With the official beginning of the holiday season upon us, the heads of two retail companies discussed what they’re doing to provide their customers with a personalized, cross-channel approach.
“We let customer choose how she wants to shop,” said Hudson’s Bay CEO Gerald Storch. “We’re agnostic and cross-channel. We want to make sure she’s happy, and that she gets what she wants, how she wants it.”
Ebags CEO Michael Edwards said no matter which touchpoint a customer comes in through, the company helps them find the right product easily. This holiday season, eBags plans to invest in Facebook campaigns and videos highlighting its products.
Edwards said eBags saw site traffic drop off two weeks after the hotly contested election presidential election, but over the last weekend it rebounded back to where it should be.
“We are starting to see strong results even through today,” he said. “We have been trending toward double-digit growth all year,” Edwards said.
He said mobile represents more than 50% of the digital traffic for eBags, a figure that may go higher over the peak holiday period. “Our customers are mobile first when they search and think about the holidays,” Edwards said.
Storch said Hudson’s Bay is working hard to connect the online and store experience. For example, Saks Fifth Avenue provides customers with a personal shopper who knows them, their sizes, preferences and order history, a value-added service that has proven popular with them. The program also includes live chat with a stylist from a nearby store, improving both the online and in-store experience.
Edwards said eBags increased its assortment almost 40% since the last holiday season, including its own exclusive, branded products.
For the holidays, eBags provides free and extended returns, two-day shipping. Also, an exclusive $5 luggage tag allows customers to enter a code in their eBags mobile app, which can help locate an item should it go missing.
eBags is also launching Trade In Trade Up, which allows shoppers to take any used backpack or luggage and donate it to Goodwill with the Give Back Box program instead of sending it to the landfill.
Daniela Forte is Multichannel Merchant’s Content Manager