Overcoming bottlenecks in your e-commerce studio
What truly distinguishes a top-tier e-commerce studio? You might feel that your studio is operating at its best, yet deep down, you sense room for improvement. Identifying the root of the issue requires a specific approach.
Focus on the challenge, not the solution!
Often, we’re tempted to dive straight into solutions when facing a problem. However, the real challenge is rarely easy to pinpoint. As Albert Einstein once wisely put it:
If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.
He figured that the solution is easy to define once you really understand the real challenge or the problem at hand.
A real-life example:
Consider a scenario in e-commerce studio work: you receive samples and information, eager to start shooting. However, upon matching samples with product information, you realize discrepancies, leading to extra detective work and potential sample replacements. Simultaneously, product and marketing managers press for the finished images.
This leaves little room for creative shots, as you focus on the ones you know how to shoot.
The traditional approach
One might think the problem lies in receiving inaccurate information and incorrect sample sizes. It’s easy to absolve the studio of responsibility.
An alternative viewpoint
Alternatively, the problem may be that information about upcoming products arrives at the studio far too late. Someone in the organization knows the need for images well before samples reach the studio. Why not allow them to place a photo order with all the necessary information in advance?
This shift would require the studio to maintain information ahead of time, ensuring accuracy and proactive adjustments.
Conclusion
Dedicating more time to your studio’s real issues empowers the team to identify and address significant bottlenecks. To prevent getting bogged down in irrelevant details, focus on the studio’s core purpose.
Ask: What is the main purpose of the studio work? What is the studio trying to achieve? With this clarity, it becomes easier to streamline operations for a more efficient future.
After understanding the challenges, it’s time to explore potential solutions. This might involve new routines or even adopting new technology.
Areas of improvement
Many organizations grapple with common issues like late information, faulty data, mismatched samples, channel support difficulties, time-consuming image naming, quality control, and complex formatting for various channels. These challenges can often be managed but may consume excessive time, resources, or external costs.
