LAS VEGAS, March 20, 2017
/PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that Charlotte
Russe, a U.S. women's clothing retailer, is using Watson
Customer Engagement solutions on IBM Cloud to help them fulfill
record numbers of customer orders, improve profitability and
maintain high-levels of customer satisfaction. Available now,
IBM Watson Customer Engagement solutions are infused with
cognitive technologies that today are enabling marketing, commerce
and supply chain professionals put their customers' needs at the
center of every transaction.
Last year, for the first time ever, American consumers surveyed
made the majority of their purchases online rather than in
stores1. With the online and mobile shopping communities
growing ever larger and customer expectation for flawless services
across all channels and experiences remaining high, under any
circumstances, Charlotte Russe turned to IBM to help them prepare
for the busy 2016, five-day holiday shopping season.
Charlotte Russe had the Watson Customer Engagement solutions up
and running in seven months. Following deployment, the Charlotte
Russe team realized that its initial sales and transactions
projections for the holidays were significantly lower than
what the latest data reflected—online sales would increase over
2015 and could cause potential disruptions in service and
dissatisfaction among customer during the most critical period of
the year.
Poor online performance can be costly—a simple two-second delay
in the loading of the first page of the checkout process can result
in a 60 percent drop in conversions2. To help ensure its
success, Charlotte Russe turned to IBM's Holiday Readiness team,
which quickly assessed if the retailer could handle this drastic
spike in product demand. Based on results of the assessment, IBM
recommended adding capacity to help meet the anticipated growth,
fine-tuned the system and ran in depth performance tests ahead
of peak holiday shopping time.
These efforts paid off--over the 2016 5-day holiday shopping
peak, the IBM and Charlotte Russe teams worked side-by-side to
ensure that all systems were performing at peak
capacity. Despite record volumes of orders there were no
performance issues and the volume was handled easily by the
system.
"The always-on customer's relationship with a retailer lasts
only as long as the business's ability to keep their unique needs
and interests at the center of every interaction," said
Harriet Green, General Manager, IBM
Watson Customer Engagement. "Cognitive solutions are critical to
keeping the focus on the customer, under any circumstances. When it
comes to cognitive, IBM has a significant lead over the competition
and over this time we've seen firsthand how technologies like
Watson allow businesses to understand customers on entirely new
levels, adjust strategies as their interests change and new trends
appear and ultimately maintain their loyalty to the business."
Now for example, a customer could order a dress on their
smartphone and chose to pick it up from a location they pass on
their way home from work. Without human intervention, the order
management system (OMS) system can check inventory and, finding
that it's out of stock in the person's size, identifies which
location has the right item and can get it on the store most
quickly to fulfill the order. The store associate then receives a
mobile notification of the incoming item as well as recommendations
on other accessories the customer may be interested in based on
their unique profile. In the event the customer likes the accessory
but prefers it in a different color the associate can find where
else its available and have it shipped to their home.
Part of the Customer Engagement portfolio, IBM's Order
Management helps retailers handle orders, integrate with financial
processing systems, process shipping notifications, interface to
customer email and settlement systems and update inventory systems.
By using IBM's Order Management, retailers can make more informed
decisions about how to fulfill customer orders, potentially
resulting in improved profitability and customer satisfaction.
"Like all retailers, our business is judged by its ability to
serve the needs of our customers. If we can't meet their
expectations we can't compete," said Debra
Jensen, CIO for Charlotte Russe. "IBM is a proven leader
when it comes to retail transformation. Now we know that our
backend systems -- the engine that keeps sales flowing, orders
shipping and customers happy -- is solid, taking whatever our
customers throw at it and automatically understanding the best way
to meet their needs. We also know that as new trends emerge we are
in step with each customer."
IBM Watson Customer Engagement powers a full spectrum of
industry-tested solutions. These include cognitive engagement
offerings delivered as a service and on premise that help
businesses uncover insights hidden in their massive amounts of data
to understand, reason and learn about their customers and important
business processes. Today IBM is the only vendor that helps
companies infuse cognitive technologies into their marketing,
commerce and supply chain capabilities on their terms, when and how
they need.
IBM currently is working with more than 17,000 companies
around the world including customers such as Amadori Group,
American Eagle Outfitters, Boots, Ermes, Luxottica, Moosejaw
Mountaineering, Office Brands, Performance Bicycle, REI, Sherwin
Williams, The Clorox Company, The North Face, The Works UK, and
William Sonoma.
For more information follow us at #IBMAmplify and #WatsonCE.
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Contact:
Douglas Fraim
IBM
External Media Relations
617-501-6376
dfraim@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM