Closing out the year: looking back and ahead
Nikki Eijpen
I Think, Build & Run Digital Commerce For Brands, Wholesale & Retail ???? Posting About Digital Commerce Strategy, Digital Shelf Management, Marketplaces, Webshop Implementation, Commerce Technology?
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Dear Thinkers, Builders & Runners,
As we close out the year, we’re bringing you a special edition of Think, Build & Run. It’s time to look back, and also look forward.
When I evaluate the past year, it’s been a good ride. At Neortus we celebrated our first birthday. Among others, we delivered a digital strategy project, started our first webshop implementation project, and we sold 3 PXM projects with Salsify. The latter in the past month alone! Our agency looks so much different than a year ago. Also on a personal level things have changed. After almost 1,5 year of living out of a backpack, I obtained residency status in Mexico and settled in Mexico City. I live in a nice studio apartment in a great neighbourhood. I established a business here too, so we can cross continentally think, build and run digital commerce for brands, wholesalers and retailers. And, last but not least, this year this newsletter was born!
But we are also looking ahead to the future. I’m very much looking forward to what’s to come. This newsletter looks ahead as well. We dive into key digital commerce trends that will become even more crucial in 2025. We explore growth areas, and how to set your goals and measure them. Plus, we wrap up with a heart-warming dive into Mexican holiday traditions, featuring the irresistible aroma of ponche navide?o—a drink that brings warmth and cheer to the holiday season.
Happy reading and here's to ending the year on a high note!
Nikki
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Existing digital commerce trends will be even more relevant in 2025
The trends shaping digital commerce in 2025 aren’t new, but their importance is reaching a tipping point. Businesses that embrace these strategies will stay competitive, while those that don’t risk being left behind. Here’s what’s driving the industry forward:
Where do you want to grow next year?
Growth is the heartbeat of any e-commerce business, so it’s important to understand what growth actually means. Growth isn’t one-dimensional—it’s multi-faceted, touching every part of the business. In e-commerce, growth is typically divided into four key areas: the top line, bottom line, brand equity, and customer loyalty. Each area has its own strategies and metrics, but they are all interconnected. A balanced approach to growth across all four creates a resilient business, allowing you to scale sustainably while building a loyal customer base and a powerful brand presence.
Top line
Top line growth refers to the increase in revenue—the gross income generated by your e-commerce business before expenses are deducted. It’s the most visible form of growth, and many businesses focus heavily on increasing top-line numbers as a primary sign of success.
Common strategies for top-line growth include expanding your customer base, increasing the average order value (AOV), and diversifying your product or service offerings. You can drive top-line growth by acquiring new customers through targeted advertising, improving your conversion rates, optimizing your website, and leveraging cross-sells or upsells to boost AOV. Another key strategy here is market expansion—growing your reach by entering new geographic markets or tapping into new customer segments.
Bottom line
While top-line growth focuses on increasing revenue, bottom line growth is about improving profitability—the income remaining after all expenses (cost of goods sold, marketing, overhead, etc.) are deducted. A growing bottom line means you're not just generating more revenue but also keeping more of it. This is essential for building a sustainable business that can weather fluctuations in sales or market conditions.
Common strategies for bottom-line growth include improving operational efficiency, reducing overhead, optimizing pricing, and managing costs. This could mean renegotiating supplier contracts, improving inventory management, automating manual processes, or cutting waste. Businesses may also explore higher-margin products or services that increase profitability without increasing operational costs. Bottom-line growth often comes from a combination of revenue optimization and careful cost control.
Brand equity
Brand equity refers to the value of your brand in the eyes of customers, based on their perceptions, experiences, and emotions. It’s a less tangible but incredibly important form of growth because strong brand equity means that customers are more likely to choose your products over competitors, often at a premium price. Building brand equity involves creating a distinct, positive image of your brand that resonates with your target audience, builds trust, and fosters emotional connections.
Strategies for building brand equity include consistent and clear messaging, delivering on your brand promises, and creating memorable experiences for your customers. Brand equity also grows through positive word-of-mouth, customer referrals, and social proof—like customer reviews, influencer partnerships, and user-generated content. It’s important to focus on long-term reputation-building through quality products, excellent customer service, and a compelling brand narrative.
Customer loyalty
Customer loyalty is the commitment your customers have to your brand, leading them to repeatedly choose your products or services. Loyal customers not only return to make more purchases, but they also become advocates who recommend your brand to others, generating valuable word-of-mouth marketing. Loyalty goes beyond the first purchase; it’s about fostering relationships that create lifetime value.
To encourage loyalty, focus on providing exceptional experiences at every customer touchpoint. Loyalty programs, personalized recommendations, exclusive discounts, and responsive customer service are all powerful tools. Building an emotional connection through customer-centric values like sustainability, community, or social responsibility can also strengthen loyalty. Customer loyalty is about turning transactions into relationships and doing so consistently.
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Interconnections between the four areas
These four growth areas—top line, bottom line, brand equity, and customer loyalty—are closely interconnected. For instance, strong customer loyalty contributes to positive brand equity, which boosts revenue through repeat business and referrals (top line growth). A profitable bottom line, achieved through operational efficiencies or cost reductions, can fuel investment in marketing or customer experience initiatives, which will further drive top-line growth and strengthen brand equity. By balancing growth efforts in each of these areas, you create a resilient, scalable business that isn’t just chasing numbers but building value in a sustainable way.
Common strategies for growth
Across all four areas, data-driven decision-making is critical. Using analytics to track customer behaviour, measure marketing ROI, and optimize pricing strategies will help you focus on what truly drives growth. Additionally, adopting a customer-first mindset in every strategy—whether you're aiming for top-line growth or building brand equity—will lead to better long-term results. Focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences, and the growth will follow.
Growth isn’t just about increasing numbers; it’s about creating long-term value. Which of these four growth areas—top line, bottom line, brand equity, or customer loyalty—deserves your attention today? Reflect on where your efforts are most needed and how you can build a sustainable growth strategy that drives lasting success.
Setting your goals and measuring success
It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of daily operations and lose sight of what really matters: the metrics that tell you whether your business is on track to succeed. Knowing which metrics to focus on—and how to track them—is crucial for making informed decisions that drive growth and profitability. But it's not just about collecting data; it's about identifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your business goals and understanding how they influence one another.
One of the most powerful principles in measuring success is the One Metric That Matters (OMTM). At any given point, a single, clear metric can serve as your North Star, helping you focus your energy and resources on the most critical goal. For example, if you're focused on scaling your business, your OMTM could be Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)—because reducing CAC will allow you to grow your customer base more efficiently. Alternatively, if you want to improve profitability, you might focus on Average Order Value (AOV). Whatever your goal, your OMTM helps you filter out distractions and prioritize efforts that move the needle.
Beyond the OMTM, businesses also need to think big and long-term, which is where the concept of a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) comes into play. Your BHAG is the visionary target you set for your company, something ambitious that drives you toward long-term success. For example, a BHAG might be: “Become the leading online brand for sustainable products in North America within the next 5 years.” This is a goal that’s larger than any single metric but gives your team a clear, aspirational vision to rally around. While your OMTM will guide you day-to-day, the BHAG provides motivation and alignment for your broader strategy.
But how do these metrics connect? This is where metric trees help you. A metric tree is a visual representation that shows how various metrics are related, starting with high-level, parent metrics and branching down to child metrics that influence them. For example, if your overall goal is to increase Revenue (parent metric), the child metrics might include Conversion Rate, Average Order Value, and Website Traffic. To improve revenue, you need to understand how each of these child metrics impacts it. If traffic is high but conversions are low, you can dig deeper to improve the shopping experience. If your AOV is lower than desired, you may focus on bundling products or offering upsells.
When building your metric tree, think of it as a tool for organizing your priorities. It helps you identify where you need to act. For example, if you want to reduce your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) (a parent metric), you might look at child metrics like Marketing Spend, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and New Customer Growth Rate. Each of these child metrics directly impacts your ability to reduce CAC, giving you a more granular view of how to achieve that goal.
Working with a metric tree ensures you don’t just track numbers in isolation. It lets you understand the interplay between different aspects of your business and how changes in one area will impact others. For example, if you increase your marketing budget but don’t see a corresponding increase in traffic or sales, you can immediately pinpoint where the breakdown is occurring—whether it’s in targeting, conversion optimization, or the customer experience.
As you identify and track your KPIs, remember that data without context is meaningless. Your key metrics should always be aligned with the goals and vision of your business. Regularly assess your metrics in relation to your OMTM and BHAG. For example, if your OMTM is Conversion Rate, ensure it directly supports your BHAG, such as improving the online sales of your product line. This connection between metrics and business objectives will give you the insights you need to stay focused and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
In summary, focusing on a few critical metrics and understanding how they influence one another creates a clear, actionable picture of your business’s performance. It allows you to make informed, effective decisions that will propel your e-commerce business toward success.
What is thinking, building and running digital commerce?
This year I started writing the Think, Build & Run digital commerce newsletter. But what is thinking digital commerce? And building and running it? It’s a framework of strategy, implementation and optimization. We design our services based on this framework. Our expertise is here. Below image briefly explains each part. In the next newsletter we are going to dive deeper into this.
Viva México: Why Mexico smells like ponche in December
Walk through the streets of Mexico City in December, and you’ll catch the sweet, fruity aroma of ponche navide?o wafting through the air. This beloved holiday drink, served piping hot, is a staple at family gatherings and posadas. Made with a medley of fruits like guavas, apples, and tejocotes, along with cinnamon, sugar cane, and a splash of rum (for those who like it spirited), ponche is as much about the ritual of making it as it is about the taste. Every pot carries the warmth of tradition, and every sip is a hug for your soul. Want to try it? Gather the ingredients, invite your friends, and create your own slice of Mexican holiday magic.
Here’s how you make your own Ponche Navide?o:
Ingredients:
Instructions:
This aromatic drink brings warmth to cold winter nights and is a perfect way to celebrate the season with friends and family. Enjoy your own slice of Mexican tradition. Salud!