Workflow Systemisation

Overview

A growing retail consulting business needed to professionalise its digital operations — from ecommerce fulfilment to email marketing and CRM management. Manual processes were limiting the team's capacity to scale, with customer data fragmented across platforms and campaign workflows requiring constant manual intervention.

This project delivered a connected operating framework across Shopify, Zapier, Mailchimp and supporting tools, creating reliable, repeatable workflows through targeted workflow automation and measurable outcomes.

The Challenge

The business was running its digital operations with a collection of disconnected tools and manual processes:

• Customer data was scattered across Shopify, spreadsheets and email platforms with no single source of truth
• Email campaigns and marketing automations were triggered manually, creating delays and inconsistencies
• Lead capture forms fed into spreadsheets rather than automated CRM workflows
• Order notifications, customer follow-ups and review requests were handled by hand
• The team was spending more time on admin than on revenue-generating activities

My Role

Digital delivery and marketing lead engaged to design and implement a structured digital operating model for the business. Led the transformation from fragmented, founder-dependent execution to documented workflows, scalable systems and targeted workflow automation through requirements discovery, platform evaluation, solution definition and delivery alignment.

Responsibilities included:

• Mapping current-state marketing, content and ecommerce workflows to identify process gaps and delegation constraints
• Designing a structured social media planning and approval framework to enable effective outsourcing
• Re-architecting and stabilising the WordPress website environment, resolving functional and lead capture issues
• Implementing ecommerce capability via WooCommerce and integrating customer data flows with Mailchimp
• Configuring targeted workflow automation across Shopify, Mailchimp and internal tools using Zapier
• Designing customer lifecycle email sequences including cart abandonment and post-purchase engagement
• Managing end-to-end book launch execution, including campaign planning, PR outreach and event coordination
• Training and transitioning delivery to external freelancers

Solution Delivered

Designed and implemented a connected digital operating framework across WordPress, WooCommerce, Mailchimp and supporting tools, introducing structured workflows and targeted workflow automation to support workflow improvement and delivery optimisation.

Key components included:

• A documented social media planning and approval system enabling efficient outsourced execution
• Stabilised and optimised WordPress infrastructure with improved navigation, lead capture and content publishing workflows
• Ecommerce implementation via WooCommerce to support book sales and campaign tracking
• Integration of ecommerce events with Mailchimp subscriber segmentation and lifecycle email sequences
• Targeted workflow automation using Zapier to synchronise customer data, route leads and trigger operational notifications

Commercial / Operational Outcome

The operating framework significantly improved execution consistency and delegation capability:

• Reduced manual marketing workflow overhead by approximately 60%
• Enabled cost-effective outsourcing through documented planning and approval processes
• Improved lead capture reliability and subscriber list growth through integrated ecommerce and email systems
• Supported a successful book launch with structured campaign execution and post-purchase automation
• Increased marketing consistency and cadence through systemised scheduling and triggered workflows

Systems & Tools