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Omnichannel Boots M-commerce

Boots lauds ‘digital beauty’ service for driving 'above average conversions' across the board

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

March 3, 2016 | 3 min read

Boots is reaping the rewards of digitising its beauty service – dubbed ‘Beautiful You’ – which it says is exceeding expectations just six months after its initial roll out.

One of the ideas to emerge from its in-house innovation hub, the concept was built around the idea of taking its in-store advisers online.

Users start by filling out an online questionnaire which can be accessed by in-store beauty advisors if and when a customer visits a store. The advisors can then do a full consultation before recommending products. These products are stored in an online ‘beauty cabinet’ for the cusomer to repurchase in the future.

Speaking at the British Retail Consortium’s Omnichannel event, Matt Poole, head of omnichannel product at Boots, said the service puts the customers in control of when they want to start a conversation with Boots in a way that’s convenient, relevant and has the right content.

“It’s not our decision how customers integrate phone and in-store,” he added.

And so far, Boots is pleased. After targeting a pool of 90,00 customers the initial results indicates that 77 per cent of those who visit the app will fill in the beauty questionnaire.

Poole also claimed that average order value for these customers is higher than the category average while in-store conversions are also 20 per cent over its target. Finally, online conversion is double that of Boots.com.

It’s among a number of activities the high street giant has been trialling in an effort to put the customer in control of their own experience.

In South West England it has tested a loyalty scheme akin to Waitrose’s Pick Your Own offers called ‘My Boots Value’. Much like Waitrose’s offering, with the scheme Boots customers can pick the five brands they get a discount.

Poole didn’t offer any figures on how that trial has performed but went on to say that it’s through initiatives of this ilk that Boot’s is becoming a “crucible of innovation” in the UK.

Omnichannel Boots M-commerce

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