How At Home Used Email Visualization to Rapidly Shift Priorities
Last year was a year of creative thinking for many brick and mortar businesses and their marketing teams. In 2020, the most successful companies were the ones that rapidly adapted to the virtual world after COVID-19 lockdowns cut foot traffic to zero. At Home, the home décor retailer, required an agile approach to communicating with customers, especially when states began implementing indoor gathering restrictions.
With more than 200 stores nationwide in 39 states, marketing executives needed a way to quickly communicate which locations were open and which ones were accepting BOPIS only (buy online pick up in-store).
For a personalized way to relay quickly changing information, there was only one choice. Ben Gilbert, At Home’s Senior CRM Manager, spoke at Movable Ink’s (RE)Think virtual conference about how email marketing helped the company quickly shift from an in-store focus to one that prioritized online sales while maintaining valuable customer loyalty.
It all started in March when everyone’s organizational priorities dramatically changed. When the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S., At Home’s BOPIS offering transformed from a pilot program to an enterprise-wide solution when stores closed their doors. That meant quickly ramping up from 10% of stores offering BOPIS in January to 95% of stores by June.
Utilizing location marketing and digital personalization
At Home targeted email customers with messages about local store closures and new BOPIS offerings by implementing Movable Ink’s real-time Location Targeting via an API integration.When business priorities shifted, marketing teams quickly sent emails that offered local store updates through Movable Ink’s Critical Messaging banner. After March, new emails contained up-to-date store information that allowed customers to shop safely while complying with local social distancing guidelines.
With Movable Ink’s Location Targeting, At Home showed email subscribers their closest store location on a live map, along with icons that displayed how customers can shop, whether it was in-store pickup, curbside delivery, or local store delivery. Customers could also head straight to the local store’s landing page from the email.
Email visualization allows you to shift priorities quickly
During his brand presentation, Ben Gilbert outlined how personalization allowed At Home to create new sales opportunities throughout 2020. He used Movable Ink’s seamless CRM integration to gamify their loyalty program, increasing unique VIP customers by 87% in the first 60 days.
The retailer also implemented Device Targeting and Tap-to-Text email functionality to increase SMS subscribers by 10K in 30 days, and the Abandon Cart Banner increased incremental traffic by 14.5K clicks. For At Home, email customization led to quick wins in a year where creativity was fostered by unforeseen circumstances.
An email visualization platform that integrates into your CRM offers valuable ways to personalize messages. Enterprises that value personalized marketing have adopted Movable Ink’s unique data visualization and creative to prepare email subscribers for a new shopping experience or retain loyal customers. For At Home, that meant updates on store closures and new BOPIS options.
What could it mean for your organization? Curious to learn more on how Movable Ink can drive customer value in your next marketing campaign? Request a demo here.