Why did you make an app?

Centralized management of purchase information was an issue.
I wanted to increase touch points that appealed to customers of this era.

The problem was that the purchase information and the purchaser information were not linked. I couldn't figure out where and what the customers who were buying at the UNDER ARMOR store were doing and what they were buying. In addition, event information, such as whether or not purchases were made from training events such as yoga, was not linked to purchase information, and information could not be centrally managed.

There was also the issue of wanting to increase the number of touch points with customers. Prior to the introduction of the app, there were no other touch points with customers other than customer service at stores and e-mail newsletters. We came to the conclusion that the most familiar point of contact for customers in this era was smartphone apps.

Why Yappli?

To save time, cost and human resources.
We could start right away.
The reputation of Yappli was also very good.

First of all, in our digital strategy, we decided we wanted a cloud service so that we could get started right away. Given the time and cost of development and the human resources of operation, it was hard to think of spending time and money doing everything in-house. So I considered some services and chose Yappli.
Among them, the deciding factors were that it was possible to connect with MA tools in terms of functionality, and that we were able to hear about Yappli's future policy and expect the continuous evolution of the platform. Also, when I asked the people who actually used Yappli about their reputation, there was no bad feedback. That was the decisive hit. The reputation was especially good.

Impact

36% increase in EC sales.
I could clearly see the increasing trend in average customer price.

EC sales are rising steadily. The most recent increase was 36% between the two months from November to December 2019 and the two months from January to February 2020.

The background to the growth is that the app links the purchaser with the purchase information, and the data and environment for taking measures for each purchaser segment are in place. We divide UNDER ARMOR buyers into four broad segments. With the introduction of the app, it is now possible to link what the purchaser bought at which store, which event he or she attended, and so on. It is now possible to understand and manage which segment each purchaser is in. As a result, we are now able to plan and execute promotional measures that match the characteristics of the segment, leading to the success of the measures.

Purchases via the app are also growing steadily. At the time of introduction, it was about 20% of EC sales, but recently it has increased to about 30%. The fact that the unit price per customer will increase as you use the app is becoming apparent.
We offer an incentive of 10% off the first time you download the app and 5% off when you present the app at the store. In terms of management, I thought we should consider other incentives if the discount were to lower our profits. However, with the app users, it is clear that the average cost per customer tends to increase, so I will continue this incentive.

How to use the app

Increasing promotion speed by sending out personalized messages with the sorting function.

For the segments seen in the app, we are updating the outgoing information separately and personalizing it. The contents are sorted by men / women, recommended products for each store, etc. I'm grateful for Yappli's sorting function in businesses that are divided into different segments within the same brand. With this feature, you don't have to send updates to each segment to those who aren't asking for that information. For example, UNDER ARMOR is a brand that develops products for both men and women, but men's sales composition ratio is higher, and as a result, men's products tend to be updated more frequently. However, thanks to the ability to let customers select the information in the category they want and sort it out accordingly, we are able to notify those who want information about women's updates. As a result, the number of active users has not decreased and the customer's reaction is not bad.

In addition, we have decided to operate one promotion plan per day. Since CMS can be easily operated such as UI changes, planning decisions and policy implementation can be handled at a high speed. The measures before the introduction of the app were mainly e-mail newsletters, but it took a lot of time and effort to create them. The process was to create a common format, embed the image and content processed in Photoshop, code it, and distribute it. I had to start learning Photoshop by myself. With the app, you can instantly and easily create content and change the UI with CMS, so you can efficiently create many landing pages. Being able to create new projects on our own and immediately reflect them is the greatest advantage to have in a business where speed is critical.

What's next?

We would like to eliminate the boundary between offline and online and create content where users can enjoy the app.

We have seen a correlation that increasing the frequency of app updates increases sales, so in the future we will consider how to increase the conversion rate and unit price by increasing the convenience of each purchase. I feel that if we can make EC sites native for apps and put products in the cart as they are, it will be even easier to buy.

Also, although we are still taking separate measures for offline and online promotions, we would like to eliminate that boundary. For example, it would be convenient if you could check the store inventory with the app when you visit the store.

Another idea is to link offline goods with online content so that you can enjoy using the app. For example, when the partner team wins the championship, if you hold the app over the uniform logo and read it, you can see the message content of the player saying "Thank you for your support!". I would be happy if there was such content.
It is not intended for direct purchase, but I think it would be great if people could enjoy using it and, as a result, further increase sales. With apps, I think it's fun to be able to take on the challenge of such offline and online collaboration.