Icebreaker Unlocks Value With Amblique’s Team Extension
The Brand
Icebreaker is a New Zealand brand known for its innovative use of merino wool in sportswear and outdoor apparel. Founded in 1995, the company focuses on sustainable and ethical production and offers a wide range of products that are highly valued for their thermal regulation and odour resistance.
The Vision
In 2018, Icebreaker aimed to enhance their digital commerce capabilities to meet the evolving needs of their customers. With a strong online presence, their objective was to refine and expand eCommerce operations to boost growth and improve customer engagement. Amblique, known for having the most extensive experience with Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC) in the region, was chosen as the ideal partner for this initiative.
While Icebreaker had a solid digital foundation, they faced challenges in staying competitive due to the ambitious scope of their planned upgrades. These enhancements were aimed at improving user experience, increasing conversion rates, and ensuring seamless functionality across their website. Recognising the need for specialised skills to handle these complex demands, Icebreaker partnered with Amblique, effectively working as an extension of their team, to drive their strategic enhancements.
The Solution
To address Icebreaker’s need for specialised technical support and to ensure the delivery of high-quality enhancements to their site, Amblique provided a tailored solution centred around the allocation of dedicated resources.
Dedicated Team Extension
Two full-time developers, with deep expertise in Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC), were exclusively assigned to Icebreaker for the duration of six years. The developers who became integral to the project were also perceived by the client as a genuine extension of their internal team.
Expertise and Best Practice
Our developers brought best-practice knowledge in SFCC solutions and architecture, ensuring that the site’s enhancements were innovative and solidly built for future scalability. They followed strict coding standards, which improved the quality and upkeep of the code.
Quality Assurance and Release Management
The team implemented robust quality assurance processes to ensure that all deliverables met the highest standard of quality. Coupled with strict release management practices, they ensured the smooth and reliable deployment of new features and updates, minimising disruptions to the live environment.
Development Team Setup and Ongoing Management
The development team was structured to optimise efficiency and responsiveness, enabling agile responses to both business-as-usual (BAU) tasks and new project work. Ongoing management was handled seamlessly, with our developers taking proactive roles in both the planning and execution phases, ensuring continuous improvement and alignment with Icebreaker’s strategic goals.
The Process
The success of our collaboration with Icebreaker was largely due to the effective management style and open lines of communication established between the teams.
Management Style
Icebreaker took a direct approach to managing the dedicated developers from Amblique. By setting up and maintaining their own communication channels, Icebreaker ensured that the developers were fully integrated into their internal processes and culture. This hands-on management approach allowed Icebreaker to steer the project according to their specific operational needs and strategic objectives, maximising the impact of the developers' contributions.
“Amblique’s support, expertise and dedicated team extension has been critical for the success of Icebreaker ANZ. This 6 year relationship between Icebreaker and Amblique has meant we have had certainty and reliability when it comes to resourcing and the Amblique team members really became an extension of our internal team. Their support has enabled us to strengthen and grow our current digital commerce offering. The success of the Icebreaker ANZ websites over the past 6 years has definitely been enhanced by utilising Amblique’s experienced and reliable Salesforce Commerce Cloud best practice expertise - we wouldn't be where we are now without them.”
Calvin Anderson, Vice President Digital, APAC & Emerging Brands
About Amblique’s Team Extension Service
Increase headcount when it works for you with Amblique’s Team Extension Service. Amblique’s Salesforce Commerce Cloud certified members are enabled to step into your business and support your ecommerce team with daily Business Manager tasks. If you need extra support while you hire a full time staff member, or require an extra set of hands during peak trading periods, we can assist.