The shift from physical to digital commerce has been enormous in the past year, with the pandemic driving both businesses and consumers online. For retailers like Toys”R”Us with a large physical presence, this presents a unique challenge. It wanted to provide an experience that offers customers the best of both worlds.
Tim Halaska, Regional General Manager of Digital Strategy for Toys”R”Us Asia, shared how the retailer has responded to this challenge and is fuelling imagination in Asia.
As Asia’s leading retailer of toys, education, and baby products, Toys”R”Us is a well-loved destination for kids of all ages. Here are six ways it’s capturing the magic of its in-store experience and taking it online.
1. Creating efficiencies in digital commerce
As a first step in its online transformation, Toys”R”Us partnered with eWAVE, a global commerce services specialist, to centralise ecommerce with Commerce Cloud. Launched across seven markets in Asia, Commerce Cloud provides Toys”R”Us with a single platform to power more seamless and personalised shopping experiences for its customers.
Commerce Cloud also provides economies of scale so that Toys”R”Us can provide equally compelling experiences to each market, no matter its size.
2. Tailoring sites to local needs
One of the benefits of Commerce Cloud is that it simplifies merchandising across multiple sites, multiple languages, and multiple currencies. It also supports localisation of sites. Working with eWave, Toys”R”Us has integrated Commerce Cloud with local payment options and enabled shoppers to log in from social media sites popular in their markets.
Toys”R”Us has also used Commerce Cloud to centralise activities like site maintenance. This frees up local teams to focus on driving sales locally. For example, they can spend time identifying what products or offers are most popular in their markets and promote these online and in-store.
3. Creating mobile-first experiences
Toys”R”Us has launched new websites in seven markets across Asia in the past twelve months. Commerce Cloud’s Storefront Reference Architecture provided a blueprint to speed up site development and embed mobile design best practices to help convert today’s mobile shoppers. These include a seamless checkout flow with as few taps as possible.
4. Delivering consistency across channels
In transforming the shopper experience, Toys”R”Us has ensured that whether a customer shops online or in-store, they can find the same products and enjoy the same deals.
“One of the things we’ve really focused on is the customer journey and creating alignment between the online and offline experience. So now when an email goes out about a promotion in-store, the customer can also purchase that product online straight away,” said Halaska.
5. Personalising product recommendations
Personalisation provides retailers with the chance to turn every interaction into a positive customer experience. It can also lead to increased conversion and cart size.
Toys”R”Us is reaping these benefits by using Einstein to provide customers with product recommendations based on their browsing and purchase histories.
6. Rewarding shopper loyalty
Now, when customers make purchases on a Toys”R”Us website, they are instantly enrolled into the retailer’s Star Card Loyalty Program. The program allows customers to earn points in-store and online and provides them with access to exclusive offers and events. In exchange, Toys”R”Us is able to track and understand its customers’ behaviour and provide more personalised experiences.
“We can now see the customer’s journey from in-store to online. We’re excited to delve into that further and use those insights to connect with customers in new ways,” said Halaska.
Learn more about how Toys”R”Us is using Commerce Cloud to provide a unified retail experience.
