Floral eCommerce Pioneer

Industry: Retail & CPG

Floral eCommerce Pioneer

Posted by Encora on Aug 31, 2020 3:34:39 PM

Advancements in Cloud applications, Data Science and UI/UX are highlighting the need of digitally-native companies to upgrade their Digital Commerce capabilities, from the presentation layer back through the application and data layers.

Topics: Product Engineering & Development, AI & Machine Learning, Cloud Services, Retail & CPG, Data Modernization & Engineering

Industry Context

Many companies took their first steps "online" 10-15 years ago, and are only now confronting the limitations of their earlier Digital Commerce architectures. Advancements in Cloud applications, Data Science and UI/UX are highlighting the need of digitally-native companies to upgrade their Digital Commerce capabilities, from the presentation layer back through the application and data layers. Mastery of leading-edge technologies is now required to compete and win in this increasingly digital market.

Client Challenge

1-800-Flowers has been a leader in floral delivery for the past 40+ years, and took an early market leadership position in Digital Commerce with 1800Flowers.com. One of the core drivers of customer engagement, the brand’s “Smile Reminder”, was built on a separate, outmoded architecture. This resulted in data fragmentation and associated analytical challenges, slower site performance, and a corresponding erosion of customer experience.

Approach

The joint client-Encora team holistically redesigned the “Smile Reminder” platform, enhancing its effectiveness as a driver of loyalty and long-term customer engagement.

Strategic Positioning services identified an ownable space that could drive growth and separation from competitors.
Customer Journey services design the targeted customer experience, integrating the “Smile Reminder” into the broader digital experience.
Platform Modernization services were deployed to migrate the “Smile Reminder” functionality into a more modern architecture. This had the benefit of integrating the operational data, as an input into real-time analytics, and dramatically improving site performance and customer experience.
Product Engineering & Development services reconceived the overall architecture and used an agile approach to deliver all new product features spanning the presentation, application, and data layers.
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning services were deployed to personalize the digital experience based on the combination of observed and simulated behavioral data.
Digital Experience services designed and delivered a superior “Smile Reminder” experience, strengthening customer relationships with the brand.
Data Modernization & Engineering services were used to deploy an integrated data warehouse that provides decision-makers with realtime visibility into performance.

Results

The new “Smile Reminder” module dramatically improved the customer experience, with faster site performance as well as enhanced feature functionality. In addition to stronger engagement with customers, the new capabilities established a platform supporting realtime analysis and decision-making to drive performance over time.