Verizon Digital Commerce
Using customer analytics, experimentation and product strategy to improve digital commerce journeys.
This case study is about conventional product management: finding where a commerce journey leaks value, testing what might fix it, and shipping what the evidence supports.
At Verizon I turned funnel analysis, A/B tests and customer research into requirements for 15+ features across retail, consumer and B2B, and the work contributed $1.5M+ in incremental revenue in FY21.
- Role
- Consultant, Digital & Assisted Sales
- Org
- Verizon Consumer Group
- Period
- Mar 2020 – Aug 2022
- Scope
- Retail, consumer and B2B lines of business
- Team
- 8–12 stakeholders across 4 concurrent workstreams
- Method
- Funnel analysis · A/B testing · research · SAFe
- Incremental revenue, FY21
- $1.5M+
- Features specified from research
- 15+
- On-time delivery
- 94%
- Sprint spillover
- <4%
Contents
Context
Verizon sells through the web, retail stores and assisted channels, across consumer, retail and B2B lines of business. From 2020 to 2022 I worked in the Verizon Consumer Group’s digital and assisted sales team, turning customer analytics and experiments into product requirements and shipped changes.
The period included the shift to contactless delivery during COVID, which changed what customers needed from fulfillment.
Problem
Commerce journeys leaked value at specific points, and each leak had its own cause:
- Carts fragmented across retail, web and assisted channels led to abandonment and inconsistent fulfillment.
- Early termination fees drove confusion and service inquiries.
- Contactless delivery during COVID made delivery speed part of the product.
- Upgrade and add-on revenue depended on offers that fit how customers wanted to pay.
Opportunity
Each leak mapped to a commercial lever that could be measured: fulfillment and abandonment, service-inquiry volume, delivery time and satisfaction, upgrade rate, and add-on attach. That made it possible to prioritize by expected impact and to prove results with the same metrics that justified the work.
Product thesis
In commerce, the product is the path to purchase. Find where the funnel leaks, test the smallest change that could fix it, and ship what the evidence supports.
The discipline is in the order: evidence first, then requirements, then delivery.
Users and journey
Customers buy on the web, in stores and with assisted sales; store and care representatives work the same journeys from the other side; and each line of business owns its own numbers. The five changes below landed at different stages of that journey.
- ConfigurePlan and financingThree-year device payment plans; the Hum+ Wi-Fi add-on+14% upgrade rate
- CartOne cart, every channelOmni Universal Cart across retail, web and assisted−13% cart abandonment
- FulfillSplit fulfillmentAvailable items ship first, contactless2.1 days faster
- SupportEarly termination feesRedesigned from customer insight−22% service inquiries
My role
- Analysis. Funnel analysis, A/B testing and market research across three lines of business.
- Requirements. BRDs and PRDs for 15+ features in Verizon’s digital ecosystem.
- Cross-functional delivery with UX, data science and product teams, at 94% on-time delivery.
- Coordination of 8–12 stakeholders, including Scrum Masters, release train engineers and engineering, in SAFe; ceremonies for four concurrent workstreams with sprint spillover under 4%.
Key decisions
Five changes, each answering a specific signal and accountable for one result.
AOmni Universal Cart
Signal it answeredCarts fragmented across retail, web and assisted channels caused abandonment and inconsistent fulfillment.
Result11% order fulfillment growth and 13% less cart abandonment.
BThree-year device payment plans
Signal it answeredUpgrades hinge on the monthly cost, and a longer term lowers it. Piloted before any wider rollout.
Result$320K in pilot revenue and a 14% higher upgrade rate.
CEarly termination fee redesign
Signal it answeredCustomer-insight analysis pointed to early termination fees as a driver of service inquiries.
Result22% fewer service inquiries.
DHum+ Wi-Fi plan
Signal it answeredA new add-on needed positioning and a digital sales flow that would attach at scale.
Result$100K+ ARR at a 23% attach rate.
ESplit fulfillment
Signal it answeredWith contactless delivery during COVID, speed and reliability became part of the product.
ResultDelivery 2.1 days faster and CSAT up 3 points.
Solution
Five shipped changes across configuration, cart, fulfillment and support, each tied to one metric. Together with the wider feature work, the program contributed $1.5M+ in incremental revenue in FY21.
Experimentation system
The technical core of this work was the evidence loop: how an observation became a tested change and then a shipped feature.
- 01ObserveFunnel analysisWhere customers drop, by channel and line of business
- 02UnderstandResearchCustomer insight and market research
- 03TestA/B experimentsThe smallest change that could move the metric
- 04SpecifyBRD / PRDRequirements for 15+ features
- 05ShipDeliveryUX, data science, product and engineering94% on-time
Delivery and execution
Delivery ran in SAFe across four concurrent workstreams. I coordinated 8–12 stakeholders, facilitated the Agile ceremonies, and kept sprint spillover under 4% with 94% of commitments delivered on time.
Metrics
- RevenueCommercial outcomes
- Incremental revenue, FY21
- $1.5M+
- Pilot revenue, 3-year plans
- $320K
- ARR, Hum+ Wi-Fi
- $100K+
- ConversionFunnel metrics
- Order fulfillment
- +11%
- Cart abandonment
- −13%
- Upgrade rate
- +14%
- Add-on attach
- 23%
- ExperienceService and satisfaction
- Service inquiries
- −22%
- Delivery time
- −2.1d
- CSAT points
- +3
Business impact
- $1.5M+ incremental revenue in FY21.
- $320K pilot revenue from three-year device payment plans, with a 14% higher upgrade rate.
- $100K+ ARR from the Hum+ Wi-Fi add-on at a 23% attach rate.
- Verizon Spotlight Award for Customer Excellence (2021), from Verizon’s GTS team.
What changed
- Cart
- BeforeSeparate carts across retail, web and assisted channels
- AfterOne cart across channels: 11% more orders fulfilled
- Financing
- BeforeShorter device payment terms only
- AfterA three-year option, piloted first: 14% more upgrades
- Fees
- BeforeEarly termination fees drove service inquiries
- AfterA redesigned fee experience: 22% fewer inquiries
- Fulfillment
- BeforeOrders waited for every item
- AfterAvailable items ship first, contactless: 2.1 days faster
- Add-ons
- BeforeA new add-on without a proven sales motion
- AfterA digital attach flow: 23% attach, $100K+ ARR
What I learned
- Pilot before you scale. The three-year payment plan proved $320K and a 14% upgrade lift before asking for a bigger commitment.
- Support volume is product feedback. The fee redesign came from customer insight, and service inquiries fell 22%.
- Operational constraints can become product opportunities. Contactless delivery during COVID became split fulfillment, 2.1 days faster.
- Give every change one metric. Each of the five was accountable for a single number.