Digital Antibodies: How a Business Can Future Proof Itself

“Hey, Alex. I think we might take you up on that idea you had to build us an e-commerce business,” commented Daryl on the other end of the phone. Daryl is head of marketing at C.W. Shasky who market and distribute Tabasco, Pataks, Monin and other brands in Canada.

“That’s great!” I replied.

“Can you do it in two weeks?”

“…”

My mind raced, looking for a way to tell Daryl that we'd need more than two weeks to get something like this done.

“Two weeks? No problem,” I replied. 

Six weeks later we launched shopshasky.com, a place to buy your Tabasco, Monin and Pataks products in Canada online.

When we first talked about this in 2017, we figured a six month investment should be enough to have a working e-commerce option up and running. Maybe a bit longer depending on change requests. What the lockdown taught everyone is the simple lesson that in order to undergo a digital transformation of your business, everything you need is already available. Everything. The only thing that’s missing is the human factor - a resolve to make it all happen. The only thing that's required is sheer willpower. 

Shopify provides a great e-commerce platform, complete with e-store templates, payment clearance and an entire store of plugins including outsourced 24/7 customer care. There are drop shippers and logistics providers ready to start fulfilling at any moment. Postal services, couriers, customer support, everything you need to start selling is available and waiting for you to click it all together like blocks of LEGO. 

C.W. Shasky has been in business for over 35 years, acting as exclusive distributing of top consumer food brands across the Canadian foodservice market. For years the business has run on a no-nonsense, old-school sales and fulfilment approach. See the product, smell the product, taste the product and you can sell the product. Sell the product, load the product and you can ship the product. Ship the product, wait two weeks and repeat. 

One of the hardest hit segments during the pandemic has been the restaurant and consequently foodservice sectors. As I write this, I’ve gone from three to five restaurant visits a week to not a single visit in over two months. It’s been rough the world over. Many restaurants that are currently closed will never re-open, and that's the commercial Darwinian reality. Business that is hard hit and affected, not unlike people, is seeing the developing of a kind of antibody in the form of digital transformations. C.W. Shasky, like many others who’ve pivoted from necessity, have not only undergone a profound change but have future proofed their business, in a way developing commercial antibodies to make it to the other side and thrive in the new reality. 

And what’s fascinating to note is that this isn’t some random luck or impossible to access privilege. The tools and the knowhow are all there and available at entry level ease for anyone with the resolve to plug ... and play.