Global Omni-Channel Gift Card Integration (GIVEX) - Project Management, Governance and Business Analysis

 

THE SERVICES

• Project Management and leadership
• Project Governance and Assurance
• Business Analysis Services
• Technical Design Services

THE APPLICATIONS 

• GIVEX
• Sales Force
• DYNAMICS 365 ERP and POS
• Other 3rd Party Applications that housed relevant data

 

THE BUSINESS

In 1979, Sir Michael Hill and his wife Christine opened their first jewellery store with a simple yet groundbreaking vision: to make fine jewellery accessible to everybody. 40 years later, Michael Hill has more than 300 stores in three countries. They remain committed to creating quality jewellery for their customers to cherish for a lifetime

The Objectives

Michael Hill had recently undertaken a strategic review that would set the foundations for a revitalized organisation. Areas of focus were; 1) Digital 2) Customer Loyalty 3) Costs and 4) Retail Fundamentals. it works was engaged by the CIO & CEO to assist with two elements of this strategic reinvigoration. Firstly on the digital front and secondly on the Loyalty front. (See case study on Loyalty).

From a digital perspective, our consultancy was engaged to design and project manage the roll out of capability for Gift Cards to be purchased and redeemed online across its local Australian, NZ, Canadian and US websites and to also allow gift cards to be cross redeemed in its network of stores, via the use of the GIVEX SAAS Solution. The project was managed in 2 distinct phases; Project #1 GIVEX Roll Out (Redemption Multi Channel) and #2 GIVEX Rollout (Purchase Multi Channel).

The integration of GIVEX as a payment solution online and in store, as well allowing it to be a purchasable product online, was a complex project. This was due to the array of other integrations involved, the need to create new direct integrations between GIVEX, Sales Force and other platforms in Michael Hills tech stack, as well as the nature of the international roll out.

The expertise provided by it works:

it works worked with the internal Michael Hill team to understand steps to implement GIVEX online;

  • Financial (account set up/changes),

  • Contract – review if any changes required to GIVEX contract

  • Payment Gateway – e.g. API key provision

  • Technical scoping and documentation writing

  • Established and maintained a Project Plan and associated control documentation

  • Project managed implementation of approved changes to the website and other related integrations

  • Project Budget Management and Financial Modelling of Business Case

  • Management of Steerco’s

  • Managed project to time/cost/quality objectives

  • Managed external parties to ensure agreed timeframes and quality standards are met

  • Managed all required internal stakeholders

  • Managed testing process via an offshore testing house

  • Ongoing Risk Management and resolve project issues as they arise

  • Led the change management process to ensure the business adoption for the new solution

  • Managed all project communications internally and externally

  • Production of user stories for both the front end and back end changes in order to produce test cases and be able to estimate time/effort to complete testing

  • GIVEX Contract Management and negotiation on behalf of Michael Hill

  • Technical scoping and document creation / management


The Outcome

In 6 months, our team of consultants in conjunction with the Michael Hill team and their 3rd party partners, were able to deliver a fully functioning capability for Michael Hill, on time, to budget and to scope. Gift cards were able to be purchased online and in store and also redeemed across online and retail stores prior to its peak trade Christmas period. Outcomes included:

  • Documented, prioritised requirements specification for Givex integration created

  • Documented updates to any existing processes, or addition of new processes created

  • Project delivery objectives achieved

  • Ensure all stakeholders (Michael Hill, system implementers) clearly understood their roles and responsibilities

  • All decisions, risks and actions were accurately recorded, maintained and mitigated

  • Tracked key metrics – progress against budget, time and scope

  • Ensure that solution is built and tested to an agreed quality standard and tested

  • Managed project and stakeholders to agreed time/cost/quality criteria

  • Identified and managed risks in order to minimise the number of unplanned project issues

  • Ensure the solution was built and tested to an agreed quality standard and tested