We recently sat down with Staci Otravodec, eCommerce Manager at First Supply, to talk about her experience working with Xngage’s Digital Marketing Growth Services team. First Supply is a fifth-generation family-owned distributor that has been in operation for more than 129 years, serving contractors across the Midwest. Xngage and First Supply have been working together for about three years, helping to grow their ecommerce operation.
Our digital marketing growth services team has helped First Supply on SEO efforts and to build out custom reporting. Beyond basic ecommerce and website metrics, these reports allow the First Supply team to track a wide variety of data points that help them work toward their unique goals. The custom analytics have allowed their team to make informed decisions to improve efficiency across their operation and grow their ecommerce business. Our user experience design and development teams help them execute these optimizations, allowing them to better serve their customers.
Xngage CEO Joe Albrecht, Digital Marketing Growth Services Director Rebecca (Becca) Boggs, and Staci all shared their thoughts on this partnership. Check out the interview below.
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Joe: How long have you worked with Xngage’s Digital Marketing Growth Services team?
Staci: We have been working with Xngage for just about three years now. I remember meeting your team, Joe, at Opticon about three, four years ago, and I was so impressed by the services that you offered. And one particular service was the digital marketing growth services, which is Becca and her team. And shortly after we were up and running, we dove straight in with Becca and have seen tremendous success since then.
Joe: Wow, fifth generation. A lot of our clients are multi-generational businesses, but fifth generation and 129 years – congratulations to the company, as well as to you. Obviously, you have been a key leader of their digital footprint and their digital success.
When you were first getting started with Becca’s team, what were your goals for ecommerce growth at that time?
Staci: One of the biggest reasons I was interested in the offerings of the digital marketing growth services team could bring to us was just having more visibility and confidence in our data. At First Supply, we don’t have a dedicated internal eCommerce analyst, and I wanted to make sure we had the right tagging and tracking in place across the site. By the time we came to you, we had two previous partners in place, and as you know, when you have more hands in the kitchen, not everything is adding up. So, I wanted a really good starting place before we got into this relationship with you guys, that we had this really good, solid foundation.
At the end of the day, if you want to make smart decisions about what’s working, what isn’t, and where customers might be struggling, you need analytics telling that story. That’s where Becca and her team helped us build that foundation, so we could make more informed decisions instead of relying on assumptions.
Becca: That’s right. As we’ve learned, gut feelings are not always right, so that’s where the data definitely has helped us to make better informed business decisions and ecommerce decisions.
Joe: That’s a lot of what you do at the beginning of an engagement, Becca. You make sure that not only that do we capture analytics, but what kind of analytics.
Becca: Correct. We really define what’s important to each specific client. So, with First Supply, AOV (average order value) was a big one. So, we make sure we have everything in place and we have a really strong foundation.
Joe: Staci, as you started looking at these analytics reports, did you discover anything unexpected? What were some data points that stood out?
Staci: One interesting example came after we redesigned the site a little over a year ago. We had always heard from customers that once they logged in, they were primarily going straight to My Account areas like Order History.
So, we, of course, took what we were hearing, and we re-worked the visual design of the website to bring those features more to the forefront after they log in. We also built analytics around that behavior to validate whether customers were actually using it the way we expected.
The good news is that what we were seeing was double to triple-digit growth in engagement within those My Account areas after launch. It validated that we were listening to customers correctly and designing around their behavior and needs.
Becca: It really proved that was where the customers are spending a lot of their time on site, and we made it more efficient for them. The analytics were able to prove that.
Joe: What’s interesting is that, if we were on a B2C podcast, we’d be talking about orders. It sounds like a lot of a lot of the value you found was in your customers working with the My Account area, self-serving, and doing tasks that don’t actually have a lot to do with actually placing an order. Did I understand that correctly?
Staci: Agreed. And we love to see those orders coming through – and we are seeing very good growth with that. But the analytics is more than just the ordering. It’s about what they’re doing on site, and where should we be spending our time and our resources to make sure that we’re investing in those key areas – even if it’s not ordering. A lot of it is just self-service.
Joe: Exactly, because, at the end of the day, that drives stickiness. Stickiness means that they find value in the website, even if it means they’re not placing an order in that moment. However, they come back, and they remain loyal, and ultimately, they use the tool to place orders. That brings us back to First Supply’s analytics. Becca, the AOV was found to be a bit low. Can you tell us about that?
Becca: We had been tracking First Supply’s analytics for about a year and a half. We did a yearly analysis, and I found that their AOV was lower than what I would expect across the industry. We work with a ton of clients, and I see that firsthand a lot. It was something that we discussed with the First Supply and developed some strategies to improve it.
Joe: Staci, what was the approach you took?
Staci: We knew from experience that our customers respond well to giveaways, so we brought back promotions that worked before and increased the minimum order amount to qualify. That seems so basic, but it worked.
That helped drive higher average order values while still creating excitement for customers. We’ve repeated variations of that strategy multiple times now, and it continues to perform well.
Leadership is always thinking about margins, so instead of relying heavily on direct discounts, we often structure promotions around giveaway entries, such as event tickets or physical prizes. Customers love the chance to win something, and it allows us to protect margins while still driving engagement and increasing average order value.
Joe: So, incentivizing the individual buyers who are buying, procuring on behalf of their businesses, giving them a reason to come back and buy more. What results from that campaign can you share?
Staci: I won’t get into exact percentages or revenue figures, but we are seeing positive year-over-year growth across the board and specifically around those promotions. One of them just ended around Memorial Day, and that one was neck-and-neck with last year – which says a lot because we did raise the minimum order value in order to enter that giveaway. More specifically, we’ve seen meaningful growth in customer engagement, not just that better AOV, but also better visibility into how customers are using the site.
Joe: What is the impact from working with Becca?
Staci: We don’t have a dedicated ecommerce analyst. I can navigate GA4, and I know enough to get by, but having Becca and her team create a centralized dashboard that I can go back and reference on a weekly basis has made a huge difference.
Would I be where I am today without Becca’s team? We might not be working on the right things. I enjoy that I can dig into specific areas and evaluate whether a feature or enhancement is worth pursuing.
For example, if someone recommends investing heavily into improving a feature like List Sharing, but the analytics show only a very small percentage of customers are using it, that helps us prioritize our resources more effectively. It’s really helped us become more data-driven in our decision making.
Joe: That’s great to hear. Becca, I know you and your team are really passionate about establishing that foundation.
Becca: We established great metrics as a foundation from the start. Staci and I are working on it pretty much weekly. We are adapting and adding onto these reports. When we first started, our report was about 25 pages, and I think we just hit 50 pages. So, we’ve almost doubled the size.
Staci: That’s right. And no report is too big or too small. To Becca’s point, our report might be getting a little big, but it speaks to that collaboration. If I’ve asked about something two or three times, she’s going to add it to the report, and now I can reference the report. It’s a great analytics hub that I can reference when I need to do a gut check.
Joe: We have so many discussions with clients who don’t have the success you have, Staci. They come to us, and it’s always about the platform. “We don’t do enough volume for the platform.” I had someone come to me the other day and say, “We are thinking about scraping our ecommerce program entirely.” And it’s a distributor, like yours. And that would be tremendously bad, but they’re saying they’re not getting the return on the investment. Well, I think that’s very important to call out that the technology is the foundation, the underpinning, but what you guys are talking about here, what you are doing – this constant monitoring, the understanding of the web property is performing is absolutely critical because it enables you devise strategies like the promo strategy to drive more stickiness, more loyalty, and ultimately get that success. t has to be done in a systematic way. Digital success is not going to come with you buying the next platform, or asking for the next ten features, or which platform has another feature that another one doesn’t. At the end of the day, that will not drive the digital success that you’re having.
Becca: One of the biggest differences that I see on First Supply that they’re very, very good at is that adjusting and making minor adjustments on a monthly basis, based on that the data they get in. I think that’s made a big difference for them. The minor adjustments make a bigger impact than most people realize.
Staci: I agree, and I do enjoy our monthly meetings. I know we always have takeaways on both sides. And we hold true to those. We don’t just walk away and say, “OK, we’ll see you next month, and we’ll go over numbers again.” These are truly actionable meetings that we have.
Joe: Can you describe your experience working with Becca and her team?
Staci: What stands out most to me is that Becca genuinely cares about our success. She doesn’t feel like an outside vendor. She feels like an extension of our team. I feel that way about everyone at Xngage.
When we have regular monthly meetings to review performance and strategy, and what I really appreciate is that those always end with clear action items and takeaways on both sides. It’s not just a review of the numbers. We leave knowing exactly what we’re going to do next.
Beyond that, Becca is always accessible when questions come up or we need clarification on something. Becca might not want to admit it, but I ask a lot of questions, so my point is that she is very open and willing to jump in and add to the report when something is needed.
I also really value that our relationship feels collaborative and honest. There have been times where I’ve questioned reporting or data calculations, and instead of being defensive, she’s open to digging into it together. In some cases, we’ve actually uncovered opportunities to improve the tracking itself.
The whole team is proactive, collaborative, and willing to challenge our thinking when needed, which ultimately helps us make better decisions. That partnership approach has been incredibly valuable.
Joe: We also know how passionate Becca is about her craft, and how detail-oriented she is. What stands out to me is that she really, truly understands the B2B aspect of this. We’re talking here not about the canned reporting you can find in Google Analytics. We’re talking about very tailored, B2B-focused analytics, devised for each client and developed strategically with our clients to reveal insights that are unique to your business. So, what’s next for you guys? What goals or optimizations are you working towards?
Staci: Right now, we’re continuing to focus on optimizing the customer experience, of course, and making sure eCommerce continues to support larger business initiatives, like our new Distribution Center (DC1). That’s a big strategic focus for First Supply.
At the same time, we’re constantly working through customer-facing requests and enhancements. Small improvements that add up over time in terms of usability and experience.
And all of that is driven by analytics. We’re using the data more and more to prioritize what we work on, understand where customers are engaging, and make sure we’re focusing our time on the changes that will have the biggest impact.
Becca: Last year, was a few bigger initiatives for First Supply. And now, we’re focusing on those tiny details that can really move the needle. And we can really get down in the weeds in the analytics so they can make those small changes and make it even more efficient for them.
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