Benefits of e-commerce include reaching new customers and better personalizing service. But what if your customers need – and have spent decades relying on – the in-store expertise of your associates? To find a very specific product? For use with another very specific product? To accomplish a very specific task?
“More and more of our users are coming online…[and] they still want to have the similar guidance and the systems they had in-store,” Ganna Lobachevska, the touchpoint owner of Product Finder and Product Guidance at Bosch Power Tools Accessories, told SAP at NRF 2023 for a new video. “Our overall goal is to make it easier for our users to find the right accessory for their job.”
Of course, making something easy to do on the front end is seldom easy to build on the back end. And that was Bosch’s challenge when helping online shoppers narrow their search for the perfect jigsaw blade, drill bit, or abrasive wheel from a truly massive accessory portfolio.
“Any company with a wide range of products has to think how they can simplify the user journey…and how they can make it easier for the customers to find the right product,” Lobachevska said. “With the Bosch Accessory Advisor, we provide a solution that makes it easier and faster.”
Building that easier, faster solution meant finding a high-tech way to satisfy a peculiar demand by online shoppers.
When Brick-and-Mortar Set the Bar (Almost) Too High
Selecting a specific power tool accessory for a specific job – and ensuring it’s compatible with your specific power tool – are big reasons that people historically shopped at brick-and-mortar stores, according to Lobachevska. It makes sense, right? You can consult with a knowledgeable human sales associate.
But Bosch’s e-commerce customers expect the same in-store-style expertise via a quick and painless online exchange, according to Lobachevska. And she doesn’t seem worried.
“The Accessory Advisor guides the user through a series of very simple questions,” Lobachevska said. “In the end, they have three perfect recommendations for the work they want to do.”
It’s pretty much an online conversation that yields the right product, according to Lobachevska. And Bosch found the right tech – and partners – to make these virtual dialogues happen.
Tech to the Rescue
“We realized that there is a need for a better user guidance,” Lobachevska said of Bosch’s decision to go with Zoovu, a Boston-based digital commerce search platform and partner solution in SAP’s industry cloud. “It offered us the best.”
Zoovu’s Semantic Studio translates technical jargon into e-commerce-friendly prose, which saves time for both Bosch data managers and shoppers. A few artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted questions later, and these accessory hunters have enjoyed a smooth, seamless customer experience.
“This means that our customers spend less time searching for a product,” Lobachevska said. “And when they purchase the product, it’s the right one and they are more satisfied.”
This increases efficiency, according to Lobachevska. It also cuts down on returns and poor online reviews.
Powering Forward
Whether in-store or online, Bosch digital assistants and SAP Marketing Cloud connect to improve Bosch’s data analytics, business insights, and customer experience, according to an SAP assessment. Those digital assistants have already helped enhance the customer experience for more than 1 million Bosch shoppers across more than 35 global markets, boosting engagement up to 65% as well as increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.
And still more can be done by connecting all of that to the Accessory Advisor, according to Lobachevska.
“We would like to connect the Bosch Accessory Advisor with our CRM system, which is basically SAP Marketing Cloud,” Lobachevska said. “This will allow us to gain business insights, to build better personas, and to make the user experience even better because it’ll be more personalized.”
