Back in 2013, premium baking and cookware brand KitchenAid enjoyed a successful relationship with wholesalers, but hadn’t yet made the step towards selling directly to its end consumers. KitchenAid wanted to have a better understanding of who their end-consumer was and tailor their offering towards them, without disrupting their loyal wholesale base.
KitchenAid recognised that they lacked insights into what made their end customers click and buy. They wanted to place themselves in a position where they could sell direct-to consumer (D2C), as well as make sure they could best serve their own customers. Thus, the task of creating their own data-driven ecommerce began.
But where to start? Without in-house resources to help with the set up and implementation of an online store which needed to be live in 11 different European countries, the brand was looking at a huge project.
They would need help in a range of fields, from initial website set up, ongoing monitoring, optimisation, and analysis, to logistics, fulfilment, and customer service…This all proved to be a big challenge, and one they did not think they could tackle alone.
As end-to-end ecommerce experts, naYan was keen to propose a retail-as-a-service model, completely suited to KitchenAid’s needs and requests.
At its inception, naYan was instrumental in launching the websites, with the design and technical teams creating and setting up the multi-lingual sites on naYan’s own platform. We organised photo shoots of the KitchenAid products to add throughout the sites, which helped to guide customers in their purchase process.
The naYan marketing team implemented and analysed reporting tools to aid KitchenAid in their endeavour to create a data-driven approach; the logistics and warehouse teams took care of the safe handling and shipping of each and every order placed on the websites, and the customer care team took on any questions the customers had about their order.
Fast forward to the present day and the KitchenAid-naYan partnership continues to thrive. The naYan team acts as consultants by thinking outside the box and bringing exciting ideas to the table so as to maintain a fresh ecommerce offering for both new and repeat customers.
In 2017, naYan suggested adding a personalisation service to selected stand mixer models, sourced the machinery to carry out engraving, and implemented all the backend set up to make sure the order process ran smoothly. This idea helped to differentiate the KitchenAid websites from wholesalers, as well as from competing brands.
Another vital cog in the ecommerce machine: naYan’s dedicated customer service team acts as an integral part in optimising KitchenAid’s websites. First-hand customer feedback and information is always vital to gauge how well (or badly) something is working, and the team is the primary contact point for KitchenAid customers. By collecting all this first-hand information on website issues and return requests, naYan and KitchenAid can work together to implement improvements and help to reduce the number of returns overall. This not only helps to make everything more cost-efficient, it also gives customers a better online experience.
More recently, KitchenAid and naYan have worked together to open up their assortment across various marketplaces, including Amazon. This expansion ensures that the full range of ecommerce customers who are interested in trying KitchenAid can be cultivated and catered to.
Over the years, KitchenAid’s ecommerce branch has flourished with online sales increasing significantly year on year, website functionalities constantly enhanced, and data and information analysis helping to optimise at every level.
naYan has continued to bring innovative ideas and technologies to KitchenAid to help improve and enhance the customer experience across all aspects of the ecommerce websites. The team also offers support on all site enhancements, whether this involves larger projects such as moving platforms, or more integral, day to day developments.
Thanks to their own ecommerce business, KitchenAid now has a much better view on who their customer is and what they want to buy. By using the data from their own websites, other services such as eCRM and newsletter marketing can be improved and tailored to offer customers a more personal and applicable experience.
This is exactly what KitchenAid, who celebrated their centenary in 2019, set out to achieve at the beginning of their ecommerce journey, and they hope to strengthen this relationship with their customers going forward.
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