Home and garden retailer Homebase is tapping into IBM Commerce to provide do-it-yourself online shoppers a highly personalised shopping experience.
Resulting in double-digit sales growth in all digital sales channels and a 30% increase in online visitors, Homebase has been able to offer customers a customised shopping experience online through its collaboration with IBM.
Utilising advanced analytics to understand and anticipate customer needs, Homebase can now guide customers through its 38,000 home and garden products with a tailored customer experience across 160 different kinds of home improvement projects.
Homebase brought IBM onboard in order to cater for their online customers, a demographic which accounts for nearly 40% of all customers. IBM helped to redesign how its digital channels could offer more help, advice and inspiration.
IBM Commerce has allowed vast new functionality, from scanning bar codes with the Homebase mobile app to learn about other plants that caught their eye while at the store, to chatting online with other customers on their experiences with these types of plants.
Customers can also seek advice from other customers by chatting online, while ordering plants on a tablet from the garden can be made after reassessing the garden bed layout.
IBM Commerce has also sped and simplified Homebase’s stock, payment and delivery capabilities – regardless of whether the purchase has been made online, in store or on mobile devices.
Content from our partners
Homebase can now ensure the right products are in stock at the right time from the most convenient location. It also allows fast checkout and flexible fulfilment options, from Reserve & Collect to home delivery, that best suit the customer’s needs.
"Our business is changing rapidly. It’s not just selling wood, nails or screws, it’s about helping our customers live in a home they really love," said Jo Kenrick, Marketing Director, Homebase. "By standardizing our platform on IBM Commerce, Homebase has transformed its digital presence into an interactive inspirational showroom that guides them through all their home improvement needs."
This transformation enabled by IBM Commerce has turned Homebase into a true omnichannel retailer, with both Homebase and IBM teams working together in the design and development stages, integrating both physical and digital channels.
In addition, Homebase tapped into IBM’s ecosystem of partners to integrate additional enhancements to the IBM platform such as digital content engagement from CoreMedia and advanced search capability from BloomReach.
"Homebase demonstrates how market-leading retailers can adapt to new buying patterns by always putting the customer’s needs at the center of all their business decisions," said Deepak Advani, General Manager, IBM Commerce. "By helping Homebase better understand their customers, IBM enhances the shopping experience in ways that surprise and delight even longtime customers."
