“We were looking for a Partner, not just a vendor.”

"We weren’t getting what we needed. Communication was bad, there was no strategy, and we needed someone to help us move forward.”

GTS and their Director of IT & eCommerce, Jordan Ullom, were grappling with unresolved platform issues, limited strategic guidance, and a lack of responsiveness from their previous partner. These challenges manifested in:

• Unmet Customer Needs: GTS was unable to be responsive to customer requests. When they wanted to change site behavior or even display a simple piece of information, it would take years to accomplish, if ever.
• ERP Integration Struggles: Misconfigured jobs during an ERP upgrade caused significant inefficiencies, including orders disappearing and delays leading to angry customers.
• Strategic Stagnation: GTS’s eCommerce efforts were reactive rather than proactive, leaving untapped opportunities for growth and innovation.

"The knowledge we’ve gained has changed how we think about our site and how our customers interact with it.”

TRANSFORMATION

GTS performed an extensive vetting process and found that others had cookie-cutter solutions, taking the same approach to every customer. It was something they were proud of. 

"That was concerning for us because there’s no way we would stand out from our competitors if they received the same solution from our mutual vendor. We would have the same exact website."

GTS partnered with Layer One to tackle their issues head-on. The collaboration brought immediate clarity and results:

• Problems They Didn’t Think Could Be Fixed: Layer One resolved long-standing technical issues that had been left unaddressed, including the order processing failure from a lingering integration error that caused orders to disappear between the site and ERP.
• Problems They Didn’t Know Existed: Layer One’s proactive analysis uncovered hidden inefficiencies, like underperforming product data affecting search and user experience. Addressing these issues led to measurable improvements in search functionality and increased cart size.
• Teaching New Ways of Thinking: Through coaching and strategic collaboration, Layer One helped GTS reimagine their approach to eCommerce.

RISK MITIGATION AND SCALABILITY

When GTS faced a daunting migration from Optimizely’s Classic to Spire, Layer One turned what others estimated as a year-long endeavor into a seamless six-month process. Furthermore, at GTS’ request, Layer One pivoted the roadmap and worked it into their current engagement.

"We were scared this would take a year, but Layer One’s expertise and adaptability made it possible in six months.” 

LAYER ONE'S MODEL

Layer One’s model provided GTS with a consistent partnership rather than a transactional vendor relationship. Initially, Jordan Ullom expressed apprehension about the fixed monthly cost but quickly realized the value of this approach:

"I’m not wasting time and energy managing the budget because it’s set for the year. I don't have to worry about running out of hours in September, hitting my development budget for the year, and then not doing anything the last three months."

This predictable structure also motivated GTS to maximize their investment. "Paying monthly drives me to look at what else we could be doing and then do it.” 

“It was incredible; our eCommerce revenue increased 22% in our first year of partnering with Layer One.”

PERFORMANCE

"Before, when we finished a project with our previous partner, we'd be so frustrated by the end of it. And then the launch would go so poorly that it was like, god, this sucks; why do we do this every time? And with Layer One, we finish, we wrap it up, we make sure there are no outstanding issues, and we move on to the next thing. And we already knew three months ago what the next thing was. All that strategy is not anything we had before."
Layer One’s partnership delivered game-changing outcomes:

• Revenue Growth: eCommerce revenue surged by 22% year-over-year in 2024.
• Customer Satisfaction: Enhanced site functionality led to faster order fulfillment and allowed customers to find products and place orders more efficiently. "It’s completely transformed the customer experience," Ullom remarked.
• System Reliability: Stability improvements ensured minimal downtime, boosting customer confidence, loyalty, and internal efficiency.

CONCLUSION

With Layer One, GTS didn’t just fix problems- they unlocked the full potential of their eCommerce platform, from stabilizing operations to driving growth and customer satisfaction. 

Recently, a previously top-10 revenue customer who had fallen out of the top-20 took the time to call their branch manager to say how much they love the updated site and explicitly that they will now start buying more because of the improvements. This was shared with GTS' eCommerce team:

This email highlights the real-world impact of Layer One’s partnership. Winning back a top-tier customer through improved usability and customer experience underscores the transformative results that only Layer One can deliver.