Omnichannel marketing may be in vogue, but not every brand can pull it off. Marketers sometimes fail to stitch the retail and digital domains together—resulting in two clashing customer experiences rather than one seamless ensemble.
Made-to-measure menswear brand Indochino managed to fasten the on- and offline worlds together by implementing a new platform and letting data design the customer experience.
Weaving the digital and offline worlds together
Founded in 2007, Indochino started as an online-only brand. In 2011, it made its first foray into retail with the launch of its Traveling Tailor program—an initiative for which it would host limited-time pop-up shops in certain markets and invite customers to come in for fittings or to look at fabrics.
“It turned out to be a really good brand awareness exercise,” says Pilar Catala, director of omnichannel digital experience for Indochino. “However, what we also found out is that it was really, really profitable.”
After seeing this initial success, Indochino decided to take the plunge and began opening full-time showrooms two years ago. Catala wanted to ensure that the in-store and online customer experiences were consistent, so she implemented Qubit’s Visitor Cloud platform—a central hub that connects data from various touchpoints to provide a unified view of the customer.
Designing with data
By using the platform, Indochino is able to create seamless experiences between its offline and online channels. Take its appointment-booking process, for instance. Catala wanted to use Indochino’s digital channels to drive in-store fitting appointments in certain markets. So, she started leveraging customers’ geolocation data to show them the nearest showroom on the website.
“So when you come to our website and you want to book an appointment, the showroom that’s closest to you is the one that appears first,” she explains.
The online booking process also gives Indochino the chance to collect more data on its customers and drive deeper personalization in both the digital and offline realms. When a customer books an appointment, Indochino asks him to select the type of appointment he’d like to have. It might be a 30-minute wedding consultation for a soon-to-be groom or a 60-minute time slot for someone wanting to have his measurements taken. The brand also collects the customer’s name, email address, phone number, and how he heard about the brand. All of this data goes into the Visitor Cloud platform. Customers can also opt in to Indochino’s email program at this time.
Once the customer enters the store for his appointment, an associate is able to review this information via a tablet app. Not only does this allow the associate to better understand what the client is looking for, but it also gives him the opportunity to upsell the customer or collect qualitative data, such as whether the customer is comfortable with how he’s being measured or if he’s enjoying the experience, Catala says.
“You collect all of this data in a very conversational manner,” she notes. “But at the same time, you’ve got this little app that’s actually driving the conversation.”
Finding a new style
This combination of qualitative and quantitative data has allowed Indochino to uncover new insights about its customers and business model. For example, when Indochino opened its brick-and-mortar store in downtown Toronto, it started targeting local professionals. However, through in-store conversations, the brand’s associates discovered that many of these shoppers actually lived in the neighboring city Mississauga and commuted to Toronto. So, Indochino opened up a store inside of a high-end Mississauga mall to reach these customers during their free time.
But because Indochino had never opened a store in a mall—only standalone boutiques—it had to adjust its business model. Instead of forcing customers to book an appointment online and then come to the mall, Indochino decided to appeal to window shoppers already in the mall and allow them to have their measurements taken without an appointment.
“It’s really helped us find cool areas to expand,” Catala says, “and really dive in and evolve our showroom model or approach to give the customer the experience that they want.”
Tailoring the experience
Indochino also serves up tailored experiences based on where customers are in their buying cycle.
For example, when a customer visits a product page on Indochino’s website, he will have the opportunity to click a “customize now” button and enter what Catala calls the “customization funnel.” Once in this funnel, the customer will have the opportunity to personalize the product to his liking. So if a customer opts to customize a suit, for instance, he will have the opportunity to pick out everything from the lapel and lining to the number of buttons and pant pleats.
At each stage of the customization process, Indochino offers information about why someone might pick one customized feature over the other, such as by noting that notch lapels are more versatile while slim lapels are more fashion-forward.
If the customer abandons the customization funnel experience, Indochino will retarget them, such as on Facebook. However, if he makes a purchase, Indochino stores that information in a customer profile for future marketing opportunities. A customer who already owns a black suit, for instance, might be shown a blue or charcoal suit at a later website visit, Catala explains.
Another example of personalization based on the customer buying cycle is Indochino’s wedding planning experience. If a customer visits the wedding section on Indochino’s website, he will have the opportunity to start planning the groom’s and groomsmen’s attire. Indochino will ask the customer for the wedding date and then guide him through the process of picking out the suit style, customizing it, and listing the groom’s and groomsmen’s contact information. Catala says Indochino even has a “grooms lounge” within its showrooms where wedding parties can come to get fitted and enjoy some foosball and beer.
“It’s all about proper customization and pertinent content on that site for you as a consumer,” she notes.
Producing chic results
Since working with Qubit, Indochino has seen 4.2% increase in revenue per customer, as well as a 3.7% increase in conversions. Last month, Indochino reported a 67% year-to-date growth in sales. In fact, Catala says that Qubit has helped Indochino drive $1 million in incremental revenue.
While she admits that she was concerned that Indochino’s brick-and-mortar stores would “cannibalize” the brand’s online business, Catala now realizes that the two channels need to work together to benefit the business as a whole. And when it comes to creating an omnichannel experience, she now knows that the customer knows best.
“The biggest lesson is it’s not up to us to dictate the customer experience,” she says. “The customer will tell us how they want to deal with us.”
