We hear a lot about integrating different online and offline channels to enhance the customer experience. This strategy is not simply a retail trend as it is closely linked to the consumer journey, which in turn is becoming more and more complete.
In recent surveys, about 45% of global shoppers buy online and then buy in-store, giving them a more flexible way to buy and receive their items.
Those who think that integrating this strategy into a business is complicated are wrong. Nowadays there are tools that help with simple and cost-effective processes for large companies as well as for medium and small ones.
In today's article you will understand how an omnichannel operation begins with the case of one of our customers, Intimissimi, who started their omnichannel strategy in Brazil through our Pickup tool.
A brief summary about the brand
For those who don't know, Intimissimi is an Italian brand and has been in the intimate fashion market for over 20 years. Part of the Calzedonia Spa Group, the brand brings in its collections, refinement and simplicity in balance with the quality they seek in their productions.
Currently Intimissimi is present in 40 countries with about 1390 stores. Here in Brazil they are located in more than 80 stores between their own stores and franchises.
With the large area of activity of the brand in the country, the strategic team decided to start its operations to integrate its online channels to offline ones and encourage more customers to try its products.
The decision to start Omnichannel
The brand's operations in Brazil still did not make use of channel integration and realized that they could reach a new customer profile if they implemented omnichannel.
Research was conducted on market trends and site user behavior to determine which techniques best suited the needs of both the customer and the company.
"We saw that the market was going down this path of "pick up at the store", they were already interested in starting with omnichannel and we thought about some processes to implement," says David, e-commerce manager of the Brazilian operations.
Taking into consideration three factors: implementation cost, logistics management and relevance to the customer, the team decided to implement the infinite shelf and the Pickup store, which allows the virtual store consumer to pick up his purchase at physical store counters with personal assistance.
Integrating the Pickup Store
To implement this process, the brand chose to use Pickupby, a platform for managing the store pickup process. To hire the tool, it is necessary to have at least one physical store where the customer will pick up the product.
The system works in a simple and intuitive way, providing information about orders placed, new orders, orders ready for pickup, exchanges, and completed orders. At each status change, the customer receives an email, as well as the store and the brand's headquarters. Everyone involved is kept informed of the process until its completion.
Besides the choice of a system to structure the process, it was also necessary to initiate the sales team to the process, to ensure that everything worked smoothly and effectively.
The difficulties of implementing a new system
After the technical part of the implementation of the pickup system in e-commerce was done, it was time to take the novelty to the physical stores.
"In the beginning, the difficulty was to convince the salespeople that a flow was coming to them, that they only had to enter it into the system and still had the opportunity to make one more sale," says David.
The team responsible for the integration created a manual that was sent to all stores that would have the system working. Initially, the sales team did not accept the material well due to the hectic routine in the stores. Because of this, a less technical and more practical training was created with the intention of showing how easy the system would be.
In the training, it was explained what pickup is, how the process of the client buying in e-commerce and picking it up in the store works, the logistics that would make the order arrive in the physical store, the interaction of the store owner with the system, and the communication with the client.
"Each store that we were integrating the system was difficult to convince the saleswomen, and in this first moment it is very important to have the headquarters monitoring the saleswomen so that they remember to update the system so that the customer is informed," adds David.
How the consumer reacted to the change
Initially, the proposal to pick up the product at the store caused some consumers to feel strange, but soon the customer started to get to know the process and adhere to the new way of receiving their product.
The integration of channels not only offers more options for the customer but also serves as a strategy to increase the conversion of the online store, since the customer can choose to buy products for specific needs without having to reach a certain amount to get free shipping.
In addition, the implementation of the pickup store opens a new sales opportunity, since the customer can have a more complete contact with the experience that the brand provides and make new purchases in the physical store at the time of pickup.
Results after the new channel
The most noticeable change after the implementation of the pickup store was the new customer profile that started to consume the brand's products. With the free shipping option, price-sensitive customers started to try the brand's products.
"With the pickup store option, we noticed new customers who want to try the brand, and it's interesting for him to come to the store because the saleswomen are able to introduce the brand, the products and collection," says David.
The user experience with the brand has also improved. By buying to pick up at the store, the brand can offer a personalized service not only with differentiated packaging, but with indications based on the customer's purchase.
The new strategy is generating an organic increase in site conversions, reaching a new customer profile and making more people have access to the products and experience that Intimissimi offers.
Today the system works in 16 of the brand's own stores, with plans to expand to more than 74 franchises in Brazil.
Want to start Omnichannel in your business?
If you have read this case and feel it's time to integrate your channels, know that the simplest way to do this is with a Pickup Store system that helps you manage the process and concentrate the communication matrix x retailers x customers in one place.
You can test PickupBy in your store for free for 30 days by accessing this link.
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