From mass emails to messages that fit each customer

Bel&Bo, a Belgian fashion chain, used to send the same email to its whole database. Together we built segmentation, pressure management and automated flows that respond to what each customer does.

Industry: Fashion retail
Expertise: Loyalty, Marketing automation
Platform: Adobe Campaign Standard

A Bel&Bo customer smiling on a shopping street

click-through rate after segmentation, roughly 4,000 to 8,000 extra visitors per campaign: +0.5 to 1%
conversion after a reminder that a loyalty voucher is about to expire: +14%
inactive profiles, while active profiles rose by 5%: -8%
extra buyers a day from abandoned cart reminders, up to 15 during the sales: 3 to 4

The challenge

Bel&Bo wanted to take its marketing automation further and make customer communication more personal. More efficient and more targeted, without compromising the customer experience.

Everyone got the same email
Newsletters went to the entire customer base, regardless of profile or buying behaviour. Engagement stayed relatively low.
Inactive profiles needed a different approach
Profiles without recent engagement needed fewer emails, and the right message at the right moment to win them back.
Abandoned baskets went unanswered
There was no flow to remind customers about what they had left behind in their basket.
Vouchers expired unused
Loyalty vouchers got forgotten at home or at the till, and expired. A waste, and a disappointment for customers.

Our approach

Together with Bel&Bo, we reworked the email strategy step by step, from the weekly newsletter to the receipt.

Targeted segmentation
We combined profile data, clickstream data and purchase behaviour, so newsletters match each customer's interests and buying habits.
Email pressure management
Profiles without recent engagement are left out of less important newsletters, such as collection repeats or general updates. They still receive the big promotions and new collections.
Abandoned cart journey
Customers get a reminder within 3 hours of leaving a full basket.
Loyalty voucher reminders
Customers receive a personal reminder when a loyalty voucher is about to expire. Every week, 1,000 customers get one.
Unique discount codes
Personal codes show exactly which customer uses them and can't be passed on to people who aren't entitled to them. They work online and in store.
Digital receipts
All transactional email now runs through Adobe Campaign Standard, including digital receipts. That saves paper and keeps a 360° view of the customer, in line with the brand.

The result

Email is and remains one of Bel&Bo's most important channels for reaching customers digitally. Thanks to Pebble, our marketing automation efforts are finally getting the uplift they deserve.

Juno OpsomerMarketing Automation, Bel&Bo

Takeaway

Bel&Bo's email now responds to how customers behave, and the effect is measurable flow by flow. It doesn't stop here: we keep adjusting and A/B testing.

More clicks per campaign
Click-through rate rose by 0.5 to 1%, roughly 4,000 to 8,000 extra visitors per campaign.
More active profiles
Inactive profiles fell by 8%, while active profiles rose by 5%.
Abandoned baskets that convert
Conversion rose by 15% on average: 3 to 4 extra buyers a day, with peaks of 15 during the sales.
Vouchers that get used
Conversion rose by 14% after a voucher reminder. Birthday vouchers added 3% conversion, welcome vouchers 2%.
Less paper
More than 80,000 digital receipts issued so far.