Internet Search Finds Style at Talbots

Challenge

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Talbots wanted to measure the impact of the Internet on total revenue earned across their entire retail operation. They also wanted to understand customer behavior and preferences and how this information can be used to increase sales across all of the company’s channels.

Approach

• Deriving Customer Insight: Research revealed that a significant percentage of Talbot’s customers prefer to use talbots.com to browse for merchandise before visiting their local store to make the purchase.  Molecular anticipated that providing in-store inventory look-up and reservation capabilities on Talbots.com would give customers a new level of convenience, encouraging sales and traffic flow to local stores.
• Validating Assumptions: The team surveyed customers based on their channel preference and purchase behavior, and found that in-store inventory availability was the most highly-demanded feature among all customer segments. The research also revealed that a majority of customers would prefer to reserve those items online.
• Prototyping and Testing: Molecular created a prototype of an online service that would enable customers to find and reserve Talbots store inventory right from Talbots.com. Usability tests ensured the solution provided an experience that would meet customers’ needs and would deliver Talbots with the results they expected.
• Implementation: Molecular worked with Talbots to implement the new online service into their existing web site and inventory management system. Introduced by Talbots as “Style Search,” the service enables customers to look up a particular item on Talbots.com, and then search the availability of that item and reserve it for pick up at their local Talbots store.

Benefits

• During the feature’s first four months, use of Style Search increased 59%, with reservations at stores jumping 75%.
• Talbots was recognized as a High-Tech Achiever in Fast Company’s 2005 Customer Service Awards for using technology to truly enhance the customer’s experience.