Corra Q & A: Inside our Partnership Program
3 Min Read
In the ecommerce landscape, partnerships are key. Not only is it important for retailers to partner with an experienced agency like Corra, it is also important for the agency to have strong relationships with other vendors who can make their clients’ visions come to life.
Through our Strategic Alliances program, Corra selects the very best technology providers in the industry to work with. I sat down with Martina England, Director of Strategic Alliances, to find out more about how Corra forms these partnerships.
Can you start with a bit of background about your own experience in ecommerce that led you to head up Corra’s Strategic Alliances program?
I’ve been working in some division of the ecommerce space for several years now. One thing I was always interested in while working with clients was how they can get a better service offering. How can they eliminate the need for their resources to become overworked? How can they find interesting pieces of technology to integrate?
When the opportunity came about to work in Strategic Alliances at Corra, it was really a perfect fit for my interests. Now I get to explore these technologies full time, and to learn about all these offerings day in and day out. It has also driven me to stay up-to-date on ecommerce trends, which helps keep Corra relevant for our forward-thinking clients.
What differentiates Corra’s partner program from those at other agencies?
Ours is one of the only client-focused, results-driven programs in the ecommerce space. Plenty of other agencies have this department or position, but I have found it’s used more informally, and sometimes benefits the agency more than the client. Corra’s partner program focuses instead on what’s best for our clients, and what technology will serve them best. We’re looking at how these vendors rank in the marketplace, and whether the technology is consistently updated, integrates well with the platforms, and offers great customer service to Corra and our clients.
What do you think makes a good partner for Corra?
There are a few criteria for what makes a good partner. I ask a few questions:
- Is there a need for the technology? There’s so much clutter in the space, you have to make sure the solution is not serving just one or two clients, but provides an across-the-board solution.
- Is it a good technology? It has to work well with the platforms, not throw in bugs, and be updated regularly.
- Will the company create a good relationship? They need to fit in with our culture to the point that everyone within Corra feels free to talk to anybody at the partner company. A part of this is offering good customer service, and being quick to respond to our team members and our clients.
The process to become a Corra partner is quite rigorous. Why do you feel this is important, both to Corra and our clients?
The process in and of itself is important because we don’t want to recommend a vendor we don’t believe in. Again, there is so much clutter out there. There are so many different technologies, so many different companies that want to get their name out, so many competitors who are doing the same thing but with minor differences. We just want to make sure we’re staying on top of the absolute best technology, and the best practices within each vertical for ourselves and our clients. Our trusted partners truly are a reflection on Corra, so we only want to partner with the best.
Have more questions about our Strategic Alliances program? Email
Martina@corra.com.
____
Sasha Butkovich is Marketing Copywriter at Corra, a New York, Los Angeles and London based digital commerce agency creating unified commerce experiences for fashion, lifestyle and beauty. Corra’s ecommerce strategy, design and technology professionals deliver rich shopping and buying experiences across all channels and devices. Our team is trusted by retailers of all sizes to implement and support the Magento Enterprise and hybris platforms.
Sasha Butkovich is Communications Marketing Manager at Corra. Managing the agency's communication, branding, PR and social strategies, Sasha focuses on developing engaging content for decision makers in the digital commerce industry. Sasha brings a background in copywriting and over five years in ecommerce marketing to her role at Corra.
Corra, a Publicis Sapient company, is the global commerce leader and SI helping brands and organizations grow by evaluating, building, and optimizing their digital commerce ecosystems. Our vast experience with composable and headless implementations speeds time-to-value and provides technical freedom to our clients. Our TotalCare managed services program provides gold-standard support, enhancements and ongoing commerce strategy. We are strategic thinkers, accomplished engineers, and award-winning experience designers. We believe outstanding customer experiences can’t exist without flawless technology, and that flawless technology is pointless without beautiful, human-centered design. Our clients are an integral part of our team. Together, we remove the obstacles that are limiting growth and discover new opportunities. We don’t rest until our clients achieve their full potential. Our clients’ KPIs are our KPIs. We have 20 years of experience in commerce technology, but we also know that customer expectations are constantly evolving. For this reason, we’ve built future-proof solutions and refined an agile execution process that helps our clients achieve more with less. As a Publicis Sapient company, Corra joins a global network spanning 20,000 people with 53 offices around the world enabling us to accelerate our clients’ businesses through designing and building the experiences and services their customers demand.
