Business Transformation Study Annie Selke: Dramatically Increasing Online Hits and Revenue with SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud Company: The Annie Selke Companies are a family of distinct brands. Together with the outlet store, the companies provide high quality lifestyle products for the home. Partner: However, they were operating on separate, outdated e-commerce platforms, leading to numerous issues including webstore downtime. Annie Selke looked to SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud to merge its multiple websites into a single, scalable platform. 1 / 9
Executive overview Company or Organization The Annie Selke Companies / Fresh American LLC Objectives Consolidate webstores for multiple brands onto one platform Improve usability of existing e-commerce platform to make it more accessible to the business team 94% Increase in online revenue for wholesale brand Headquarters or Location Pittsfield, Massachusetts Industry Lifestyle products for the home Products and Services Improve personalization in messaging to encourage customer interaction and loyalty Why SAP Hybris SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud requires less customization than its closest rival solution It also provides unique functions, including Architecture and Technology, which combines B2C and B2B operations 82% Increase in online revenue for retail brand 49% Rugs, bedding, furniture, accessories for the home Resolution More orders placed from wholesale brand Employees 175 Launched a more scalable, cloud-hosted online platform to handle increased traffic during peak periods Introduced a solution allowing Annie Selke to run both its wholesale and retail websites on the same system 66% More customer contact 2 / 9
Executive overview Benefits Significantly boosted both sales and website visits Encouraged cross- and upselling: 11% of orders are now from multiple brands that on average are worth 50% more than single-brand purchases Saved time and effort for the IT department Reduced IT costs Role of the partner Optaros supported Annie Selke in moving its various companies over to the SAP Hybris platform It helped the organization merge multiple websites into one, resulting in a more consistent online shopping experience 45% More visits to the website 30% Higher average order value for wholesale 22% Higher average order value for retail Future plans Implement SAP Hybris Merchandising to offer customers more personalized experiences and further boost sales 3 / 9
Company objectives Combining multiple brands under one roof Both retail and wholesale customers can rely on Annie Selke to provide beautifully designed, high quality, aspirational lifestyle products for the home. The organization which employs 175 people and is headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts comprises five distinct brands committed to providing the finest rugs, bedding, furniture, and home accessories. However, these brands had previously been run on separate websites, creating a complex, disjointed landscape of e-commerce platforms. This complexity meant that only specialists from the IT department were able to make changes to the sites. The organization was therefore investing funds in the department that it could have spent elsewhere. Meanwhile, IT staff were dedicating time and effort to matters that other members of the team should have been able to manage. To overcome these challenges, Annie Selke needed a single system that would be accessible to its non-it professionals. Furthermore, the existing platforms lacked a common end point, meaning customers were unable to buy from multiple brands in a single order. This hindered the company s ability to cross- and upsell. To tackle this problem and ultimately boost sales, Annie Selke aimed to consolidate its online stores on a single site with a shared shopping basket. It also sought to achieve more personalized, targeted messaging to encourage shoppers to return to the webstore. Not only was Annie Selke s e-commerce landscape fragmented and inaccessible, it was also outdated and unable to handle high volumes of traffic. This often meant latency and even downtime a particular concern during peak seasons such as the busy Thanksgiving/Christmas period. The organization required a more scalable, cloudhosted system capable of withstanding fluctuations in site traffic. 4 / 9
Resolution Relocating to the cloud with SAP Hybris Commerce To achieve these aims, Annie Selke opted for SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud. The company had considered other options but found this solution to be the best fit. It compared favorably to its closest rival for two key reasons: It was easier to integrate with existing architecture and offered broader functionality, including advanced personalization. Annie Selke s implementation partner was Optaros an enterprise that specializes in helping businesses choose and implement digital commerce software. It supported the Annie Selke Companies through a complicated process that involved integrating multiple systems each with its own functions and features. The two parties are continuing their partnership through a current upgrade to Hybris Version 6.0. Despite this obstacle and the implementation s overall complexity, Annie Selke and Optaros brought the project to a successful conclusion. Cloud hosting enabled the lifestyle and home design specialists to reduce their IT department s workload. This in turn freed up time and funds that the company can now invest in further upgrades or add-ons. It also allowed the company to achieve their desired scalability, with the resultant uptime exceeding expectations. Indeed, the webstore has so far experienced no downtime or latency. Initially, the Annie Selke Companies installed version 5.0 of the solution. However, it became apparent during testing that they would require greater control over merchandising processes. The organization therefore chose to upgrade to version 5.1, which is the iteration it is currently running. 5 / 9
Business transformation A complete refurbishment with remarkable results Thanks to SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud, Annie Selke has overcome the hurdles preventing it from reaching its full potential. In fact, the organization has achieved more than it had considered feasible. As mentioned previously, Annie Selke improved its e-commerce platform s ability to scale up and down depending on webstore traffic, resulting in higher availability. It also reduced IT costs by enabling non-it staff to edit website content. However, arguably the most impressive benefits were in sales and online traffic. In addition, revenue for the retail and wholesale stores skyrocketed. The latter also experienced an increase in purchases, while average order value rose significantly for both channels. Another success for the company was its initiative to provide more personalized, targeted messaging. Due to SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud s advanced personalization feature, the wholesale channel saw a large spike in customer interaction and more visits to the webstore. For example, the integration of the previously distinct sites encouraged cross- and upselling. 11 percent of orders are now from multiple brands and are worth 50 percent more than single-brand purchases. 6 / 9
Future plans Providing a platform for continuous improvement SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud has laid a strong foundation for the Annie Selke Companies to build on. The solution is flexible and customizable, allowing its users to make ongoing improvements to how they run their business through upgrades and add-ons. This way, they are able to keep up with demand and adapt to future trends. In fact, Annie Selke has recently purchased the SAP By Design ERP application, which it plans to integrate with its current software. It is also in the process of upgrading to version 6.0 of SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud and incorporating the Merchandising solution. This project will again call on Optaros s expertise. Meanwhile, the organization has been looking into installing an add-on by third-party company Narvar. The solution enhances post-purchase experiences making returns processes more customer-friendly, for instance. Overall, Annie Selke s new online platform has opened the door to a wealth of opportunities. Uptime has exceeded contractual obligation. In fact, there has been no downtime and not even latency. Overall, the hosting has been excellent. Bob White, President and COO, Fresh American LLC 7 / 9
Our aim was to boost sales by combining our sites onto one platform and encouraging customer interaction. SAP Hybris Commerce Cloud enabled us to achieve this and the results have far exceeded expectation. Bob White, President and COO, Fresh American LLC Web Site www.annieselke.com Partner Optaros, Inc. www.optaros.com 8 / 9
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