Southampton, UK, May 19, 2021 — Historic department store, Jarrold, is using innovative technology to help struggling gift buyers. Jarrold is using artificial intelligence technology and psychology research to help online shoppers find the perfect gift for any recipient. The technology, which was developed by Southampton-based startup BOON, is dramatically increasing sales and delighting users.
With a wide range of products available to their customers, Jarrold is always looking for ways to help shoppers browse their website and uncover their next purchase. With more options, shoppers find it harder to choose products to buy and can become overwhelmed. This problem is only made more significant when a customer is searching for a gift rather than making a purchase for themselves.
In partnership with Southampton-based startup, BOON, Jarrold has overcome this challenge with a unique and personalised smart gifting assistant. Unlike conventional gift finders, which apply basic filters like occasion, age and budget, the gifting assistant uses psychology research to establish each recipient’s unique situation, interests and desires through image-based questions. Users explore different question branches as they respond, creating an immersive and personalised experience, akin to what the customer might experience when talking to an in-store shop assistant. Once the questions are completed, BOON’s artificial intelligence algorithms analyse the responses and pick out the most relevant ideas to maximise inspiration.
“We’re so pleased to offer these experiences to our customers,” said Neil Park, head of ecommerce for Jarrold. “Whilst the conventional browsing experience is still available and works well for many of our shoppers, having this alternative, interactive experience is great. We know that picking a gift can be a real headache and we’re focusing on using exceptional experiences like these to help our customers.
“The team at BOON have designed the questions and configured their technology around our requirements, customers and catalogue. And we couldn’t be happier with the results: customers who use the technology are then over three times more likely to buy a product and have a much higher order value, and we’ve gained a better understanding of shopper demographics and desires.”
The designers of the technology, BOON, believe that existing retail experiences and personalisation technology have a long way to come. Their approach champions online privacy by giving users complete control of their data and total anonymity. Rather than tracking users behind the scenes, their AI learns from feedback that shoppers provide, giving better recommendations for each subsequent user.
“The experiences we’ve built for Jarrold continue to be a real success; it’s lovely to see retailers putting more emphasis on customer-centric experiences,” said Dylan Grey, CEO of BOON. “Our technology is a great match for what Jarrold had in mind. We’ve shown that by creating engaging experiences like this, we can help our clients grow customer loyalty, increase sales and get insights into their customers that they never had before. We’re thrilled with the feedback from Jarrold’s customers and the results the technology is delivering.”
After a successful trial with gift finders for their homeware and children’s toys departments, Jarrold is expanding the use of BOON’s technology across their range to help more struggling gift buyers.
Try the experiences for yourself at www.jarrold.co.uk and learn more about the technology at www.yourboon.co
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About BOON
BOON’s technology uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and psychology research to generate product recommendations for shoppers on retailers’ online stores. The product-discovery technology puts privacy and data control at the forefront as users answer fun, image-based questions to build anonymous profiles and receive personalised recommendations for themselves or a gift recipient.
About Jarrold
Jarrold was founded in 1770 and is regarded as Norfolk’s favourite independent department store. The retailer owns multiple stores including their flagship in Norwich, which is home to over 50 departments. With over 250 years and seven generations of family ownership, Jarrold is one of the most familiar business names in East Anglia.
Contact from BOON
Available for interview and further information
Name: Dylan Grey
Position: Founder & CEO
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +44 (0) 7864 025321
Further information: www.yourboon.co
Contact from Jarrold
Available for interview and further information
Name: Neil Park
Position: Head of Ecommerce
Email: [email protected]
Images & Captions
Images available here: bit.ly/3eGwkFA (and attached)
jarroldLogo.JPG – (no caption) Jarrold’s logo
boonLogo.JPG – (no caption) BOON’s logo
toyFinder.JPG – Shoppers are asked image-based questions to establish their recipient’s personality, likes and dislikes
boonFounders.JPG – The founders of BOON: Mike Oakley (left) and Dylan Grey (right)
boonGraphic.JPG – Shoppers get product recommendations after answering a set of questions