[00:00] [Upbeat, steady synth music begins]
[00:03] [Text on screen: Why develop an omnichannel strategy?]
[00:08] Sean Condon (VP Omnichannel – ASICS): So when we look at our, our journey as ASICS, we were relatively young in the direct-to-consumer space or omnichannel space. Um, you know, for our—we are 75 years old uh, at the current year, and when you look at our business, it’s been predominantly wholesale globally. Even in the United States, was the majority of our business um, throughout our existence so far.
[00:28] Sean: We realized that we were really a laggard in the space, so to speak, um, and we were looking to really connect with those consumers one-on-one. You know, we had built up a decent brand loyalty and brand following through distribution channels, but we realized the importance of actually interacting with those consumers and owning some of those end-to-end experiences so that they could come back to us as a brand and really understand their relationship with ASICS.
[00:48] Sean: And that’s really what propelled us into the journey of really leveraging different technology capabilities, different services—uh, the ones that Shani just mentioned—um, but also really reinventing how we were marketing and our strategy towards marketing and our approach towards marketing. Uh, we realized the importance of consumer data and being connected to those consumers.
[01:07] Sean: And ultimately, it’s not uh, in an effort to replace any other channel of business; it’s actually in an effort to enhance the channels of business. So when consumers are out in the market, we’re top of mind. So whether they’re shopping with us through our direct-to-consumer channel or whether they’re out shopping for shoes or apparel and they happen to be in any large sporting goods retailer or specialty retailer, ASICS is top of mind. So we’re also pushing that envelope so that we’re uh, a driving force behind our, our overall holistic sales.
[01:35] [Text on screen: Why optimize the in-store experience?]
[01:40] Sean: So really what, what we see is—and I mentioned it—it’s really about creating a consistent, cohesive experience across both channels. So for us, what we see is that consumers that choose to interact with us on a purchasing journey are ultimately more opt—or more apt to actually purchase from us.
[01:56] Sean: So when we see consumers reacting or interacting with us in a retail location, it’s very typical that we will see later an online purchase, even if a purchase is not made in-store that day at that moment. Uh, and the reason being is because people are still utilizing retail stores very much to touch and feel products. Like, there’s still that, that desire to have a physical experience even though we’re living in a digital world. And a lot of the times that will lead to them returning to us, whether it be online or later in that store journey. So they may return back to the store uh, and then opt to purchase with us at that time.
[02:26] [Text on screen: How did your launch of SheerID InStore go?]
[02:31] Shani Braun (Senior Manager, Retail Operations & Visual Merchandising – ASICS): Yes, we um, just launched SheerID InStore at the end of September this past year. Um, so the implementation took a few months. I think we actually started it in January of last year, um, working with the SheerID team um, to get everything ready to go. They even helped us with, you know, training for our stores, and we did an extensive training with them to make sure that they were fully prepared to speak to the customer about it. Um, and yeah, launched at the end of September, and it’s been doing very well. The customers have been uh, very happy that we’ve finally been able to launch this in-store to match up with our e-comm.
[03:03] [Text on screen: How do you measure your omnichannel success?]
[03:07] Sean: We’re measuring the core KPIs around sales and margin, uh, conversion, and everything else. But when you really look at all the data points, it’s not just about sales. Um, it’s also about the NPS that we get from our customers within our store and our digital channels to make sure that we’re meeting or exceeding their expectations.
[03:24] Sean: We le—we label those against industry benchmarks; we make sure that we’re continually outperforming or outpacing those benchmarks. Um, and if we’re not, we find areas for improvement. So we also seek feedback. Um, another way we do it is also through customer focus groups. So that’s a huge thing uh, is also getting on the ground, getting feedback from customers when we’re launching products, when we’re iterating on new products, and or when we’ve had a product that’s been live and in the market for quite some time um, and we need to solicit feedback to understand: is it still relevant? Is it still top of mind? Those are the types of things that we’re looking for. Now, they’re not always uh, able to be quantified; it’s a lot of qualitative analysis that goes into it as well.
[03:58] [SheerID logo appears with URL: http://lp.sheerid.com/demo-request]
[00:03] [Text on screen: Why develop an omnichannel strategy?]
[00:08] Sean Condon (VP Omnichannel – ASICS): So when we look at our, our journey as ASICS, we were relatively young in the direct-to-consumer space or omnichannel space. Um, you know, for our—we are 75 years old uh, at the current year, and when you look at our business, it’s been predominantly wholesale globally. Even in the United States, was the majority of our business um, throughout our existence so far.
[00:28] Sean: We realized that we were really a laggard in the space, so to speak, um, and we were looking to really connect with those consumers one-on-one. You know, we had built up a decent brand loyalty and brand following through distribution channels, but we realized the importance of actually interacting with those consumers and owning some of those end-to-end experiences so that they could come back to us as a brand and really understand their relationship with ASICS.
[00:48] Sean: And that’s really what propelled us into the journey of really leveraging different technology capabilities, different services—uh, the ones that Shani just mentioned—um, but also really reinventing how we were marketing and our strategy towards marketing and our approach towards marketing. Uh, we realized the importance of consumer data and being connected to those consumers.
[01:07] Sean: And ultimately, it’s not uh, in an effort to replace any other channel of business; it’s actually in an effort to enhance the channels of business. So when consumers are out in the market, we’re top of mind. So whether they’re shopping with us through our direct-to-consumer channel or whether they’re out shopping for shoes or apparel and they happen to be in any large sporting goods retailer or specialty retailer, ASICS is top of mind. So we’re also pushing that envelope so that we’re uh, a driving force behind our, our overall holistic sales.
[01:35] [Text on screen: Why optimize the in-store experience?]
[01:40] Sean: So really what, what we see is—and I mentioned it—it’s really about creating a consistent, cohesive experience across both channels. So for us, what we see is that consumers that choose to interact with us on a purchasing journey are ultimately more opt—or more apt to actually purchase from us.
[01:56] Sean: So when we see consumers reacting or interacting with us in a retail location, it’s very typical that we will see later an online purchase, even if a purchase is not made in-store that day at that moment. Uh, and the reason being is because people are still utilizing retail stores very much to touch and feel products. Like, there’s still that, that desire to have a physical experience even though we’re living in a digital world. And a lot of the times that will lead to them returning to us, whether it be online or later in that store journey. So they may return back to the store uh, and then opt to purchase with us at that time.
[02:26] [Text on screen: How did your launch of SheerID InStore go?]
[02:31] Shani Braun (Senior Manager, Retail Operations & Visual Merchandising – ASICS): Yes, we um, just launched SheerID InStore at the end of September this past year. Um, so the implementation took a few months. I think we actually started it in January of last year, um, working with the SheerID team um, to get everything ready to go. They even helped us with, you know, training for our stores, and we did an extensive training with them to make sure that they were fully prepared to speak to the customer about it. Um, and yeah, launched at the end of September, and it’s been doing very well. The customers have been uh, very happy that we’ve finally been able to launch this in-store to match up with our e-comm.
[03:03] [Text on screen: How do you measure your omnichannel success?]
[03:07] Sean: We’re measuring the core KPIs around sales and margin, uh, conversion, and everything else. But when you really look at all the data points, it’s not just about sales. Um, it’s also about the NPS that we get from our customers within our store and our digital channels to make sure that we’re meeting or exceeding their expectations.
[03:24] Sean: We le—we label those against industry benchmarks; we make sure that we’re continually outperforming or outpacing those benchmarks. Um, and if we’re not, we find areas for improvement. So we also seek feedback. Um, another way we do it is also through customer focus groups. So that’s a huge thing uh, is also getting on the ground, getting feedback from customers when we’re launching products, when we’re iterating on new products, and or when we’ve had a product that’s been live and in the market for quite some time um, and we need to solicit feedback to understand: is it still relevant? Is it still top of mind? Those are the types of things that we’re looking for. Now, they’re not always uh, able to be quantified; it’s a lot of qualitative analysis that goes into it as well.
[03:58] [SheerID logo appears with URL: http://lp.sheerid.com/demo-request]
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