Because the browsing and buying journey is becoming more complex, it is more important than ever for retailers to not only track the path to purchase, but engage with consumers as they shop.
Luxury bath and beauty products retailer Sabon connects with its customers in real time and tracks in-store buying trends using the AppCard loyalty platform. Targeting women 18 to 54 years old, the New York-based retailer strives to forge stronger relationships with its customers, according to Inna Uretsky, e-Commerce and Marketing Coordinator at Sabon.
Since introducing the loyalty program, Sabon has seen an increase of 20% in overall ticket size. Approximately 14,000 shoppers now are enrolled in the program, equating to approximately 1,000 shoppers per store across the U.S.
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“AppCard has proved to be a great tool for the stores,” said Uretsky in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “The enrollment process is very fast and simple, making it easy for sales associates to obtain customers’ personal information. From there, we can start tracking what and when they made a purchase. With this information we can create a more personalized experience for the customer.”
The need to generate more long-term, ongoing dialogue with consumers was a trend Sabon noticed several years ago. “We were pulling reports that were time consuming to analyze and didn’t provide us with the necessary data to make accurate decisions,” Uretsky said. “That is when we realized we needed a loyalty program to help us gather pertinent data to help us better serve our customers.”
Sabon was introduced to AppCard by Sprint, which has an ongoing partnership with the loyalty program solution provider. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Sabon’s New York City location was struggling to regroup and bring connectivity back up to par. The retailer soon implemented machine-to-machine (M2M) technology from Sprint to have access to a dependable fallback network and avoid costly downtime. Powered by the provider’s 3G and 4G LTE wireless network and the M2M technology, AppCard offers detailed insights into browsing and buying behaviors, while also providing customers with tempting offers and incentives.
Connecting Products To Individual Shoppers
When shoppers register for the Sabon loyalty program, they have access to a branded storefront via a mobile app, which updates their account as soon as transactions are completed. AppCard then combines and updates this data in real time via a unified dashboard.
“Tying up each shopper with their item level transactions, regardless of their payment method, enables us to target the different campaigns in order to address customers’ needs and improve their in-store experience,” Uretsky said. “In addition, with AppCard’s text and push campaigns, we managed to target customers whom we missed and make sure they return again and again.”
With detailed data about customers readily available, Uretsky and her team can understand which products customers are buying, what offers consumers they react to, and which messages are most compelling.
“The more data we have, the more personalized the offers can be,” Uretsky said. “We are excited to get to know more about our customers and optimize our offers based on their recency of purchase.”
