Client
In order to boost direct-to-consumer (D2C) eCommerce revenues, leading American bike manufacturer Specialized wanted to localize its digital offer in different regional markets without damaging retail partner relations around the world.
When we were approached to help, VML Commerce recognized an opportunity to transform Specialized’s existing fragmented ecosystem into a customer-driven omnichannel approach that had D2C at its heart.
The driving inspiration behind the project was to leverage D2C in such a way that Specialized’s own channels supported and complemented local dealerships, giving customers better options for purchasing bikes and parts in their own area.
The existing Specialized.com website was not the easiest to navigate and customers did not always find product discovery in their local area straightforward. By focusing on end-to-end integration between Specialized's digital channels and in-store retail partners around the world, the vision was to hand customers complete insight into availability on a local level through a convenient, user-friendly interface, whilst at the same time raising D2C revenues.
The main challenges we faced were how to centralize control of global digital channels for scalability and efficiency, how to empower country-level managers to market to their customers, and how to drive increased eCommerce revenue for Specialized without harming the commercial interests of local partners.
The core of the solution was a full website replatform on SAP Hybris with localized online storefronts launched in more than 10 countries around the world. We then built a proprietary access portal for local stockists, which they can use to provide Specialized with a daily automated feed of inventory units by SKU. This inventory information is then shared on the Specialized website so consumers can search and find availability for specific parts in their local area.
We then added a broad range of added-value features aimed at creating high quality, seamless CX across the new ecosystem. These included a ‘Find a Store’ tool, a Custom Bike Builder that ships tailor-made bikes to local retail outlets for collection, and a Bike Registration tool that allows customers to save their bike components and specifications for future reference.
On top of this, we also built an expanded Hybris CMS that holistically blends content and commerce, with things like informative articles about new bike technology and profiles of brand ambassadors woven throughout the eCommerce channel.
To test our approach to drive direct sales as well as marketing support for dealerships, we trialled it over 90 days, reviewing impact on site traffic, site visits, transactions and revenue. The trial recorded uplifts of 129% in site visits, 91% in transactions, 148% in organic site traffic and 79.9% in revenue.
After full roll out across 34 global markets, Specialized recorded an 80% uplift in global eCommerce revenues and a triple-digit increase in organic traffic.
