Alfred Dunhill, the mens luxury retailer identified that their online channel is increasingly important not just as a direct sales channel but also as way to create more engagement with its customers.

As part of their ongoing development of their site, Alfred Dunhill commissioned Foviance to undertake some independent research of its online audience to gather quantitative data on what visitors thought of the current customer experience. This would help them identify strengths and weaknesses of their main site and start to build a much richer idea of what their online audience wanted from an Alfred Dunhill site.

Methodology

Foviance developed an opt-in survey from the Alfred Dunhill homepage that recruited visitors with specific objectives for visiting the site. They then completed their journey and were asked a series of questions once they had completed their intended goal.

The survey was launched during the busy run-up to Christmas and was live throughout the festive period itself to capitalise on the increased traffic rates. In addition the exposure rate of the survey was controlled so that is was unlikely someone returning to the site that had declined to participate in the past would be shown the participation message again on the homepage.

Results

Over 200 responses were gained throughout the duration that the survey was live. Overall over 84% respondents said they would visit the site again and a net promoter score benchmark was captured. The survey captured user feedback on the look and feel of the site and allowed Alfred Dunhill to see if these were inline with its brand guidelines. In addition it highlighted several areas where the site could be improved. This has helped develop the business case for additional development work. Alfred Dunhill intend to use this methodology again at regular intervals to help measure site performance and get regular customer feedback as the site develops and grows.

We worked closely with the Tesco design team to help them understand the buying process – from the moment the catalogue was received by any of its two million customers to the point of ordering online or by telephone.

This multi-channel project demonstrated the benefits of integrated thinking, revealing how traditional direct marketing can be used to support e-commerce, and vice versa.

The final report identified key concerns with the shopping process, and the combination of anecdotal and analytical results allowed us to clearly demonstrate the value and extent of each issue. Boden was then able to prioritise improvements to the site.

The website has seen a significant uplift in conversion. Site conversion rates have increased by 0.5% to 1% when compared to the same period last year.

Our specialist accessibility consultant works with the B&Q team to ensure that recommendations and issues are presented in a way that is as useful and easy to understand as possible.