How the right in-store experience can help combat the competition

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In the face of a rapidly growing online retail threat, bricks and mortar smartphone accessories and repairer, Happytel, is using business insights tools, like CommBank’s Daily IQ, to develop a customer experience that truly sets them apart.

Over the past 20 years, Australia’s largest specialist retailer, Happytel, has built an impressive 65 store network spanning Australia and New Zealand with the clear goal of making it easy for customers to repair and source accessories for their smartphone or mobile device.

In its efforts to stave off major online rivals like Amazon and grow its $50 million annual revenue, Happytel has moved to strengthen its in-store offering and has put the customer at the heart of its growth plans.

This includes expanding its product range into the latest tech accessories – in huge demand with millennials – upgrading or launching 10 stores, and offering in-store experiences and solutions that you can’t find online.

Happytel’s Head of Marketing, Matthew Hwang, says that 20 years ago when the company opened its first store “you could tell customers who you are and what you sell – it was a simple statement.”

“In today’s complex digital environment, you have to earn the customer’s trust and everything we do is focused on creating an experience that differentiates us from our competitors.”

To achieve this, Happytel needed to know who their customers were, how they engaged in-store, and what they were buying from the retailer at any given time.

To gain valuable customer insights, the Happytel team uses CommBank’s free business insights tool, Daily IQ, to easily look at the age, gender, and location of their customers by each store and overall (derived from CommBank card sales).

“When we used Daily IQ to better understand the demographic breakdown of our customers, we confirmed that around 55 per cent were female between the ages of 35 and 55 years old.

“Better understanding our customer not only helps with our retail execution, but allows us to stock top performing products. More importantly, we can tailor solutions to specific customer groups.”

With the latest iPhone release, demand for Happytel’s products and services spiked as consumers rushed to get the latest accessories. It was Daily IQ’s insights into sales patterns that helped Happytel manage this surging customer demand.

“Before the recent iPhone and Samsung Note launch, we used Daily IQ to look at historical sales data to identify key staffing stress points across our stores. This helped us roster far more efficiently.”

A better understanding of sales patterns also helped Happytel gain valuable insights into its customer’s purchasing behaviour in-store, and open up new opportunities for Happytel.

“We used Daily IQ to look at the average basket size of our customers during the busiest times and when analysing this data, we realised that it was smaller than at other times.

“We deduced that sales were being lost because it took too long to generate a repair quote during these busy periods. We have since overhauled this process, and are seeing increased sales as a result.”

Hwang explains that using data-driven insights has revolutionised the way Happytel looks at growth and move into new areas with greater confidence.

“Data humbles you,” Hwang says, “Because it will challenge and break down the reality of what’s really happening in your business – you can’t argue with the facts.

“For example, three years ago we wouldn’t have considered investing in a Bluetooth headphone range, but when we looked at our sales data and customer demographics, we realised the potential for strong product sales.

“Majors like Amazon are coming, and data is more important than ever to help ensure our customer experience is on point. Tools like Daily IQ can give businesses an edge, and ultimately, that means we can go after new markets, validate and measure our decisions, and get our internal stakeholders on board.”

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