01
Commerce Growth & Business Cases
Assess where to invest, whether direct-to-consumer commerce makes economic sense, and what to test before committing to a larger program.
A practical business case, priorities, and a plan to test the opportunity.
Digital Commerce Advisory for Consumer Products Leaders
Experienced guidance for your next digital commerce decision.
Kappa Strategy helps consumer products leadership teams identify growth opportunities, choose platforms and partners, and strengthen digital performance. Ken Bausch brings the perspective of an experienced operator, working alongside your team from assessment through implementation.
Ken’s Operating Background
Coach · Lenox · Oneida · World Kitchen · Welspun · Newell Brands · MerchSource
Advisory Services
Support for the decisions that move your business forward
From evaluating a new commerce opportunity to choosing a partner or improving performance, the work starts with your business priorities.
02
Platform & Partner Selection
Choose technology and agency partners with a clear view of business requirements, operating needs, and total cost.
Requirements, RFPs, structured demonstrations, and an executive recommendation.
03
Marketing & Marketplace Performance
Understand what acquisition, retention, and marketplace activity contribute to the business, with reliable measurement and clear accountability.
A shared view of performance and a focused plan to improve it.
04
Digital Organization & Practical AI
Build clear responsibilities and shared standards across brands and functions. Identify AI applications that fit the work, data, and capabilities of your team.
An operating model and a sequence of improvements the organization can sustain.
Selected Advisory Work
From business question to practical action
Representative work, generalized to protect client confidentiality.
Systems Strategy & Global Operating Model
Bringing two business units onto a single product code
A luxury home textiles brand selling to consumers and to hotels and resorts asked whether its systems could carry the global growth its leadership had planned.
Challenge
The company ran as two units with separate systems, processes and product codes — one built around manufacturing, the other a sales business bridging its functional gaps in spreadsheets. The same item carried different numbers on each side.
Work
Interview leadership and users across both businesses, document the systems and who owned them, review the commerce environment, and direct the partner running search and display. Sequence the recommendations: one global product code, then one product management process, then the platform and ERP decisions that depend on both.
Result
One view of the systems in place and a path to operating as a single global company, presented to the chief executive. The largest platform decisions were placed last, behind the data work they depended on.
Measurement & Marketing Accountability
Giving leadership a more reliable view of commerce performance
A consumer products company needed more consistent measurement and clearer platform ownership to support its growing e-commerce business.
Challenge
Legacy tags, inconsistent tracking, and unclear responsibilities made it difficult to reconcile analytics, marketing activity, and executive reporting.
Work
Audit the measurement lifecycle, retire legacy tracking, improve Shopify integrations, and establish ownership across the storefront, marketing platforms, and reporting.
Result
A more reliable reporting foundation and clearer accountability, giving leadership a stronger basis for marketing and marketplace decisions.
Executive Advisory & Technical Execution
Closing a gap no vendor owned
A consumer brand’s checkout came under sustained automated attack on its payment pipeline.
Challenge
Over several weeks automated traffic pushed fraudulent transactions through the pipeline, adding cost and chargeback exposure and polluting order data. Neither the platform vendor nor the payment processor owned the fix.
Work
Analyze the attack pattern, bring the vendor and the processor to the same table, identify a purpose-built mitigation and secure early access, then lead implementation and tuning with the client’s team.
Result
The attack was stopped without interrupting legitimate checkout. Monitoring and an escalation path are now in place.
About
An experienced operator, personally engaged
Ken Bausch, Principal & Executive Advisor · LinkedIn
Ken Bausch has led digital commerce and marketing for consumer products businesses including Lenox, Oneida, World Kitchen, Welspun, Newell Brands, and MerchSource. His experience spans more than 20 years in digital commerce, over a dozen B2C and B2B launches, and operations across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Work with brands, platforms, and agencies gives him a practical understanding of the commercial priorities, technology choices, and organizational realities on each side of the table.
Ken leads every engagement himself, working alongside management, internal teams, and existing partners to assess the options and move agreed priorities into action.
Ken also advises NetElixir and FORT Systems. Neither shapes what he recommends, and any potential conflict is raised before work begins.
- Principal-led from diagnosis through execution
- Recommendations grounded in client needs
- Commercial judgment with practical execution support
Platform Knowledge & Continuing Education
Current knowledge supports the work
Learning and credentials: OpenAI Academy — AI Foundations, Applied AI Foundations, Agents and Workflows; Google Skillshop — Google Analytics and Search Ads 360; Meta — Certified Business Marketing Strategy.
Program participation: Google Developer Program Member — Gemini Enterprise Ready; Amazon Solution Provider Services — Account Management.
Platform experience: Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce, Klaviyo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Amazon Vendor Central and Seller Central, SP-API, GA4, Google Tag Manager, OpenAI, Claude, and Gemini.
How We Work
Clear scope. Direct involvement. Practical progress.
We assess the situation, weigh the options, agree on priorities, and support delivery. Scope, responsibilities, fees, and timing are established together.
Focused Assessment
Situation Analysis
Typically a few weeks
Leadership interviews and a review of performance, technology, partners, and operating constraints.
A written assessment of the options, tradeoffs, and recommended next steps.
Defined Initiative
Roadmap & Execution Support
Often organized around a quarter
A plan with owners, budgets, and milestones, supported by working sessions with your team and partners.
An agreed path forward, with progress reviewed and adjusted as evidence emerges.
Ongoing Support
Executive Advisory Retainer
Monthly engagement
Regular leadership discussions, decision reviews, and practical support for initiatives in flight.
Continuity and experienced judgment as priorities and business needs evolve.
Common Questions
Before we begin
Who does Kappa Strategy work with?
Consumer products leadership teams evaluating a commerce investment, addressing a performance issue, or building stronger digital capabilities. Engagements often involve several functions or brands, with work across North America and international markets.
How do you work with our internal team and agencies?
Ken works on the client side, helping leadership evaluate options and coordinate the work of internal teams and existing partners. Technical implementation support can be included where useful, with responsibilities agreed in advance.
What happens on the introductory call?
A complimentary 30-minute conversation about your business, the opportunity or issue, and what you have tried so far. You do not need a finished brief. We establish whether Kappa Strategy can help and what a useful next step would be.
How are engagements scoped and scheduled?
We agree on the objective, deliverables, responsibilities, fees, and timing before work begins. Support can take the form of a focused assessment, a defined initiative, or an ongoing retainer. Start dates depend on scope and availability.
Let’s Start the Conversation
Let’s discuss what your business needs next.
Whether you are evaluating an investment, addressing a performance issue, or looking for experienced support, a brief conversation can help establish a useful starting point.