bernardine Wu is not meant as an endorsement of Elastic
Path and/or its products and services.
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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4. Survey Question #1
How many of you currently need to or are already building
requirements for (choose one):
1. Choosing an eCommerce solution
2. Implementing a chosen licensed solution
3. Implementing a chosen SaaS/on-demand solution
4. Implementing an in-house developed solution
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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5. Why Requirements Diligence?
ITERATE
PLAN BUILD TEST LAUNCH SUPPORT
+ Requirements (what)
+ Use Cases (who, how)
+ Workflow (how, dependencies)
+ Creative Design (experience)
+ Timeline
= PLAN
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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6. Requirements Diligence
Ten Steps to Requirements Success
1. Align with Business Objectives
2. Know Relevant Best Practices
3. Perform Competitive Analysis
4. Define Functional Requirements in Detail
5. Prioritize and Time Phase Requirements
6. Document Use Cases
7. Diagram Workflow Design
8. Apply Creative Design
9. Test and Adjust Requirements …again and again
10. Keep Requirements Updated …always
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7. Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to
success. - Henry Ford
1. Align with Business Objectives
 Define success. Spell out your desired, measurable objectives.
– Reinforce brand? Improve customer experience?
– Reduce costs? Increase profit margins? Increase conversion rates? Increase sales?
– Gain market share?
 Know and agree why are you changing/re-designing/re-platforming
– Current site is out-dated? Inflexible? Needs better features or customer experience?
– New branding / imaging?
– Adding new businesses or product lines? Going global?
 Define who are you designing it for
– Who are your customers and what do they want?
– Why do they come back?
– Are there different messages for different audiences? Primary and secondary?
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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8. (cont.) 1. Align with Business Objectives
 Align your organization to support the objectives
– Who are the stake-holders vs. decision-makers?
– Who is going to do the work? Who is going to review the work?
– Do you have enough of the right expertise or resources in-house?
• Right expertise: Technical, e-marketing, e-merchandising, creative design, IA/content design,
customer support, fulfillment, etc.
– Are external or on-demand resources available?
– Have you allocated enough time? Are there conflicting projects or objectives?
 Assign and allocate the project team
– Is everyone clear on roles and responsibilities, time commitments?
– Who is the project lead and do they have the right authority and accountability?
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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9. If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first
hour sharpening the ax. - Abraham Lincoln
2. Know Relevant Best Practices
 Research “Best Practices” at the feature/function level
– Research the industry
– Network with peers to find out what worked and didn’t work for them
– Reach out to experts in the field including consultants and providers
– Read whitepapers, research reports, forums, blogs
– Be careful of analysis paralysis
 “Play” with other great sites
– Shop competitor and non-competitor sites
– Experiment with leading edge and non-leading edge features
 Use quantifiable market data and benchmark as much as you can
– FitBase Best Practices Checklists for 30 ecommerce topics is available for webinar attendees at
– E-tailing Group www.fitforcommerce.com/bestpractices.html
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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10. FitBase
www.fitforcommerce.com/fitbase
 Example of best
practices info about
Ratings & Reviews in
FitBase
 Find out pitfalls
 Look for examples of
sites that do it well
 Look for different ways
of implementing a
feature
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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11. FitBase
www.fitforcommerce.com/fitbase
 Good example of a
webstore using
Ratings & Reviews
in a unique and
helpful way
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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12. FitBase
www.fitforcommerce.com/fitbase
 Example of expert
opinions and
lessons learned
about Ratings &
Reviews in FitBase
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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13. E-tailing Group Benchmarking
 Use EG100 benchmarking data to compare adoption
To benchmark your site against the EG100 across 260 features: www.e-tailing.com
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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14. It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that
makes the difference. - Bear Bryant
3. Perform Competitive Analysis
 Conduct competitive analysis
– See what you like and don’t like
– Decide what you want to include and want to avoid
– Check competition in your category, but also mindshare or budget competition
– Think about what’s needed to give you a competitive edge – short-term and long-term
 Compare specific features to non-competitors, too, to understand what
your customers expect
– What sites and features are setting a new bar?
– What capabilities or interactions are your customers being trained to expect?
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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15. Competitive Feature Comparison
 Compare use of key features
Shopping Bag Features of an Apparel Site vs Competitors
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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16. A good beginning makes a good end. - Louis L’Amour
4. Define Functional Requirements in Detail
 Review each and every potential
feature/function
– There are 100s of features, functions,
topics that an eCommerce manager must
plan and execute around
 Include all elements of running an
eCommerce business (see table)
 Use surveys, feedback forms
 Treat everything like an investment
decision
Document it ! Socialize it !!
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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17. (cont.) 4. Define Functional Requirements
 Document your current capabilities
– Pinpoint what features or areas of the site or content drive sales (or, conversely,
trigger abandonment or service calls)
– Don’t assume they are obvious
– Review every page, data set, content
– Never assume your new site will have all the features and functionality you currently
have, unless you plan or confirm that it will
 Limitations or Impact Factors
– Technical processes or limitations, such as integrations with legacy
– Budget considerations
– Organizational considerations, such as strong/weak skills
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18. Sample Metrics
© FitForCommerce 2009
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19. Chance favors the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
5. Prioritize and Time Phase Requirements
 Prioritization
– Know that you can’t always get what you want when you want it
– Rate them
• Must Have = Cannot re-launch without it / Is a critical capability
• Should Have = Should not launch without it / Is important
• Nice to Have = Can launch without it / Try to include / Can be phased in
– Stack rank requirements – top 40 in order
 Phasing
– And when do you need it by?
– What are your timelines? What drives your timelines?
– Is project phasing an option? Is some throw-away work acceptable?
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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20. Example Requirements Doc “The Grid”
Front End - Site Features - Web Store
In Use Wants
Feature Set / Feature / Configuration Options Value Now for Site Priority Time Frame Notes & Clarifications
Browse and Search
Browse - Navigation
Category Navigation
Static Navigation
Non-Category Header Navigation
Non-Category Footer Navigation
Product Category Scope
Guided Navigation NO YES 1 - MUST HAVE 1 - FOR LAUNCH
Guided Navigation Refinement Options This is a list of the identified attributes that HomeBistro will use initially. The ability to add and remove refinement options should be controllable
through an admin interface by merchandising / marketing staff.
Guided Navigation Refinement Behaviors
Search
Keyword Search YES YES 1 - MUST HAVE 1 - FOR LAUNCH
Keyword Search Functionality What functionality the keyword search should contain.
SKU - Catalog Item Number Search YES YES 1 - MUST HAVE 1 - FOR LAUNCH
Currently no variants are in use, but changes are
being made to allow for the use of variants on the
HB Back End. The ability to make modifications
to search function criteria should be admin
Search by Attribute YES YES 3 - WOULD LIKE TO HAVE 4 - w/in 90 Days After Launch controlled by non-technical staff.
Search Results Display How search results appear to the shopper.
No Search Results Page YES YES 1 - MUST HAVE 1 - FOR LAUNCH
Merchandised Search Landing Pages NO YES 2 - SHOULD HAVE 1 - FOR LAUNCH
The appearance of search results sorts should be
something that can be toggled on an off by a non-
Search Results Sorting How shoppers sort search result landing pages. technical site administrator.
Search Results Controls The ability for non-technical site administrators to the ordering of search results.
Search Results Personalization Controls NO YES 2 - SHOULD HAVE 1 - FOR LAUNCH
Folksonomy - Tagging and Tag Clouds NO YES 3 - WOULD LIKE TO HAVE 5 - w/in 120 Days after Launch
Tagging How tagging should work and be controlled.
All Products Tagged N/A NO 3 - WOULD LIKE TO HAVE 5 - w/in 120 Days after Launch
Tag Clouds
Tag Cloud Appearance
Tag Cloud Tag Ordering
Tag Cloud Results
Tag Cloud Results Sorts
Tag Cloud Results Pagination
Display Additional Tag Clouds
© FitForCommerce 2009
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21. Case Study: Spencer’s Gifts
Must Have: Should Have:
⁻ Content management system: promotion ⁻ Personalized product
flexibility, template changes, manage recommendations
graphics, shipping options ⁻ Product ratings and reviews
⁻ Merchandising tools - categories ⁻ Dynamic imaging (zoom, alternate
views)
⁻ Auto merchandising ⁻ AJAX capable
⁻ Navigation/taxonomy ⁻ Site optimization, A/B and
⁻ Site search integration Multivariate Testing
⁻ SEO – unique meta/title tags
Nice to Have:
⁻ Analytics integration and page tagging
⁻ Alternate payments
⁻ Cart/checkout functionality ⁻ Improved content
– persistent cart
⁻ Wish list, gift registry, gift guides
⁻ Loyalty Program ⁻ Product comparison
⁻ Integrate with order management ⁻ Micro sites
⁻ Parent/child sku relationships ⁻ Mobile
⁻ Security and PCI compliant ⁻ International
⁻ Blog
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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22. Survey Question #2
In your most recent implementation, how would you describe
your requirements:
1. Very rigorous
2. Rigorous
3. Good enough
4. Not rigorous enough
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23. Success always comes when preparation meets
opportunity. - Henry Hartman
6. Document Use Cases
 Uses Cases are written to clarify a specific customer experience/journey
 Multiple features can be included in a single Use Case
 For each Use Case, include:
– Objective
– Scope
– Requirements
– Process & Feature Dependencies
– Data Dependencies
– Demonstration Scenario
– Alternatives
– Integrations
– Technical Assessment & Options
– Special Requirements
– Risks, Issues, Constraints
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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24. Sample Use Case
Use Case
Name Add-To-Bag, Full Mini-Bag, Mini-Bag pages
ID 2
Usage All pages, Add to bag process, Shopping Bag process
Objective  The objective is to show the customer bag information as it changes or as they need it.
 All customers
Scope  All products
 All Pages
 The system should show the customer an add to bag overlay when items are added to the bag.
 The system should allow the customer to click on the mini bag icon to see an overlay of the shopping bag.
Requirements
 The system should display the number of items in the bag within the minibag icon or next to it in text.
 The system should provide bag information including item and order header information as needed to the ATB, FMB pages
Process & Feature  Data needs to be saved to the session to show in the FMB, ATB Pages and for the MiniBag item count.
Dependencies  Data integration to the Application Server / Mainframe is needed to capture this information for the Shopping Bag and order process pages
 Item Information: Product SKU, name, image, quantity, price, total price, item status, delivery date
Data Dependencies  Order Information: Shipping cost, shipping destination (if avail), shipping method, Discount Amount for each promotion, Tax Cost, Promotion codes & Descriptions, zip
code.
ATB:
 The customer clicks adds an item to the bag
 The browser sends a request to the server to add the item
 The server verifies the inventory,
o If the same as the state as the product page, the server adds the item, updates the full cart data, and saves the data in the session for the customer.
o If it is different state as the product page, the server sends back an surprise backorder message, updates the full cart data, and saves the data in the session for the
customer
 The customer sees the surprise backorder message and decides to add it or cancel. IF cancel, the server removes the item from the bag and session data.
 The customer’s browser renders the ATB confirmation overlay with the new data passed to it from the server.
Demonstration Scenario
MiniBag:
 As items are added to the bag, the item count data held in the session is updated and is displayed as an icon or text in the MiniBag.
FMB:
 The customer clicks on the MiniBag Icon.
 The browser pulls in session data for the items and order data.
 The browser displays the Full Mini Bag in an overlay or a popup.
o The page will show the product information including name, thumbnail, Status, Shipping Date, Delivery Date, unit price, quantity, total price, and order header
information including shipping, tax, discount and total.
 The customer can either close it, wait for it to close, or click update to update items (will go to the shopping bag page) or checkout to go to the order process.
© FitForCommerce 2009
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25. Sample Use Case (cont.)
 Bag data could be pulled from two sources.
o Session data (XML, Cookie, etc)
 This is the recommended approach since it would not require a separate mainframe call.
Alternatives  The only downside is that the data would not be fully up to date and special care would need to be used to make sure the data is updates within a
reasonable timeframe.
o Mainframe and XXX server data
 Requires a Server or Mainframe call every time the data is viewed and is not the recommended alternative.
 Add to Bag
Integrations
 View Bag
 Session data should be used for all of the display elements of these processes.
 Session data can either be sourced to the browser by cookie data or XML session data
o Cookie data may be problematic with a cookie limit of 4096 char. This limit may not be able to hold enough information for the largest orders. If this is the only
viable solution, the first 10 items could be shown with a view more link to the full bag as needed.
FFC Technical o XML data could be saved by the user cookie and saved to Akamai for use by the browser. There would be no real limit to the data that can be held there for the
Assessment & purposes of the shopping bag.
Options  A plan needs to be in place to refresh session data to prevent it being too out of data. The source of this data is the application server and mainframe.
o As an item is added to the bag, the entire bag session data should be updated.
o Whenever a change to the order data is made, i.e. a new promotion is added, the entire bag session data should be updated.
 If a customer’s session has timed out, the browser must request a new bag session refresh as soon as they return to the site. In this case, the item count MUST be held at the
user cookie level so that it would not change as they add to the bag and their session times out. See Merge Bag Process Use Case. The most difficult
Special Requirements  See technical options
Risks, Issues,
 Special care should be used to make sure the data is up to date and changes to product state are clearly explained to the customer.
Constraints
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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26. I have yet to be in a game where the most prepared
team didn’t win. - Urban Meyer
7. Diagram Workflows
 Functional Component Diagram
– Functional view of the eCommerce business to show inter-relation and implications to
process, organization, technology
 Technical Component Diagram
– Technical integrations and data flow between systems detailing inputs and outputs
 Site Workflows as more than a Site map
– Pages are to be used
– Features/content by page
– Storyboarding, IA, labeling, navigation
– Key workflows like: Browse, search, guided nav, Registration, Checkout
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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27. Sample Functional Component Diagram
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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28. Sample Technical Component Diagram
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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29. Sample Site Workflow Diagram
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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30. In all matters, before beginning, a diligent preparation
should be made. - Cicero
8. Apply Creative Design
 “Lo-Fi” vs “Hi-Fi” Wireframes
– Lo-Fi covers layout – what is on a page (think inventory), relative size and position
– Hi-Fi is where everything is to scale
 Creative Design
– The look and feel of the site including colors, design devices
– Create multiple options to demonstrate a “design system”
 Use Corporate Identity and Style Guide
– If none exists, create one first, then adjust, then update it
 Usability
– Ensuring a visitor/customer’s experience is as effortless as possible
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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31. Sample Lo-Fi Wireframe
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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32. Sample Hi-Fi Wireframe1
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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33. Sample Hi-Fi Wireframe2
© FitForCommerce 2009
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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34. Sample Creative Design
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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35. Measure twice; cut once. - Unknown
9. Test and Adjust Requirements
…again and again
 Test requirements against all use cases including “edge cases”
– Test for wrong-course path. What should happen when errors are made?
 Field Testing
– User/usability testing of wireframes (start with mockups)
– Ask ‘friendlies’ (customers) to give feedback
– Get structured feedback of creative design, but go beyond “I like/don’t like” to “This
works for me because…”
 Adjust Requirements
– When testing or other factors prove a need to adjust
– Be careful not to react too quickly to feedback
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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36. Spectacular achievement is always preceded by
spectacular preparation. - Robert Schuller
10. Keep Requirements Updated
…always
 Keep a library of requirements documents
– Print a binder to maintain most recent
– Maintain version control
 Create a process to update requirements when anything changes
– Hard to do when focus is testing and going live
– Testing Team and Requirements Team must be in synch
– Make last step of testing (e.g. closing a ticket) include checking that requirements
were updated
Document it ! Socialize it !!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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37. Requirements Checklist
 Align with Business Objectives
 Know Relevant Best Practices
 Perform Competitive Analysis
 Define Functional Requirements in Detail
 Prioritize and Time Phase Requirements
 Document Use Cases
 Diagram Workflow Design
 Apply Creative Design
 Test and Adjust Requirements …again and again
 Keep Requirements Updated …always
Breathe a sigh of relief …and then get back to work,
it’s on to implementation!
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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38. Questions?
Bernardine Wu,
CEO
FitForCommerce
www.FitForCommerce.com
bwu@fitforcommerce.com
Use promo code “EPWEB10” for 10% off a
FitBase Retailer Subscription until 7/10
www.fitforcommerce.com/fitbase
Best Practices Checklists for 30 ecommerce
topics is available for webinar attendees at
www.fitforcommerce.com/bestpractices.html
Thank you
www.elasticpath.com/resources
Requirements Diligence: The Cornerstone to an eCommerce Project's Success
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