Benchmarking the competitive landscape for a medical supply distributor
A distributor of medical supplies had multiple, unconnected e-commerce platforms that customers used to order, track, and invoice medical and pharmaceutical orders. In support of developing an integrated digital platform, the client engaged HawkPartners to benchmark the competitive landscape for best-in-class e-commerce platforms.
Methods Used
- Secondary Research
- Stakeholder Workshops
- In-depth Customer Interviews
- Online diaries
HawkPartners first conducted interviews with internal stakeholders to align on needs and develop a framework for evaluating competitors and “beacon” companies. We then conducted extensive secondary research on competitors and adjacent B2B companies widely believed to have a strong e-commerce platform.
To further understand the customer experience and its impact on loyalty to medical supplies manufacturers and distributors, we conducted individual interviews with client and competitor customers representing both decision makers and end users of e-commerce platforms. Online diaries were kept by customers in the days leading up to interviews in order to best capture real-time experiences at different points in the purchase cycle.
Finally, we conducted a workshop with key stakeholders to share insights, discuss implications, and align on priorities and actions for developing the client platform.
As a result, the leadership team agreed to prioritize functionality that would improve the ease and efficiency of ordering, and to invest in developing a platform that could be highly customized to the customer through use of data.