By every indicator available, ecommerce is continuing to grow at an insane speed. Although it may seem impossible to imagine with ecommerce already totaling up to 5% of overall commerce, there’s astronomical growth still to come. Still, I’m heartbroken that some the simplest elements of ecommerce stink so much. It is 2018—why are there still light gray below-the-fold add to cart buttons? #youarekillingme There are numerous subtle issues as well. One strategic issue is illustrated by Timbuk2. Timbuk2 pays a huge margin to its resellers to sell their messenger bags. These resellers, in turn, give a bigger cut to Amazon,…
-
-
Like me, I’m sure you are working on complex challenges when it comes to data. Multi-petabyte data warehouses. Multi-touch, cross-channel attribution analysis. Media mix modeling. Predictive analytics. Human-centric analysis. Oh, and let’s not forget the application of machine learning to every facet of your work. It is genuinely fun to work on these opportunities. They’re difficult, and every step forward offers a renewed sense of excitement and inspiration. Despite the joy in these high-level, forward-thinking initiatives, I’ve disciplined myself not to let the unsexy fundamentals go overlooked. I’m particularly vigilant about avoiding friction in the core systems that facilitate the…