Neckermann.com is a leading distance seller in the Benelux, with a wide range of consumer products in several categories. Optimizing conversion, efficient multi-channel customer interactions, changing buying behaviour and becoming a state-of-the-art e-commerce business, are some of the ongoing challenges and operations of neckermann.com.
Traditionally known as a catalogue seller, the company is rapidly turning into an online retailer. Optimizing conversion, efficient multi-channel customer interactions, changing buying behavior and becoming a state-of-the-art e-commerce business, are some of the ongoing challenges and priorities of neckermann.com.
The company's core mission is to become a top-of-mind online distance seller in a market where this is a challenge, given the average profile of its customers. "Our mission is to turn neckermann.com from a former catalogue distributor into an e-commerce company. Now that people buy more online and are less loyal to a brand, the importance of a printed catalogue is getting smaller. At the same time the importance of the online communication and buying experience is increasing", says neckermann.com.
Purchasing behavior and online transformation
According to neckermann.com, the old model of distance selling is no longer adequate in the modern digital world even though there are still many strong points that remain valid. However, online changes occur quickly and that is noticeable in the behavior of the consumer.
"In almost four years consumer behavior has changed and brand loyalty has seriously decreased. If someone wants to buy a new television today they use Google or comparison sites and are sometimes triggered through marketing messages."
"The transformation from a classic distance seller to a state-of-the-art e-commerce specialist is a must", according to them. This has various consequences. It is a complete shift that goes beyond technology and also concerns people, resources, structure, organization and brand positioning.
The evolution to an e-commerce company, the changing buying behavior and the multi-channel reality go together with a need for the right technologies on the level of e-commerce, data management, conversion and communication according to neckermann.com: "Since the role of printed material is becoming less important, the emphasis lies on the further developments of email programs and the website. The Selligent suite plays a key role here."
Optimizing transactions, interactions and conversion
Conversion and tracking is essential to neckermann.com. Being able to identify where people leave the site during navigation and transaction processes is crucial. All these data are stored, together with data about the purchasing behavior, client profiles and online data, in a warehouse which then in turn feeds multi-channel selections and actions via Selligent . Selligent is synchronized with all these databases.
The platform is specifically used for optimizing various conversion and optimization processes for neckermann.com:
- Three times per week a so-called "Mail Advantage" is sent to the entire client base. Thereby it can be seen who clicked on what thanks to web tracking codes that are on every neckermann.com product page and order confirmation page. Through this the interaction with the email receiver is accurately monitored and follow-up actions are organized as explained below.
- Thanks to a connection with the product catalogue, Selligent dispatches messages based on the behavior of the site visitor. A few days after people have visited the site an entire process starts. An email is dispatched to the list with exception of certain profiles that are automatically excluded (e.g. someone who recently received an email after an interrupted purchase). The clients receive a personalized email with (at the most) five products that are comparable with the products they have browsed.
- Triggered emails are sent depending on various steps in the buying cycle, the click behavior and after sales, like abandoning the shopping cart, after-sales procedures (surveys, confirmation, sold-out products etc.). Other triggers are related to other parameters such as the customer lifecycle and personal customer data (for instance birthday mailings or proposals regarding special services if clients do not pay in time). All these scenario-driven interactions optimize conversion, relevance, customer experience and personalization.
Moving forward: multi-channel customer programs and excellent customer experience
Customer service and retention are very important in all the above mentioned actions. But so are an improved conversion and excellent customer experience by multi-step customer programs whereby personalization, segmentation and targeting of the right segments with the right valuable content promotions are key. Continuously improving customer programs and every step and element in the cross- and multi-channel online experience are what neckermann.com is striving for.
All the transformation processes in this e-commerce business required changes in the organization of neckermann.com but also new ways of improving both buying and selling through the identification of latent needs and even predicting buying behavior.
This goes hand in hand with the need to distinguish themselves as a brand and provide an excellent customer experience. But operational excellence is not the end goal of neckermann.com; it is the basis, the condition sine qua non."
And that is exactly what Selligent enables neckermann.com to accomplish in an automated, data-driven, smart, customer-centric and scenario-driven way.
