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“The customer is the customer. They don’t care if they are in-store, online or on the phone...they are the same person. It is so important to understand that.”

Kimberley Ruthenbeck, Director of Customer Experience, Room & Board.

Since the 1990s there has been a steady trend in retail to move as much commerce away from brick-and-mortar towards online. While brands were able to cut overheads and the customer enjoyed increased convenience, something was lost along the way. Through Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Room & Board was able to bring the personal touch of an in-store experience to the online world, with amazing results.

So what is it that we miss from that old-fashioned in-store experience that the online approach has failed to deliver? For Room & Board, they wanted to return some of that personalised, concierge service that they provide customers in-store. Not only the sound advice on the products they are looking for, but also those extra touches. Experienced sales assistants know how to upsell based on a customer’s preferences and provide advice on decor and colouring -- an opportunity often lost in the online experience.

Room & Board are using Predictive Intelligence to blend browsing/purchase history, online reviews, AND offline in-store sales data together to make online personalised recommendations to customers in the same way an in-store sales assistant might do. The results have been remarkable: Room & Board has increased the average order value by 16% and delivered a 2,900% ROI payback over a 2-month period!

By using Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Room & Board has been able to identify the following:

Combine online and offline data

  • The benefits of blending both online and offline data have only just begun. Every day the depth and breadth of data increases and the powers of “Machine Learning” grow stronger. As the algorithm learns more and more about the customer base, the wealth of advice it can provide through marketing communications becomes ever richer. But in order to deliver that in-store intimacy, online relationships with the customer are able to be more and more individualised.

A well crafted customer journey

  • Once customers opt-in for that personalised experience, Room & Board can learn a great deal from their browsing activity throughout the web-site and gather intelligence on a customer’s preferences that inform a truly personal experience.
  • An automated email dialogue can relay recommendations and pertinent content that augment the customer’s journey all the way to purchase.
  • Even beyond the transaction, Room & Board are able to provide delivery updates and personalised new product information that make the overall customer experience  smooth and seamless.

Relevance is Key

  • When a customer experience is this good, they come back - much like the way people find themselves returning to a great store over and over. Based on customer purchase history, Room & Board makes can continue to make relevant recommendations to help the customer complete the look they’re intending to create via personalised emails informed by Predictive Intelligence. It is the repeat purchases within the first couple of months of the original sale that is driving so much of the outstanding ROI Room & Board are enjoying.

 

But it isn’t just the customer that benefits. “Super fun to do” and “effortless” are two ways Kimberly Ruthenbeck describes the work she now does. You can listen to her talk about how Salesforce Marketing Cloud is helping her and her team succeed in this VIDEO.   

Learn more about the Room & Board Marketing ROI by downloading this report: