PERSONALISED AUTOMATION LIKE NO OTHER

By utilising first-party-data, we have developed a hyper-personalised trigger flow and in-mail content that effectively supports customers throughout their entire journey – from their initial email and first purchase to fostering loyalty and securing repeat purchases.

The setup enables Søstrene Grene to send approximately 80,000,000 emails over the year, with nearly every single one of those emails being personalised.

The technical set-up is a combination of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and the Relewise personalisation platform ensures scalability, security, collaboration, flexibility and a solid return on investment.

The main reason? Affinity scoring.
Relewise captures various user behavioural signals from Søstrene Grenes customers’ engagement and calculates the affinity for specific product categories, products, or content. The affinity scores are used to personalise the customer experience by optimising product recommendations and content suggestions. Additionally, the affinity scores are used to define unique audience segments, enhancing personalisation even further.

Every week, the solution leverages signals and data from 300-400 new products and translates them into a highly customised recommendation of product or content as well as an automation flow, where each trigger mail is tailored to each recipient

One particularly interesting feature that contributes to the solution’s effectiveness is a new variant of ‘abandoned browse’, whereby we leverage and follow up on user behaviour from internal site search with abandoned search.

Combining existing product and content recommendations with customised calculations such as ‘basket openers’ and ‘product margins’, helps to maximise revenue potential.

By embedding first-party data into affinity scoring, Søstrene Grene successfully stokes user curiosity, and over time, grows customer loyalty to its brand universe.

Currently, we’re supporting Søstrene Grene in activating email data in its newly implemented mParticle Customer Data Platform. This will elevate the setup even further, as it allows for greater utilisation of first party data, which is crucial in a marketing era characterised by strict policies around tracking and data privacy.

Anyone who’s visited a Søstrene Grene store knows the brand provides a unique in-store shopping experience. Now, they’re mirroring that distinct experience online. All thanks to its clever use of first-party data.

The challenge?
With renewal as one of its core values, Søstrene Grene has a complex approach to retailing. In total, it sells around 4.000 products. Many of these products are sold for a limited time only. Once they’re out of stock, they’re really out of stock. And in their place comes a new cohort of products to delight and inspire its customers.

Every Thursday, this product drop hits. When this happens, Søstrene Grene renews up to 3-400 items. That translates to up to a staggering 70% of its product range across 110 product lines changing. Every year. The most popular products can sell out in a matter of days. Normally, they are not re-stocked due to Søstrene Grene’s focus on renewal.

At the same time, the brand strives to deliver experiences like no other, with relevant and personalised communications, product recommendations and suggested DIY projects.

So, how do you keep your marketing relevant and personal, when every week, many of your products disappear?

If executing this strategy doesn’t sound simple, it’s because it’s not. The challenge was to manage data from all the new products that were added to the online flow every Thursday and translate it into a highly customised automation flow, where every email is tailored for each recipient.

Rising to the challenge, IMPACT Extend and Søstrene Grene built a hyper-personalised marketing automation set-up which supports customers throughout the entire customer journey.

On the way, we aimed to generate more traffic for the web shop and app, increase revenue per subscriber, and boost retention, basket size and quality traffic.

Understanding the diverse buying patterns of customers and the non-linear path to conversion, especially across multiple countries, is essential.

By combining 1st party data, transactional data, survey data, and on-site behavioral data, we gain valuable insights into our target audience. These insights enable us to engage in targeted communication, where all content is not locked into predefined target groups, but rather focuses on delivering tailored experiences.

Our target audience consists of leads in the mid-funnel stage and existing customers with whom we aim to build loyalty. Leveraging first-party data and signals from the recommendation engine, we can tailor messages and communication to their specific needs and preferences. This approach allows us to cater to a personalised experience, ensuring that our customers feel valued and understood.

In addition, affinity scoring plays a crucial role in targeting customers with the right products. By analysing their preferences, interests, and past behaviours, we can accurately identify and recommend products that align with their individual tastes, further enhancing the personalised experience.

By combining data-driven insights, personalised communication, and targeted product recommendations, we strive to engage our target audience effectively and build lasting relationships based on their unique preferences and needs.

For new customers, the customer journey often begins with exposure to a lead ad on Facebook inviting them to register for Anna & Clara’s universe. The Lead Ads are targeted based on look-a-likes and first party data from valuable customers.

The customer is then welcomed by a mail flow that aims to get the customer to visit the website. Here, most customers browse the product assortment and the DIY section. If the customer decides to leave the website, the customer is then followed up by a newsletter, that contains personalised content based on the website content as well as products and categories in which interest has been shown.

Should the purchase be interrupted, the customer will receive an automated email containing the basket and an easy option to complete the purchase. In connection with the purchase, a profile can be created which provides Søstrene Grene with even more first party data to work with.

After the purchase, the customer receives a survey to assess the purchase experience. Based on purchase data and reviews, the customer is added to a post-purchase audience flow, that ensures personalised re-marketing campaigns across all channels.

The solution employs AI-based send time optimisation, strategically determining the most effective timing for each customer. By considering "oversaturated signals" from Salesforce Marketing Cloud, we optimise the dosage of communications, preventing overexposure and ensuring a balanced approach.

For behaviour-based communications, we have established automated hierarchical rules to avoid excessive messaging and overcommunication. This ensures that customers receive relevant and timely emails without feeling overwhelmed.

In order to maintain customer engagement and keep them informed, we schedule several emails per week. This consistent and thoughtful communication strategy ensures that customers remain connected with Anna & Clara's universe, without inundating them with excessive content.

Søstrene Grene aims to be among the leading companies that truly understand its customers by leveraging first-party data. Thus, the strategy focuses on establishing meaningful relationships with customers through a mutually beneficial exchange of first-party data.

To achieve this, continuously working on lead intake is crucial. We prioritise capturing and utilising data from potential leads, as it allows us to build a comprehensive understanding of Søstrene Grene’s target audience and tailor the offerings to their specific requirements.

To deliver a unique experience to each customer, we rely on signals and data. Even with Søstrene Grene’s high product turnover, we ensure that the customers receive personalised recommendations and relevant content.

As ad platforms increasingly rely on advertisers' first-party data to drive performance, we recognise the importance of providing quality customer data to these platforms. This dependence is evident in various aspects, such as CAPI match rate, enhanced conversions, and the overall necessity for high-quality first-party data to effectively reach and engage with customers.

We have helped Søstrene Grene transition from having only four data points per customer to a comprehensive set of 260 data points. This expansion in data collection allows Søstrene Grene to deepen its insights, moving beyond just purchase history to incorporate customer behaviours, attitudes, and contextual information.

Through the strategic focus on first-party data, continuous lead intake, personalised experiences, and deep insights, Søstrene Grene are well-equipped to build stronger customer relationships and achieve long-term business success.

• Revenue lift: Revenue per email up 303%
• Last-click attribution: ROI of 733% per email
• Customer Lifetime Value: Increased by 197%
• Returning customers: Increased by 142%
• New customers: Increased by 9%
• Basket size: Increased by 23%
• Quality traffic: Increased by 36%
• Time between purchases: Reduced by 3X
• Email subscribers: 16% of unique online customers are email subscribers. In fact, they drive more than a quarter (26%) of all the brand’s online revenue
• Internal efficiency: Employees spend less time on email flow creation
• NPS: Up from 69 (2021) to 73 (2022)