There’s little question that getting data on customer behaviour and analyzing it is key for many big brands in Canada. Staples, with its business-focused customer base, is no exception.
With a growing Air Miles partnership, a new mobile-based photocopying system at nine stores and an improved mobile app coming this summer, Marketing chats with Dwayne McMulkin, director, innovation and marketing at Staples Canada, to find out how the retailer is innovating at locations across the country.
With so much data at our fingertips, how is Staples using it to gain an advantage?
Staples uses insights to offer customers a better experience both in-store and online. We can use insights to provide customers with what they want, when and how they want it. We also ensure that we offer solutions to their business problems. In addition to our own in-house consumer insights, our partnership with Air Miles helps give us new insight into our retail customers. We’re able to build integrated marketing programs across a variety of mediums that allow us to nurture customers through various stages in their lifecycle, and make recommendations based on their experiences. Customer insight helps us better understand our best customers to ensure loyalty and satisfaction. The primary objective is to enhance the individual customer experience and to ensure all interactions with Staples are as frictionless as possible.
On the customer side, how does data allow Staples to better serve its shoppers? And how does it serve Staples’ suppliers and connect them to customers?
Our promise to our customers is “Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop.” With this in mind, we have brought on board hundreds of new suppliers and now offer over 140,000 products on Staples.ca. And while all of these items are available online, Staples has also made it easier for customers to purchase these items, however and wherever they want, through our new in-store Staples.ca kiosk, buy online/pick-up in store and ship to store options.
Do you think the traditional “sales funnel” is dying?
No, it’s just getting more complicated. Firstly, different customer segments want to receive and access information differently. While many of our customers still rely on our printed flyers, other segments want to see what’s on sale this week through mobile. We need to ensure we have a presence in both. Secondly, defining the direct ROI on our marketing vehicles has become increasingly challenging as customers no longer move in a linear path. There are dozens of different touch points a customer might be exposed to before they decide which laptop is right for them, for instance. Figuring out how much weight and influence each communication vehicle carried is extremely difficult. Also, understanding what the next message should be and how to communicate it has become more complicated because of these non-linear interactions.
With the Staples app, what’s the customer feedback been like so far?
Staples was one of the first retailers in North America to launch an app several years ago with some very basic functionality. Recently, we’ve been improving the overall app experience and will be launching a brand new app for both iOS and Android this summer. While direct mobile sales so far represent only a small portion of total online sales, we are learning more about what in-store sales are directly influenced by the mobile experience, both before a customer reaches our stores and once they are in our stores. We then use this information to improve the overall mobile experience.
What about a flyer-type segment in the app?
Yes, enabling the customer to easily see what items are currently on sale in our flyers, along with additional daily deals is a key element of the app that we have enhanced in the new version. In addition, we also work with flyer aggregator apps like Flipp to ensure our flyers are reaching as many Canadians as possible through the channels they want to receive them.
How does the Staples app program fit into the overall vision for marketing in the future?
We need to ensure we understand the value it delivers. For example, we are currently launching new functionality for our Copy & Print business that will enable customers to print files directly from their phones at any of our more than 300 Copy & Print Centres. These apps also give Staples the ability to communicate directly with customers when they are in a store through geo-fencing and beacon technology–imagine walking into a store and being notified that your favorite brand of coffee is on sale. We are currently testing this capability in nine stores across the country. And it’s not just customers. We also recognize the mobile potential for associates who are in-store helping our customers with their purchasing decisions. We are currently testing various mobile devices that give our associates information on inventory levels, online competitive price comparisons and the ability to communicate with one another.
