Today's story features SOVO Shoes, which established its presence in the online commerce sector in 2004 and has been operating its online shopping mall since 2007. Since launching online, it has experienced consistent growth. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presented SOVO Shoes with significant challenges. We spoke with their marketing staff, Iljo Jeong, to learn how he addressed revenue challenges and overcame them using Datarize.

Changes SOVO Shoes Experienced After Partnering with Datarize!

Enhancement Period : 2022.6~2022.11 (5 months)

1. SOVO Shoes gained the ability to assess the store's health with relevant metrics, enabling data-driven decision making for strategic planning and optimization.
2. SOVO Shoes was able to identify the exact factors that were hindering revenue growth, allowing for targeted and effective solutions through in-depth data analysis.
3. SOVO Shoes implemented personalized campaigns based on individual purchase journeys, resulting in a significant improvement in customer experience and satisfaction.

Hello, could you introduce yourself and your company to us?

Hello, I'm Iljo Jeong, in charge of ecommerce marketing at SOVO Shoes. We believe in the saying, 'A good pair of shoes will take our customers to good places.' Our company is dedicated to crafting quality shoes, drawing on our previous experience in running an offline business to concentrate on our original mission of making handmade shoes. As a result, we boast a high repeat purchase rate because our customers truly appreciate the comfort our products provide.

What were some of your concerns before meeting Datarize?

I’m sure, like most ecommerce businesses, we also experienced a stagnation period during the COVID-19 pandemic. With people going out less, there was a noticeable drop in interest for shoes. We recognized the need for a solution, yet each of us had a different perspective on what to improve. That was the moment we decided to utilize Datarize.

What was the issue that you wanted to improve in your Customer Journey?

We were actually able to assess the issue accurately after getting the analytics from Datarize. There were 3 problems in our customers' Purchase Journey at our ecommerce business

[3 Key Areas for Improvement in SOVO Shoes' Customer Journey]

1. High Abandonment Rate Between Product Viewing and Purchase Attempt
2. High Rate of Guest Checkouts
3. Marketing Focus Skewed Towards New User Acquisition
   

It seems you needed to improve the overall ecommerce customer journey. Could you provide details on how you accomplished this?

Yes, we addressed all three problems with Datarize. I'll explain what we did for each step.

# 1: Funnel improvement through Datarize-recommended campaigns

We observed a high abandonment rate at the ‘Product View to Purchase Attempt’ phase through Datarize's funnel page. Datarize recommended several campaigns to address this issue. The platform offers various campaign features that can be activated immediately by simply turning them ON, eliminating the need for advertising materials or audience segmentation. This allowed us to begin making improvements promptly. Upon initiating these campaigns, our conversion rate (CVR) for these phases improved significantly. A simple action began yielding tangible results.

# 2: Encouraging sign-up when a customer was about to guest-checkout

We launched an on-site campaign at Datarize aimed at boosting sign-ups. Datarize's on-site banners are capable of distinguishing between members and non-members through browser information, allowing for the display of customized banners suitable for each customer group. New visitors are greeted with banners highlighting the benefits of signing up, customers who haven't agreed to receive marketing materials are shown banners encouraging them to opt-in, and returning customers are presented with product recommendations related to items they showed interest in during previous visits. This segmentation enables highly targeted exposure. The deployment of machine learning to determine the most effective banner for each scenario means I didn't have to repeat the tedious process of manually setting parameters, saving considerable effort in configuring complex campaign rules.

#3 : Utilizing Channels to Encourage Repeat Visits.

Finally, we utilized Datarize’s site analytics to improve the Purchase Conversion Rate (CVR) across each marketing channel. We noticed that we had been primarily focusing on acquiring new visitors, which resulted in the significant underutilization of a highly efficient channel for retargeting. Typically, channels with a low new session ratio, meaning those with high numbers of returning customers, should exhibit higher Purchase CVRs. We identified issues with our marketing mix and then collaborated with our agency to address them. Specifically, we leveraged Datarize’s LMS campaign, which has proven to be effective for engaging repeat customers. Thanks to these strategies, we were able to enhance the Purchase Conversion Rates (CVR) for both new and repeat visitors.

There were lots of changes from June to November. What would you say is the most significant one?

Improving the overall Purchase Journey ultimately led to a significant increase in revenue. This experience also transformed our approach to problem identification and resolution. We learned that fundamental improvements are driven by deep data analysis and identifying root causes, rather than merely addressing symptoms at the surface level. Collaborating with Datarize offered us invaluable insights, enriching our strategy and approach.

We're pleased to hear about the internal changes and improvements in your workflow. For other ecommerce companies considering the adoption of Datarize, could you please share your brief thoughts based on your experience?

Meeting Datarize was like gaining a trustworthy advisor. With Datarize, we could identify our strengths, pinpoint the issues, and determine areas for improvement objectively. Now, we no longer worry about the future; we're confident in our ability to tackle any challenges that come our way. Furthermore, Datarize is resource-efficient, it automatically sends messages based on customer behavior, ensuring a well-targeted message is delivered daily without requiring extensive resources. If you're aware of an issue and know how to address it but are concerned about the resources needed, I highly recommend Datarize!