retail sales case study

9 Case Studies That Prove Experiential Retail Is The Future

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What is a pop-up shop? Everything you need to know to try short-term retail  > 23 Smart Pop-Up Shop Ideas to Steal From These Successful Brands > 9 Case Studies That Prove Experiential Retail Is The Future

What is experiential retail, and how can experiential retail benefit your business?

Experiential retail is a term used to define a type of retailing that aims to provide customers with a unique and memorable experience. Experiential retail is typically characterized by one or more of the following features: the use of unique and interesting spaces, objects, or experiences; high levels of customer engagement; and the use of technology to enhance customer interactions.

One key aspect of experiential retail is the ability to create an attractive and welcoming environment for staff and customers alike. This can be achieved through a combination of factors, including good design, cleanliness, and lighting . Another important factor is how well the store reflects its brand identity.

Although there are many different types of experiential retail outlets, they all share certain common elements: they are designed to provide a memorable experience for their customers; they are focused on creating an enjoyable atmosphere for staff members as well as the public; they offer an appealing mix of products and services, and they use technology to enhance customer interactions.

Finally, experiential retail is not just about selling products or services. It is also about building strong relationships with customers that go beyond transactions.

Experiential retail is the future. For years we’ve heard about the decline of physical retail and the rise of the internet. However, the desire for retail experiences is on the rise with 52% millennials saying of their spending goes on experience-related purchases. This introduces the concept of ‘retailtainment’.

Enter: retailtainment

Because of this, retailers have evolved their offerings. By focusing on so-called ‘ retailtainment’ and immersive retail experiences, brands are able to provide customers with fun, unique and in-person experiences that elevate shopping to new heights.

With retailtainment, the retail industry is shifting attention from a features-and-benefits approach to a focus on immersive shopping and customer experience . To be successful, retailers must offer consumers a desirable retail experience that in turn drives sales.

What is meant by Retailtainment?

The term “retailtainment” is used to describe the trend of retailers using entertainment to attract customers and encourage them to spend more time – and money – in their stores. This can take the form of in-store events, interactive displays, and even simply providing a comfortable and enjoyable environment for customers to shop in. The goal of retailtainment is to create a unique and memorable shopping experience that will keep customers coming back.

With the rise of online shopping and brick-and-mortar retailers have to work harder than ever to compete. By offering an enjoyable and entertaining shopping experience, retailers can attract customers who are looking for more than just a transaction. Retailtainment can be a powerful tool to build customer loyalty and drive sales.

How does retailtainment fit in today’s retail experiential strategy?

As shoppers’ expectations become more demanding, retailers are turning to retailtainment to create a more engaging and memorable shopping experience. By incorporating elements of entertainment into the retail environment, retailers can create a unique and differentiated customer experience that will help them stand out from the competition.

There are a number of ways that retailtainment can be used to improve the customer experience. For example, retailers can use interactive technology to create an immersive shopping experience that engages shoppers on a personal level. Additionally, retailers can use entertainment to add excitement and energy to their store environment, making it more inviting and enjoyable for shoppers.

Ultimately, retailtainment can play a key role in helping retailers create a customer experience that is unique, differentiated, and memorable.

What is the difference between retailtainment and experiential retail?

Both retailtainment and experiential retail are designed to make the shopping experience more enjoyable and engaging. However, experiential retail goes a step further by creating an emotional connection with customers. This emotional connection can lead to brand loyalty and repeat business.

Thus, while both retailtainment and experiential retail are important trends in the retail industry, experiential retail is more focused on creating a lasting impression and emotional connection with customers.

Here are our 8 favorite examples of Experiential Retail and retailtainment in action:

Marvel: Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N provides fans with interactive brand building experience

The Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. is an immersive exhibit that has toured the world since the first Avengers film. It has appeared in key retail areas such as New York Seoul Paris , Beijing, London and Las Vegas, and always pulls in huge crowds. Based on the global box-office film franchise, Marvel’s The Avengers, the store features real life movie props and interactive displays.

There are Marvel-branded items for sale but the goal of the project is not to shift T-shirts and mugs. It is about delivering an in-person experience to fans and bringing the brand to life.

The Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. is a great example of retailtainment and experiential retail in action. Visitors are fully immersed in the fictional world they adore, further cementing their affiliation and love for the Marvel brand.

For a brand as strong and iconic as Marvel, it would be easy to sit back and take popularity for granted. However, through the use of retailtainment they are continuing to delight their customers beyond the screen.

Farfetch: Creating a retail experience of the future

Image via Bloomberg

Farfetch is as an e-commerce portal for luxury boutiques. It’s successfully positioned itself as a technology provider for brands; combining technology and fashion to provide unique in-store experiences.

José Neves, CEO of Farfetch, has spoken about his concern that physical retail is diminishing; it accounts for 93 per cent of sales today, but by 2025 is predicted to account for just 80 per cent.

Enter: Farfetch’s Augmented Retail Solution

Neves’ vision for retailtainment includes advancements in technology to make the consumer experience more human. He produced Farfetch’s Store of the Future, an augmented retail solution that “links the online and offline worlds, using data to enhance the retail experience.” In its retail store in London, Farfetch provided connected clothing racks, touch-screen-enhanced mirrors and sign-in stations that pulled data collected online to use in-store.

Farfetch provided customers with a sign-in screen to search their purchase history and wish list, which provided valuable customer insight for the sales assistants. There was also a smart mirror to request different sizes, alternative products or pay without leaving the dressing room.

This innovation led them to be labeled as “ The Retailer of the Future ”, allowing customers to enjoy an effortless in-person experience that harmonizes the best parts of boutique shopping with the speed and convenience of online shopping.

Read More: Excess Inventory Post-Holiday? Open a Pop-Up Shop

Huda Beauty: Cosmic experience in Covent Garden

Huda Beauty , one of the world’s fastest-growing beauty brands, ran an immersive retail experience pop-up store right in the centre of Covent Garden, London, to launch a new product range and reach new customers.

Huda used the location ( sourced by Storefront pop up space rental ) to deliver a sci-fi themed experience in support of their new eye-shadow palette Mercury Retrograde.

The entire exterior of the pop-up resembled a multi-faceted, metallic mass of geometrical shapes. This was echoed inside with various ‘galactic’ elements, all manner of mirrored surfaces and shimmering fixtures and elements.

As part of the event, visitors could sit on the throne Huda used in her launch material, all set up to encourage as much social media activity and engagement as possible.

Huda Beauty caught the eye and wowed its visitors. Introducing a whole swathe of new customers to the Huda Beauty brand.

Read More: 4 Beauty Brands Who Successfully Launched A Pop-Up Store

Vans: A shopping experience to remember

Image via Skateparks

The House of Vans in London lives up to the company motto of being “off the wall”. A location where art, music, BMX, street culture and fashion converge, you can find almost everything you can imagine across the 30,000 square feet building. Amongst a cinema, café, live music venue and art gallery, the bottom floor holds the most unique feature of the building: the concrete ramp, mini ramp and street course.

Nothing better epitomizes the Vans brand than a space where young people can not only shop but spontaneously socialize. The House of Vans is the perfect example of how experiential retail can be used to empower a shopping experience.

Read More: How The Music Industry Is Making The Most of Pop-Up Stores

Ikea: Using social media to power a unique retail experience

Ikea brought 100 Facebook competition winners to one of its warehouses and let them stay the night. They were able to select the mattress, sheets and pillows to fully give them a fully tailored experience. A sleep expert was on hand with tips for getting a good night’s rest, including how to find the perfect mattress for any sleeping style.

This was a clever and unique way to obtain visibility and get fans to focus on what Ikea has to offer and try it out for themselves.

This idea came from understanding their consumer insights on social media. Lois Blenkinsop, Ikea’s U.K. PR and internal communications manager, said: “Social media has opened up a unique platform for us to interact directly with our customers. Listening to what they want is what we do best, and the Big Sleepover is just one example of how we’re using such instant and open feedback to better inform our marketing activity.”

From using social media they were able to apply experiential marketing to their retail strategy and provide their customers with a memorable event that brought the brand a ton of visibility and engagement.

Space Ninety 8: showcasing the art of retailtainment

Image via @Space90

As a spin-off from Urban Outfitters, Space Ninety 8 is a shared retail space that spans 5 floors, hosting retailers, galleries and even a rooftop restaurant and bar.

Scanning their Instagram, you can see the variety of what Space Ninety 8 offers beyond solely retail. Advertised next to yoga classes is an album signing by Big Boi, alongside pictures of art classes and Lady GaGa merchandise. By reflecting the flexible nature of modern life, the brand created a versatile store that emphasizes experience, perfecting the art of retailtainment.

TOMS: creating an immersive experience through VR

Experiences don’t have to be a permanent feature of a store in order to make an impact on customers. In 2015 TOMS’ placed VR headsets into 100 stores, enabling them to virtually transport players to Peru to see the impact of their One for One giving campaign on local people.

As you walk through the village stores with locals smiling and waving at you, it is impossible not to feel warmed by the friendly atmosphere. Not only did this retail experience improve awareness of their social corporate responsibility and promote their giving campaign, it also gave customers an unforgettable and immersive experience they were unlikely to forget.

[Check out Toms’ continued focus on immersive retail experiences here]

How to Provide Retailtainment that Drives Traffic and Sales

These case studies all stress the importance of providing an in-store experience. By exceeding expectations you drive emotional reactions. There are five consistent elements each use in their stores to ensure a remarkable customer shopping experience:

• Interactiveness: All of these retailers ensure that the senses are connected – memories of what we feel, hear, see, smell, and touch, may last a lifetime.
• Originality: These ideas were all authentic and natural, making the customer feel as if they entered a different world.
• Connectedness: Customers must feel that the experience has been created for them.
• Unexpectedness: These unique experiences are critical to ensure your brand is remembered.
• Reliability: The experience is executed through tested methods to achieve consistency and excellence.

The future of experiential retail

As the world of retail continues to evolve, so too must the way brands create memorable experiences for their customers. With the rise of digital and mobile technologies, consumers now have more choices than ever before when it comes to how they shop and what they buy. To stay ahead of the curve, brands must find new and innovative ways to engage with their customers and create unforgettable shopping experiences.

One way to do this is through experiential retail – using physical spaces to create immersive, one-of-a-kind experiences that cannot be replicated online. This could involve anything from in-store events and workshops to augmented reality and virtual reality experiences.

Experiential marketing isn’t about spending millions on fancy gadgets for your retail store. Sure it can help, but it’s mostly about a personalized shopping experience and providing an unparalleled retail experience for your guests and customers. The brands that delight their customers are the brands that drive loyalty and advocacy. Couple this with excellent customer service and you’re on to a winner. These case studies all demonstrate how it is possible to follow similar steps to overcome the challenges eCommerce has brought.

The brands that use their physical stores to focus on the customer experience are the brands that will do the best. The dynamic between physical and online retail has shifted and the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic has only accentuated this.

Planning your own experiential retail project and need some help? Drop us a note and we’ll help you out.

For more on launching temporary retail stores and one-off events, download our Ultimate Pop-Up Guide and make your ideas happen.

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Retail Marketing

10 Insightful Retail Marketing Case Studies of Top Brands

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 06:35:02 GMT

Retail marketing case study is an in-depth analysis of a marketing campaign used by a retail brand. It showcases the goals, strategies, and results of the campaign, offering valuable insights for other retailers to learn from.

Discover 10 compelling retail marketing case studies showcasing the power of retail marketing strategies employed by top brands. Dive into the world of retail as we explore how these brands have achieved remarkable results through innovative approaches. From redefining customer experiences to harnessing digital channels, these retail marketing case studies offer valuable insights into successful retail marketing tactics. Join us on this journey as we uncover the secrets behind their accomplishments and gain inspiration for your own retail marketing endeavors.  

Retail Marketing: What It Is and Why It Is Important

Retail marketing is the comprehensive range of strategies and activities implemented by businesses to effectively promote and sell their products within retail environments. It encompasses various tactics like advertising, branding, pricing, visual merchandising, and engaging with customers to elevate their shopping experience and drive sales. 

Crafting a winning retail brand strategy is crucial for long-term success, as it helps businesses establish a distinctive identity, effectively communicate their value proposition, and stay relevant in the market. By leveraging customer insights and implementing innovative marketing approaches, businesses can create a strong brand presence, build customer loyalty, and ultimately achieve sustainable growth. To learn more about crafting a winning retail brand strategy, you can watch our informative video, “Crafting a Winning Retail Brand Strategy for Long-Term Success.”  

10 Insightful Retail Marketing Case Studies

#1 retail marketing case study - kalyan jewellers, - redefining the jeweler retail experience.

Kalyan Jewelers is a renowned jewellery brand that has revolutionized the retail experience through innovative strategies and personalized customer service. With their digital transformation and focus on creating immersive store environments, Kalyan Jewellers has set new standards in the jewellery industry.

- Case Study Overview

Explore the inspiring journey of Kalyan Jewellers as they redefined the jewelry retail landscape, leveraging cutting-edge technology and personalized customer experiences .

- Key Strategies Implemented

a. Digital Transformation - Kalyan Jewelers embraced digital technologies to enhance the customer journey, offering online shopping, virtual try-on features, and personalized recommendations.  

b. Store Ambience and Design - By creating immersive and luxurious store environments, Kalyan Jewelers captivated customers with an unforgettable in-store experience.  

c. Personalized Customer Service - Kalyan Jewelers focused on building lasting relationships with customers through personalized consultations, customized jewelry designs, and exceptional after-sales support.  

- Results and Impact

Discover how Kalyan Jewellers’ innovative approach led to increased footfall, higher customer engagement, enhanced brand loyalty, and a significant boost in sales revenue.  

#2 Retail Marketing Case Study - Bridgestone  

- driving brand loyalty through retail marketing strategies.

Bridgestone, a leading tire manufacturer, excelled in retail marketing by introducing interactive displays and targeted loyalty programs, enhancing customer engagement and brand loyalty. Their strategies helped them achieve significant growth in sales and establish a strong market presence in the competitive tire industry.

Bridgestone, a prominent tire manufacturer, implemented innovative retail marketing strategies to enhance brand loyalty and customer engagement.

a. Implementation of Interactive Displays Bridgestone enhanced customer engagement by incorporating interactive displays in their retail stores, providing a unique and immersive experience. b. Introduction of Targeted Loyalty Programs Bridgestone implemented loyalty programs to reward and retain customers, encouraging brand loyalty and repeat business. c. Building Strong Customer Relationships through Retail Outlets Bridgestone emphasized building strong relationships with customers by fostering open communication, offering personalized recommendations, and addressing their needs and concerns.

Bridgestone’s retail marketing efforts increased brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, and repeat purchases. The interactive displays enhanced the overall shopping experience, while the targeted loyalty programs incentivized customers to choose Bridgestone for their tire needs. These strategies contributed to Bridgestone’s growth, market presence, and competitive advantage in the tire industry.  

#3 Retail Marketing Case Study - Schneider Electric

- innovations in smart energy solutions for retail.

Schneider Electric is at the forefront of providing advanced energy management solutions to the retail sector. Their cutting-edge technologies and expertise empower retailers to optimise energy usage, reduce costs, and create sustainable and efficient operations while delivering an enhanced customer experience.

Learn how Schneider Electric transformed the retail industry by implementing innovative smart energy solutions. Discover the strategies they used to optimise energy consumption and drive efficiency in retail stores.

a. Integrated Energy Management Systems

Schneider Electric seamlessly integrated advanced energy management systems, allowing retailers to monitor and control energy usage in real time for better efficiency.

b. IoT Technology Utilization

By leveraging IoT technology, Schneider Electric connected and managed energy-consuming devices and systems, enabling centralized control, automation, and proactive maintenance.

c. Customized Energy Efficiency Solutions

Schneider Electric developed tailored energy efficiency solutions that met the specific needs of retail businesses, resulting in cost savings and environmental benefits.  

Schneider Electric’s smart energy solutions delivered significant energy savings, reduced operational costs, and improved sustainability for retail businesses. The implementation of these solutions also enhanced store performance, customer experience, and environmental responsibility.  

#4  Retail Marketing Case Study - Grohe

- experiential showrooms for elevated retail experiences.

Grohe is a prominent provider of premium bathroom and kitchen fittings, known for their innovative designs and superior quality.

This case study examines how Grohe successfully implemented experiential showrooms to enhance the retail experience for customers. By creating immersive environments that showcased their products in real-life settings, Grohe aimed to engage customers on a deeper level and drive brand loyalty.

a. Technology-Driven Experiences Grohe utilized virtual reality and augmented reality to enhance the showroom experience, allowing customers to virtually explore products, customize features, and visualize installations.

b. Personalized Customer Service  Grohe provided expert guidance and assistance, ensuring customers received tailored recommendations based on their needs and preferences.

c. Hands-on Product Demonstrations Grohe emphasized interactive product demonstrations, enabling customers to experience the quality and functionality of the fittings firsthand.  

Through these strategies, Grohe achieved positive results such as increased customer engagement, improved brand visibility, higher conversion rates, and a strengthened reputation as an industry leader in providing innovative and high-quality bathroom and kitchen fittings.  

#5  Retail Marketing Case Study - Mahindra Tractors

- enhancing sales and engagement through retail marketing.

Mahindra Tractors is a leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery, specializing in tractors and farm equipment.

This case study explores how Mahindra Tractors implemented effective retail marketing strategies to boost sales and engagement in the agricultural machinery market.

a. Personalized Experiences

Mahindra Tractors tailored product recommendations, financing options, and customer support to meet individual needs and enhance the buying experience.

b. Digital Marketing

Mahindra Tractors used online ads, social media, SEO, and content marketing to reach and engage their target audience, drive website traffic, and generate leads.

c. After-Sales Support

Mahindra Tractors provided timely assistance, maintenance, and repair services, ensuring customer satisfaction and fostering loyalty.  

Through their retail marketing initiatives, Mahindra Tractors achieved increased sales, improved brand visibility, enhanced customer loyalty, and strengthened their position as a trusted brand in the agricultural machinery industry.  

#6  Retail Marketing Case Study - VLCC Institute

- revolutionizing the beauty and wellness education industry through retail marketing.

VLCC Institute is a prestigious institution that offers comprehensive courses and training programs in beauty and wellness. With a strong focus on quality education and industry-relevant skills, VLCC Institute has become a leading choice for aspiring beauty professionals.

Discover how VLCC Institute transformed its retail marketing strategies to revolutionize the beauty and wellness education industry. This case study provides insights into their journey, highlighting the key tactics they employed to enhance brand visibility, attract students, and establish themselves as a pioneer in the market.

VLCC Institute implemented several key strategies to redefine its retail marketing approach. These included creating modern and well-equipped training centers that simulated real-world salon and spa environments, implementing targeted hyperlocal marketing campaigns to reach potential students, partnering with industry experts and influencers for endorsements and collaborations, providing personalized counseling and career guidance to prospective students, and offering industry-relevant certifications and placements.

The implementation of these strategies yielded remarkable results for VLCC Institute. They witnessed a significant increase in student enrollments, achieved higher retention rates, expanded their presence across multiple locations, and strengthened their reputation as a trusted institution in the beauty and wellness education sector. VLCC Institute’s retail marketing initiatives played a pivotal role in positioning them as a market leader, driving their growth, and creating valuable career opportunities for their students.  

#7 Retail Marketing Case Study - Kohler

- transforming bathrooms and kitchens with retail design excellence.

Kohler is a renowned global brand specializing in innovative kitchen and bathroom fixtures, faucets, and accessories.

This case study examines how Kohler implemented retail design excellence to elevate the customer experience and drive business growth.

Kohler focused on creating immersive showroom experiences, incorporating cutting-edge technology, providing personalized consultations, and showcasing their extensive product range. These strategies aimed to inspire customers, demonstrate product functionality, and differentiate Kohler from competitors.

The implementation of these strategies resulted in increased customer engagement, enhanced brand perception, higher sales conversion rates, and strengthened customer loyalty for Kohler. The company’s commitment to retail design excellence played a significant role in its market leadership and continued success.  

#8 Retail Marketing Case Study - ExxonMobil

- innovative retail marketing for fuelling success.

ExxonMobil is a renowned energy company specializing in petroleum and petrochemical products, known for its expertise in exploration, production, refining, and marketing.

Explore how ExxonMobil leveraged innovative retail marketing strategies to achieve success in the fuel industry. Discover how they enhanced customer experiences, optimized convenience, and differentiated their brand in a competitive market.

ExxonMobil implemented a range of strategies, including integrating advanced technologies at fuel stations, introducing loyalty programs and strategic partnerships, providing convenient amenities, and prioritizing sustainability initiatives. These strategies aimed to attract and retain customers, establish a distinct brand identity, and foster long-term loyalty.

The implementation of these strategies led to increased customer engagement, higher fuel sales, improved customer satisfaction, and a reinforced brand reputation. ExxonMobil’s commitment to innovative retail marketing played a vital role in its remarkable success in the competitive fuel industry, solidifying its position as the industry leader.  

#9 Retail Marketing Case Study - Greenply

- building a strong retail presence in the wood panel industry.

Greenply is a prominent player in the wood panel industry, specializing in manufacturing and supplying high-quality plywood, veneers, and other wood-based products. With a strong focus on sustainability and innovation, Greenply has earned a reputation for its superior craftsmanship and reliability.

Discover how Greenply strategically built a robust retail presence in the competitive wood panel industry. This case study explores their journey, highlighting the key initiatives they undertook to expand their market reach, enhance customer experiences, and strengthen their brand position.

Greenply implemented a comprehensive set of strategies, including establishing an extensive distribution network, partnering with retailers and contractors, investing in marketing and advertising campaigns, launching customer-centric initiatives, and prioritizing product quality and innovation. These strategies aimed to increase market penetration, build brand loyalty, and drive customer satisfaction.

The implementation of these strategies resulted in significant business growth for Greenply. They witnessed a substantial increase in market share, expanded their customer base, strengthened their brand reputation, and achieved higher customer satisfaction ratings. Greenply’s strategic approach to retail marketing played a pivotal role in its success, positioning them as a leading player in the wood panel industry.  

#10 Retail Marketing Case Study - Gulf Oil

- fueling success with effective retail marketing strategies.

Gulf Oil is a prominent global energy company specializing in oil and gas exploration, production, and marketing.

This case study highlights how Gulf Oil successfully implemented retail marketing strategies to thrive in the competitive energy industry.

Gulf Oil executed targeted advertising campaigns, formed strategic partnerships with retail outlets, introduced innovative loyalty programs, and prioritized customer-centric initiatives. These efforts aimed to enhance brand visibility, engage customers, and foster loyalty.

The implementation of these strategies yielded positive outcomes, including increased market share, higher customer retention rates, improved brand perception, and substantial growth in sales and revenue for Gulf Oil.

By leveraging the strategies and lessons learned from these case studies on retail marketing, businesses can position themselves for success and achieve remarkable results in the competitive world of retail.

Discover valuable insights about Indian retail industry 2024 with this enlightening article from the Times of India, offering a wealth of information to expand your understanding.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)  

1. what are case studies on retail marketing.

Case studies on retail marketing involve in-depth analysis of real-world business situations, showcasing successful strategies, challenges faced, and resulting outcomes to provide valuable insights for marketing professionals.

2. What are the Problems in Retail Marketing?

Local marketing focuses on promoting products or services to a specific geographical area, such as a town or city.

3. Why is Retail Marketing Important?

Retail marketing holds significance as it enables businesses to attract and retain customers, drive sales, enhance brand recognition, deliver personalized experiences, and adapt to evolving market conditions.

4. What Do We Study in Retail Marketing?

The field of retail marketing encompasses studying consumer behavior, market segmentation, retail store operations, merchandising techniques, pricing strategies, promotional approaches, and customer relationship management.

5. What is the Concept of Retail?

Retail involves the sale of goods or services directly to consumers through physical or digital channels, emphasizing the interaction between businesses and customers. It encompasses aspects like product selection, pricing, distribution, and customer engagement.

In summary, the blog “10 Insightful Retail Marketing Case Studies of Top Brands” explores the successful strategies employed by top brands in the retail industry. These case studies on retail marketing demonstrate the significance of understanding consumer behavior, embracing digital marketing, and creating unique retail experiences. By examining these real-world examples, businesses can gain valuable insights to enhance their own retail marketing efforts. It is essential for brands to continually adapt and innovate in order to stay competitive and succeed in today’s dynamic retail landscape.  

Take Advantages of Sekel Tech Retail Marketing Platform

Sekel Tech Retail Marketing Platform has helped its clients achieve remarkable success. For instance, Kalyan Jewellers used the platform to redefine the jewelry retail experience, resulting in increased sales and satisfied customers. Bridgestone also benefited from the platform, using personalized marketing and data analytics to build customer loyalty. These retail marketing case studies demonstrate how the Sekel Tech Retail Marketing Platform empowers retailers to improve their marketing, enhance customer experiences, and achieve business goals. Take advantage of this powerful platform to revolutionize your retail marketing strategies and drive business growth. Learn more about how Sekel Tech can transform your marketing efforts and enhance customer experiences.

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The 24 Best eCommerce Retail Case Studies Worth Reading

In the fast-paced world of retail and eCommerce, staying ahead of the game is not just a goal; it’s the lifeline of our industry. For seasoned retail executives, inspiration often comes from the experiences and successes of industry giants who paved the way with their innovative thinking and managed to thrive through thick and thin. That’s why we’re excited to bring you an exclusive collection of the 30 best eCommerce case studies meticulously curated to provide you with a wealth of insights and ideas to fuel your strategies. These case studies are more than just success stories; they are beacons of guidance for retail professionals navigating the ever-changing landscape of our industry.

In this article, we delve deep into the journeys of retail giants who have not only weathered the storms of disruption but have emerged as trailblazers in eCommerce. From adapting to shifting consumer behaviors to mastering the art of online engagement, this compilation offers a treasure trove of wisdom for the modern retail executive. 

Table of Contents

• > Case studies for grocery/wholesale eCommerce retailers
• > Case studies for fashion eCommerce retailers
• > Case Studies for home & furniture eCommerce retailers
• > Case Studies for health & beauty eCommerce retailers
• > Case studies for electronics and tools eCommerce retailers
• > Case Studies for toys and leisure eCommerce retailers

Case studies for grocery/wholesale eCommerce retailers

Retail case study #1: tesco .

Industry : Grocery stores

Why worth reading: 

• Historical evolution: Understanding Tesco’s rise from a group of market stalls to a retail giant provides valuable lessons on growth and adaptation to market changes​.
• Customer service focus: Tesco’s long-term emphasis on customer service, which is consistent across their physical and online platforms, showcases the importance of customer-centric strategies.
• Innovation in eCommerce: The case study covers Tesco’s pioneering of the world’s first virtual grocery store in South Korea, a testament to its innovative approach to digital retailing.
• Crisis management: Insights into how Tesco handled the Horse Meat Scandal, including efforts to tighten its supply chain, contributing to its logistical success​.
• Financial integrity: The study discusses the Accounting Scandal, offering a sobering look at financial transparency and the repercussions of financial misreporting.

Read the full Tesco case study here .

Retail case study #2: Walmart 

Industry : Discount department and grocery stores

• Data-driven success: The case study provides a wealth of data, showcasing Walmart’s remarkable achievements. With an annual revenue of almost $570 billion, a global presence in 24 countries, and a customer base exceeding 230 million weekly, it’s a testament to the effectiveness of their strategies.
• Marketing strategies: The case study delves deep into Walmart’s marketing strategies. It highlights their focus on catering to low to middle-class demographics, the introduction of the Walmart Rewards loyalty program, and their commitment to environmental sustainability, all of which have contributed to their success.
• eCommerce transformation: As eCommerce continues to reshape the retail landscape, this case study details how Walmart shifted significantly towards omnichannel retail. Readers can learn about their innovative technologies and approaches, such as personalized shopping experiences and augmented reality, that have helped them adapt to changing consumer behavior.
• Supply chain innovation: Walmart’s proficiency in supply chain management is a crucial takeaway for retail executives. Their decentralized distribution center model , in-house deliveries, and data-driven optimization exemplify the importance of efficient logistics in maintaining a competitive edge.

Read the full Walmart case study here .

Retail case study #3: Sainsbury’s 

Industry : Grocery stores

• Omnichannel success amidst pandemic challenges: With the fastest growth in online shopping among major retailers, the study illustrates how Sainsbury’s adapted and thrived during unprecedented times.
• Dynamic brand positioning: The analysis delves into Sainsbury’s strategic shift in brand positioning, demonstrating a keen responsiveness to changing consumer preferences. This shift showcases the brand’s agility in aligning with contemporary health-conscious consumer trends, supported by relevant data and market insights.
• Supply chain and quality assurance: The study highlights Sainsbury’s commitment to a stellar supply chain, emphasizing the correlation between high product quality, ethical sourcing, and customer loyalty. With data-backed insights into the extensive distribution network and sourcing standards, retail executives can glean valuable lessons in maintaining a competitive edge through a robust supply chain.
• Innovative technological integration: Sainsbury’s implementation of cutting-edge technologies, such as Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” and Pay@Browse, demonstrates a commitment to providing customers with a seamless and convenient shopping experience. 
• Diversification beyond grocery: The case study unveils Sainsbury’s strategic partnerships with companies like Amazon, Carluccio’s, Itsu, Leon, and Wasabi, showcasing the brand’s versatility beyond traditional grocery retail. 

Read the full Sainsbury’s case study here .

Retail case study #4: Ocado 

• From startup to industry leader: The Ocado case study presents a remarkable journey from a three-employee startup in 2000 to becoming the UK’s largest online grocery platform.  
• Omnichannel excellence: The study emphasizes Ocado’s success in implementing an omnichannel approach, particularly its early adoption of smartphone technology for customer engagement. 
• Operational efficiency: From automated warehouses with machine learning-driven robots to digital twins for simulating order selection and delivery processes, the data-rich content sheds light on how technology can be leveraged for operational efficiency. 
• Navigating challenges through innovation: Ocado’s strategic response to challenges, particularly its shift from primarily a grocery delivery service to a technology-driven company, showcases the power of innovative thinking. The case study details how Ocado tackled complexities associated with grocery deliveries and embraced technology partnerships to stay ahead.  
• Strategic partnerships: The study sheds light on Ocado’s strategic partnerships with grocery chains and companies like CitrusAd for advertising opportunities on its platform. 

Read the full Ocado case study here .

Retail case study #5: Lidl

Industry : Discount supermarkets

• Longevity and evolution: The article provides a detailed overview of Lidl’s origins and evolution, offering insights into how the brand transformed from a local fruit wholesaler to a global retail powerhouse. Understanding this journey can inspire retail executives to explore innovative strategies in their own companies.
• Global success: Retail executives can draw lessons from Lidl’s international expansion strategy, identifying key factors that contributed to its success and applying similar principles to their global ventures.
• Awards and recognitions: The numerous awards and accomplishments earned by Lidl underscore the effectiveness of its marketing strategy. Marketers and eCommerce professionals can learn from Lidl’s approach to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. 
• Comprehensive marketing components: The article breaks down Lidl’s marketing strategy into key components, such as pricing strategy, product diversification, and target audience focus. Readers can analyze these components and consider incorporating similar holistic approaches in their businesses to achieve well-rounded success.
• Omnichannel transformation: The discussion on Lidl’s transformation to an omnichannel strategy is particularly relevant in the current digital age. This information can guide executives in adopting and optimizing similar omnichannel strategies to enhance customer experiences and drive sales.

Read the full Lidl case study here .

Retail case study #6: ALDI

Industry : FMCG

• Omnichannel approach: Aldi’s growth is attributed to a robust omnichannel strategy that seamlessly integrates online and offline channels. The case study delves into how Aldi effectively implemented services that can overcome the intricacies of a successful omnichannel approach in today’s dynamic retail landscape.
• Target market positioning: Aldi’s strategic positioning as the most cost-effective retail store for the middle-income group is explored in detail. The case study elucidates how Aldi’s pricing strategy, emphasizing the lowest possible prices and no-frills discounts, resonates with a wide audience. 
• Transparency: Aldi’s commitment to transparency in its supply chain is a distinctive feature discussed in the case study. For retail executives, understanding the importance of transparent supply chain practices and their impact on brand perception is crucial in building consumer trust.
• Differentiation: Aldi’s successful “Good Different” brand positioning, which communicates that low prices result from conscientious business practices, is a key focus of the case study. Effective differentiation through brand messaging contributes to customer trust and loyalty, especially when combined with ethical business practices.
• CSR Initiatives: The case study highlights Aldi’s emphasis on social responsibility to meet the expectations of millennial and Gen-Z shoppers. By consistently communicating its CSR efforts, such as sustainable sourcing of products, Aldi creates a positive brand image that resonates with socially conscious consumers and builds brand reputation.

Read the full Aldi case study here .

Retail case study #7: ASDA

Industry : Supermarket chain

• Omnichannel implementation: The case study details how ASDA seamlessly integrates physical and virtual channels, offering customers a diverse shopping experience through in-store, digital checkouts, Click & Collect services, and a dedicated mobile app. 
• Market segmentation strategies: The incorporation of partnerships with young British designers and influencer collaborations, coupled with socially progressive messaging, reflects a strategic shift that can inspire marketers looking to revitalize product lines.
• Crisis management and ethical branding: The study highlights ASDA’s strong response to the COVID-19 crisis, with ASDA’s actions showcasing a combination of crisis management and ethical business practices. This section provides valuable insights for executives seeking to align their brand with social responsibility during challenging times.
• Product and format diversification: ASDA’s product categories extend beyond groceries, including clothing, home goods, mobile products, and even insurance. The case study explores how ASDA continues to explore opportunities for cross-promotion and integration.
• Website analysis and improvement recommendations: The detailed analysis of ASDA’s eCommerce website provides actionable insights for professionals in the online retail space. This section is particularly beneficial for eCommerce professionals aiming to enhance user experience and design.

Read the full ASDA case study here .

Case studies for fashion eCommerce retailers

Retail case study #8: Farfetch

Industry : Fashion retail

• Effective SEO strategies: The Farfetch case study offers a detailed analysis of the company’s search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, revealing how it attracted over 4 million monthly visitors. The data presented underscores the importance of patient and dedicated SEO efforts, emphasizing the significance of detailed page structuring, optimized content, and strategic backlinking.
• Paid search advertising wisdom and cost considerations: The study delves into Farfetch’s paid search advertising approach, shedding light on its intelligent optimization tools and the nuances of running localized advertisements. Moreover, it discusses the higher cost of visitor acquisition through paid search compared to organic methods, providing valuable insights for marketers navigating the paid advertising landscape.
• Innovative LinkedIn advertising for talent acquisition: Farfetch’s unique use of LinkedIn advertising to attract talent is a standout feature of the case study and highlights the significance of proactive recruitment efforts and employer branding through social media channels. 
• Strategic use of social media platforms: Exploring the brand’s highly consistent organic marketing across various social media channels, with a focus on visual content, highlights Farfetch’s innovative use of Instagram’s IGTV to promote luxury brands. The emphasis on social media engagement numbers serves as a testament to the effectiveness of visual content in the eCommerce and fashion sectors.
• Website design and conversion optimization insights:   A significant portion of the case study is dedicated to analyzing Farfetch’s eCommerce website, providing valuable insights for professionals aiming to enhance their online platforms. By identifying strengths and areas for improvement in the website’s design, marketers, and eCommerce professionals can draw actionable insights for their platforms.

Read the full Farfetch case study here .

Retail case study #9: ASOS

Industry : Fashion eCommerce retail

• Mobile shopping success: eCommerce executives can draw inspiration from ASOS’s commitment to enhancing the mobile shopping experience, including features such as notifications for sale items and easy payment methods using smartphone cameras.
• Customer-centric mentality: ASOS emphasizes the importance of engaging customers on a personal level, gathering feedback through surveys, and using data for continuous improvement. This approach has contributed to the brand’s strong base of loyal customers.
• Inclusive marketing: ASOS’s adoption of an ‘all-inclusive approach’ by embracing genderless fashion and featuring ‘real’ people as models reflects an understanding of evolving consumer preferences. Marketers can learn from ASOS’s bold approach to inclusivity, adapting their strategies to align with the latest trends and values embraced by their target audience.
• Investment in technology and innovation: The case study provides data on ASOS’s substantial investment in technology, including visual search, voice search, and artificial intelligence (AI). eCommerce professionals can gain insights into staying at the forefront of innovation by partnering with technology startups.
• Efficient global presence: ASOS’s success in offering a wide range of brands with same and next-day shipping globally is attributed to its strategic investment in technology for warehouse automation. This highlights the importance of operational efficiency through technology, ensuring a seamless customer experience and reduced warehouse costs.

Read the full ASOS case study here .

Retail case study #10: Tommy Hilfiger 

Industry : High-end fashion retail

• Worldwide brand awareness: The data presented highlights Tommy Hilfiger’s remarkable journey from a men’s clothing line in 1985 to a global lifestyle brand with 2,000 stores in 100 countries, generating $4.7 billion in revenue in 2021. This strategic evolution, exemplified by awards and recognitions, showcases the brand’s adaptability and enduring relevance in the ever-changing fashion landscape.
• Adaptation and flexibility to changing market trends: The discussion on how the brand navigates changing trends and overcame market saturation, particularly in the US, provides practical insights for professionals seeking to navigate the challenges of evolving consumer preferences.
• Successful omnichannel marketing: Tommy Hilfiger’s success is attributed to a brand-focused, digitally-led approach. The analysis of the brand’s omnichannel marketing strategy serves as a map for effective promotion and engagement across various channels. 
• Decision-making and customer engagement: The case study emphasizes the brand’s commitment to data-driven decision-making with insights into customer behavior, leveraging data for effective customer engagement.

Read the full Tommy Hilfiger case study here .

Retail case study #11: Gap

• Overcoming challenges: The case study provides a comprehensive look at Gap Inc.’s financial performance, and growth despite the challenges. These insights can offer valuable takeaways into effective financial management and strategies for sustained success.
• Strong branding: Gap’s journey from a single store to a global fashion retailer reveals the importance of strategic brand positioning. Understanding how Gap targeted different market segments with unique brand identities, can inspire retail executives looking to diversify and expand their brand portfolios.
• Omnichannel adaptation: The case study delves into Gap’s omnichannel strategy, illustrating how the company seamlessly integrates online and offline experiences.
• Unique use of technology: By exploring the technologies Gap employs, such as Optimizely and New Relic, retail executives can learn about cutting-edge tools for A/B testing, personalization, and real-time user experience monitoring. This insight is crucial for staying competitive in the digital retail landscape.
• Inspiring solutions: The case study highlights challenges faced by Gap, including logistical, technological, financial, and human resource challenges. 

Read the full Gap case study here .

Retail case study #12: Superdry

• Success story: The case study emphasizes SUPERDRY’s successful transition to an omnichannel retail strategy, with in-depth insights into their adaptation to online platforms and the integration of technologies like the Fynd app. 
• Mobile-first and social-first strategies: As mobile internet usage continues to rise, understanding how SUPERDRY leverages videos and social media to engage customers can offer valuable takeaways for optimizing digital strategies.
• Sustainable fashion focus: Executives looking to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers can gain insights into how SUPERDRY navigated the shift towards sustainable practices and became a leader in eco-friendly fashion. 
• Data-driven marketing strategies: The case study delves into SUPERDRY’s social media marketing strategies, showcasing how the company uses targeted campaigns, influencers, and seasonal keywords. 
• Global market understanding: By exploring SUPERDRY’s experience in the Chinese market and its decision to exit when faced with challenges, the case study offers valuable insights into global market dynamics. 

Read the full SUPERDRY case study here .

Retail case study #13: New Look 

Industry : Fast-fashion retail

• Strategic pivots for profitability: A decade of revenue contraction led New Look to adopt transformative measures, from restructuring credits to withdrawing from non-profitable markets.
• Omnichannel strategy: Marketers and eCommerce professionals can study New Look’s journey, understanding how the integration of physical stores and online platforms enhances customer experience, reduces costs, and improves profitability.
• Social media mastery: The case study underscores the pivotal role of social media in engaging audiences, showcasing how New Look leverages user-generated content to build brand loyalty and maintain a positive brand perception. 
• Effective partnerships for growth: New Look strategically partners with major eCommerce platforms like eBay & Next to expand its brand presence, and tap into new audiences and markets.

Read the full New Look case study here .

Retail case study #14: Zara

• Rapid international expansion through innovative strategies: Zara’s unique approach to continuous innovation and quick adaptation to fashion trends fueled its global success. Marketers can learn how to build brand narratives that resonate across diverse markets, and eCommerce professionals can glean strategies for seamless international expansion.
• Revolutionary eCommerce tactics: The case study provides a deep dive into Zara’s eCommerce strategy, emphasizing the importance of agility and responsiveness. The brand can be a bright example of implementing supply chain strategies for a swift market adapting to rapid fashion cycles. 
• Visionary leadership: Amancio Ortega’s low-profile persona and visionary leadership style are explored in the case study, aiding retail executives to learn about leadership strategies that prioritize customer-centric business models. 
• Omnichannel marketing and integrated stock management: Zara’s successful integration of automated marketing and stock management systems is a focal point in the case study. With insights into implementing integrated stock management systems to meet the demands of both online and offline channels, Zara can inspire professionals to improve their operations.
• Co-creation with the masses: Zara’s innovative use of customer feedback as a driving force for fashion trends is a key takeaway. Marketers can learn about the power of customer co-creation in shaping brand identity, and eCommerce professionals can implement similar models for product launches and updates.

Read the full Zara case study here .

Case Studies for home & furniture eCommerce retailers

Retail case study #15: john lewis.

Industry : Homeware and clothing retail

• Omnichannel perspective: The data-driven approach, especially in tracking orders and customer behavior, serves as a blueprint for any retail business aiming to enhance its omnichannel experience.
• Strategic growth factors: This case study offers concrete data on the strategies that contributed to the company’s sustained success, inspiring similar endeavors. 
• Innovative customer engagement: John Lewis’s take on customer engagement showcases the brand’s agility and responsiveness to evolving consumer needs, supported by data on the effectiveness of these initiatives.
• eCommerce best practices and pitfalls: The analysis of John Lewis’s eCommerce website provides a data-backed evaluation of what works and what could be improved. The critique is grounded in data, making it a valuable resource for those looking to optimize their online platforms.

Read the full John Lewis case study here .

Retail case study #16: Argos 

Industry : Homeware catalog retail

• Adaptation to the changing retail landscape: Argos’s journey from a catalog retailer to a retail giant demonstrates its ability to successfully adapt to the evolving retail landscape. 
• Omnichannel success story: The case study provides a detailed analysis of Argos’s omnichannel strategy, showcasing how the company effectively integrated online and offline channels to achieve a seamless shopping experience across multiple touchpoints.
• Market share and financial performance: The inclusion of data on Argos’s market share and financial performance offers retail executives concrete metrics to evaluate the success of the marketing strategy. Understanding how Argos maintained a robust market share despite challenges provides actionable insights.
• Technological advancements: The case study delves into the technologies employed by Argos, such as Adobe Marketing Cloud, New Relic, and ForeSee. 
• Overcoming obstacles: By examining the challenges faced by Argos, including logistical, technological, financial, and human resources challenges, retail executives can gain a realistic understanding of potential obstacles in implementing omnichannel strategies. 

Read the full Argos case study here .

Retail case study #17: IKEA

Industry : Home & furniture retail

• Data-driven evolution: This detailed case study offers a data-rich narrative, illuminating the brand’s evolution into a leader in omnichannel retail.
• Pandemic response: This exploration delves into the integration of eCommerce strategies, online expansions, and the balance between physical and digital customer experiences.
• Advanced mobile apps and AR integration: A deep dive into IKEA’s innovative applications, notably the AR app “IKEA Place,” showcases how the brand leverages technology for a seamless customer experience.
• Democratic design approach: The study meticulously breaks down IKEA’s success factors, emphasizing the brand’s holistic approach through the lens of “Democratic Design.” 
• DIY mentality and demographic targeting: A detailed analysis of how IKEA’s affordability is intertwined with a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mentality. The case study explores how IKEA strategically tapped into a shift in consumer behavior, particularly among younger demographics, influencing not only purchasing patterns but also reshaping industry norms.

Read the full IKEA case study here .

Retail case study #18: Marks & Spencer

Industry : Clothing and home products retail

• Valuable lessons in eCommerce: The Marks & Spencer eCommerce case study offers a profound exploration of the brand’s journey from a latecomer to the online scene to a digital-first retailer.
• Real-world application of effective solutions: By diving into the history of Marks & Spencer, the case study provides tangible examples of how a retail giant faced setbacks and strategically pivoted to revitalize its eCommerce platform. 
• Data-driven analysis of eCommerce failures: The case study meticulously analyzes the pitfalls Marks & Spencer encountered during its eCommerce journey, offering a data-driven examination of the repercussions of a poorly executed website relaunch. 
• Multichannel customer experience: Marks & Spencer’s shift towards a multichannel customer experience is dissected in the case study, emphasizing the significance of a seamless user journey for increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Embracing technology: Exploring Marks & Spencer’s technological innovations, such as the introduction of an intelligent virtual assistant can enhance the customer shopping journey, foster engagement, and contribute to revenue growth.

Read the full Marks & Spencer case study here .

Retail case study #19: Macy’s 

Industry : Clothing and homeware retail

• Resilience and adaptability: The case study showcases Macy’s ability to navigate and triumph over obstacles, especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite hardships, Macy’s not only survived but thrived, achieving $24.4 billion in net sales for 2022.
• Omnichannel innovation: Macy’s successful transition to omnichannel retailing is a standout feature. The case study delves into Macy’s implementation of a seamless omnichannel strategy, emphasizing the integration of physical and digital retail channels. 
• Private label strategy: The introduction of new private brands and the emphasis on increasing the contribution of private brands to sales by 2025 provides a strategic lesson. Retailers can learn from Macy’s approach to enhancing control over production and distribution by investing in private brands, ultimately aiming for a more significant share of profits.
• Groundbreaking retail media strategy: Macy’s innovative approach to retail media and digital marketing is another compelling aspect. For marketers, this presents a case study on how to leverage proprietary shopper data for effective advertising, including entry into connected TV (CTV).
• Community engagement and social responsibility: The case study explores Macy’s “Mission Every One” initiative, highlighting its commitment to corporate citizenship and societal impact, integrating values into business strategies.

Read the full Macy’s case study here .

Case Studies for health & beauty eCommerce retailers

Retail case study #20: the body shop .

Industry : Beauty, health, and cosmetics

• Activism and ethical values: The Body Shop has pioneered promoting eco-friendly, sustainable, and cruelty-free products. The brand’s mission is to empower women and girls worldwide to be their best, natural selves. This strong ethical foundation has been integral to its identity.
• Recycling, community fair trade, and sustainability: The Body Shop initiated a recycling program early on, which turned into a pioneering strategy. It collaborates with organizations to create sustainable solutions for recycling, such as the Community Trade recycled plastic initiative in partnership with Plastics for Change.
• Product diversity: The Body Shop’s target demographic primarily focuses on women, but it has expanded some product lines to include men. Its products include skincare, hair and body treatments, makeup, and fragrances for both men and women.
• Omnichannel strategy, technology, and eCommerce best practices: The Body Shop has embraced an omnichannel approach that incorporates personalization, customer data and analytics, and loyalty programs. The Body Shop utilizes technology, including ContactPigeon, for omnichannel customer engagement, personalization, and data-driven decision-making.

Read the full The Body Shop case study here .

Retail case study #21: Boots

Industry : Pharmacy retail

• Long-term success: Boots’ rich history serves as a testament to the effectiveness of the brand’s strategies over time, offering valuable insights into building a brand that withstands the test of time.
• Strategic omnichannel approach: The Boots case study provides a deep dive into the marketing strategy that propelled the brand to success, with valuable insights into crafting effective omnichannel growth. 
• Impactful loyalty program: Marketers can glean insights into designing loyalty programs that resonate with customers, fostering brand allegiance. 
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a pillar: The case study sheds light on how Boots addresses critical issues like youth unemployment and climate change, showcasing how a socially responsible approach can positively impact brand perception.
• Adaptive strategies during crises: Boots’ proactive role during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering vaccination services and supporting the National Health Service (NHS), demonstrates the brand’s agility during crises. 

Read the full Boots case study here .

Retail case study #22: Sephora

Industry : Cosmetics

• Authentic customer experience-focused mentality: Backed by an impressive array of data, the case study meticulously outlines how Sephora transforms its in-store spaces into digital playgrounds, leveraging mobile technologies, screens, and augmented reality to enhance the customer shopping experience. 
• Exceptional omnichannel business plan: The early adoption of an omnichannel strategy has been pivotal to Sephora’s ascendancy. The case study delves into the mobile app’s central role, acting as a comprehensive beauty hub with data-driven insights that drive the success of groundbreaking technologies. 
• Omnichannel company culture: The case study illuminates this by detailing how this amalgamation allows a holistic view of the customer journey, blurring the lines between online and in-store interactions. This unique approach positions Sephora as a global leader in turning omnichannel thinking into a robust business strategy.
• Turning data into growth: Sephora’s adept utilization of mobile technologies to harness customer insights is a beacon for retailers in an era where data reigns supreme. The case study dissects how a surge in digital ad-driven sales, showcases the power of data-driven decision-making.

Read the full Sephora case study here .

Case studies for electronics and tools eCommerce retailers

Retail case study #23: screwfix.

Industry : Tools and hardware retail

• Innovative omnichannel approach: The case study highlights how the company strategically implemented online ordering with in-store pickup, creating a seamless shopping experience that contributed to a significant sales growth of 27.9% in just one year.
• Customer-centric strategies: Marketers can gain insights from Screwfix’s emphasis on customer experience. By studying customer feedback and incorporating personalized shopping experiences, Screwfix achieved success in the competitive home improvement sector. 
• Supply chain management for rapid growth: The company strategically opened distribution centers to keep up with demand, ensuring efficient inventory management for both online and in-store orders.
• Mobile-first approach for trade professionals: With a customer base primarily consisting of trade professionals, the company’s mobile app allows for easy inventory search, order placement, and quick pickups, catering to the needs of time-sensitive projects.
• Commitment to employee well-being and community: Retail executives and marketers can draw inspiration from Screwfix’s commitment to building a positive workplace culture.

Read the full Screwfix case study here .

Case Studies for toys and leisure eCommerce retailers

Retail case study #24: lego.

Industry : Toys and leisure retail

• Global reach strategies: LEGO’s case study meticulously outlines LEGO’s focused approach, investing in flagship stores and understanding the local market nuances.
• Diversification and licensing brilliance: LEGO’s commitment to diversification through licensing and merchandising emerges as a beacon for marketers. The collaboration with well-established brands, the creation of movie franchises, and themed playsets not only elevate brand visibility but also contribute significantly to sales. 
• Social media takeover: The case study unveils LEGO’s unparalleled success on social media platforms, boasting over 13 million Facebook followers and 10.04 billion views on YouTube. LEGO’s adept utilization of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube showcases the power of social media in engaging customers. 
• User-generated content (UGC) as a cornerstone: LEGO’s innovative use of digital platforms to foster a community around user-generated content is a masterclass in customer engagement. This abundance of UGC not only strengthens brand loyalty but also serves as an authentic testament to LEGO’s positive impact on users’ lives.
• Education as a marketing pillar: LEGO’s unwavering commitment to education, exemplified by its partnerships and $24 million commitment to educational aid, positions the brand as more than just a toy. Aligning brand values with social causes and leveraging educational initiatives, builds trust and credibility.
• Cutting-edge mobile strategy: Sephora’s foresight into the mobile revolution is dissected in the case study, presenting a playbook for retailers aiming to capitalize on the mobile landscape.

Read the full LEGO case study here .

Tons of eCommerce retail inspiration, in one place

In the realm of business, success stories are not just tales of triumph but blueprints for aspiring executives to carve their paths to growth. The case studies explored here underscore a common theme: a mindset poised for evolution, a commitment to experimentation, and an embrace of emerging trends and technologies are the catalysts for unparalleled growth.

For any executive eager to script their growth story, these narratives serve as beacons illuminating the way forward. The dynamic world of retail beckons those ready to challenge the status quo, adopting the strategies and technologies that promise scalability. The key lies in constant optimization, mirroring the agility demonstrated by industry leaders.

As you embark on your growth journey, consider the invaluable lessons embedded in these success stories. Now is the time to experiment boldly, adopting new trends and technologies that align with your brand’s ethos. If you seek personalized guidance on navigating the intricate landscape of growth, our omnichannel retail experts at ContactPigeon are here to assist. Book a free consultation call to explore how our customer engagement platform can be the linchpin of your growth strategy. Remember, the path to scaling growth begins with a willingness to innovate, and your unwritten success story awaits its chapter of transformation.

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A major retailer rejuvenates sales by thinking local

A major department store chain’s growth strategy was in trouble—its same-store sales were slumping. Working with the top executives, we transformed the way the retailer selected products for its stores. Instead of a standardized approach, we helped decentralized the system so that stores could cater to local preferences, giving customers what they wanted—and boosting sales.

The Situation

A leading department store chain, with hundreds of outlets, had pinned its growth strategy on a cookie-cutter approach, stocking similar products nationwide despite a huge range in store sizes, layouts and customer demographics.

Department StoreCo's* strategy was straightforward: After acquiring other retail chains, it wanted to grow revenues and maximize efficiencies by taking full advantage of its scale.

It wasn't a new strategy. Many giant retailers have built their success with a chain of identical stores. But times were changing; shoppers wanted more customized merchandise.

This trend was reflected in Department StoreCo's slumping sales. As pressure intensified, the CEO needed to find a way to rejuvenate sales.

Our Approach

Working with the CEO, we helped transform the retailer's growth strategy. Our research shows that tailoring product assortments to local tastes can boost same-store sales by 1 to 3 percentage points, and only 10 percent to 15 percent of the inventory needs to be customized.

Together with senior management, we designed a pilot project to identify localization opportunities. The process involved four steps:

• Perform an assortment analysis to find inventory gaps in pilot stores.
• Collaborate with vendors to spot sales growth opportunities.
• Conduct customer research to learn about their preferences and needs.
• Gather management feedback from regional and local store managers about assortment decision-making.

Our Recommendations

Based on our assortment analysis and feedback from vendors, customers and store managers, we recommended that the company launch localization pilots in a range of stores, varying in size, location and customer demographics.

The database we developed and information from managers would allow the retailer to offer merchandise, geared to customers' different lifestyles and budgets. To succeed, the retailer needed to launch the pilot in stores with the largest growth opportunities and make some key changes:

• Decentralize decision-making and empower managers to select more products based on local demand.
• Develop sophisticated systems and capabilities to coordinate a localized production selection process.
• Lead an organization-wide management change initiative to support the new localized strategy.

The Results

The pilot store initiative we collaboratively developed quickly demonstrated success, proving the power of tailoring merchandise to shoppers' tastes and pocket books:

• Higher sales: Pilot stores quickly racked up increased sales. In just the first quarter of 2009, pilot stores achieved growth that was 2.1 percent higher than in all of the retailers' other stores.
• Stronger competitor: By empowering managers close to customers, the retailer could quickly respond to market shifts, making it a more nimble competitor.

Most of the pilot stores were located in top performing regions. Even so, Department StoreCo was surprised when the pilot project debunked one its practices—offering limited product assortments in smaller stores. Some of the biggest sales increases were in small pilot stores with wealthier customers who were willing to buy more expensive fashions—if they were on the racks.

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We work with ambitious leaders who want to define the future, not hide from it. Together, we achieve extraordinary outcomes.

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28 Case Study Examples Every Marketer Should See

Published: March 08, 2023

Putting together a compelling case study is one of the most powerful strategies for showcasing your product and attracting future customers. But it's not easy to create case studies that your audience can’t wait to read.

In this post, we’ll go over the definition of a case study and the best examples to inspire you.

What is a case study?

A case study is a detailed story of something your company did. It includes a beginning — often discussing a conflict, an explanation of what happened next, and a resolution that explains how the company solved or improved on something.

A case study proves how your product has helped other companies by demonstrating real-life results. Not only that, but marketing case studies with solutions typically contain quotes from the customer. This means that they’re not just ads where you praise your own product. Rather, other companies are praising your company — and there’s no stronger marketing material than a verbal recommendation or testimonial. A great case study is also filled with research and stats to back up points made about a project's results.

There are myriad ways to use case studies in your marketing strategy . From featuring them on your website to including them in a sales presentation, a case study is a strong, persuasive tool that shows customers why they should work with you — straight from another customer. Writing one from scratch is hard, though, which is why we’ve created a collection of case study templates for you to get started.

Fill out the form below to access the free case study templates.

Free Case Study Templates

Showcase your company's success using these three free case study templates.

• Data-Driven Case Study Template
• Product-Specific Case Study Template
• General Case Study Template

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There’s no better way to generate more leads than by writing case studies . But without case study examples to draw inspiration from, it can be difficult to write impactful studies that convince visitors to submit a form.

Marketing Case Study Examples

To help you create an attractive and high-converting case study, we've put together a list of some of our favorites. This list includes famous case studies in marketing, technology, and business.

These studies can show you how to frame your company offers in a way that is both meaningful and useful to your audience. So, take a look, and let these examples inspire your next brilliant case study design.

These marketing case studies with solutions show the value proposition of each product. They also show how each company benefited in both the short and long term using quantitative data. In other words, you don’t get just nice statements, like "This company helped us a lot." You see actual change within the firm through numbers and figures.

You can put your learnings into action with HubSpot's Free Case Study Templates . Available as custom designs and text-based documents, you can upload these templates to your CMS or send them to prospects as you see fit.

1. " How Handled Scaled from Zero to 121 Locations with the Help of HubSpot ," by HubSpot

What's interesting about this case study is the way it leads with the customer. That reflects a major HubSpot cornerstone, which is to always solve for the customer first. The copy leads with a brief description of why the CEO of Handled founded the company and why he thought Handled could benefit from adopting a CRM. The case study also opens up with one key data point about Handled’s success using HubSpot, namely that it grew to 121 locations.

Notice that this case study uses mixed media. Yes, there is a short video, but it's elaborated upon in the other text on the page. So while your case studies can use one or the other, don't be afraid to combine written copy with visuals to emphasize the project's success.

Key Learnings from the HubSpot Case Study Example

• Give the case study a personal touch by focusing on the CEO rather than the company itself.
• Use multimedia to engage website visitors as they read the case study.

2. " The Whole Package ," by IDEO

Here's a design company that knows how to lead with simplicity in its case studies. As soon as the visitor arrives at the page, they’re greeted with a big, bold photo and the title of the case study — which just so happens to summarize how IDEO helped its client. It summarizes the case study in three snippets: The challenge, the impact, and the outcome.

Immediately, IDEO communicates its impact — the company partnered with H&M to remove plastic from its packaging — but it doesn't stop there. As the user scrolls down, the challenge, impact, and progress are elaborated upon with comprehensive (but not overwhelming) copy that outlines what that process looked like, replete with quotes and intriguing visuals.

Key Learnings from the IDEO Case Study Example

• Split up the takeaways of your case studies into bite-sized sections.
• Always use visuals and images to enrich the case study experience, especially if it’s a comprehensive case study.

3. " Rozum Robotics intensifies its PR game with Awario ," by Awario

In this case study, Awario greets the user with a summary straight away — so if you’re feeling up to reading the entire case study, you can scan the snapshot and understand how the company serves its customers. The case study then includes jump links to several sections, such as "Company Profile," "Rozum Robotics' Pains," "Challenge," "Solution," and "Results and Improvements."

The sparse copy and prominent headings show that you don’t need a lot of elaborate information to show the value of your products and services. Like the other case study examples on this list, it includes visuals and quotes to demonstrate the effectiveness of the company’s efforts. The case study ends with a bulleted list that shows the results.

Key Learnings from the Awario Robotics Case Study Example

• Create a table of contents to make your case study easier to navigate.
• Include a bulleted list of the results you achieved for your client.

4. " Chevrolet DTU ," by Carol H. Williams

If you’ve worked with a company that’s well-known, use only the name in the title — like Carol H. Williams, one of the nation’s top advertising agencies, does here. The "DTU," stands for "Discover the Unexpected." It generates interest because you want to find out what the initials mean.

They keep your interest in this case study by using a mixture of headings, images, and videos to describe the challenges, objectives, and solutions of the project. The case study closes with a summary of the key achievements that Chevrolet’s DTU Journalism Fellows reached during the project.

Key Learnings from the Carol H. Williams Case Study Example

• If you’ve worked with a big brand before, consider only using the name in the title — just enough to pique interest.
• Use a mixture of headings and subheadings to guide users through the case study.

5. " How Fractl Earned Links from 931 Unique Domains for Porch.com in a Single Year ," by Fractl

Fractl uses both text and graphic design in their Porch.com case study to immerse the viewer in a more interesting user experience. For instance, as you scroll, you'll see the results are illustrated in an infographic-design form as well as the text itself.

Further down the page, they use icons like a heart and a circle to illustrate their pitch angles, and graphs to showcase their results. Rather than writing which publications have mentioned Porch.com during Fractl’s campaign, they incorporated the media outlets’ icons for further visual diversity.

Key Learnings from the Fractl Case Study Example

• Let pictures speak for you by incorporating graphs, logos, and icons all throughout the case study.
• Start the case study by right away stating the key results, like Fractl does, instead of putting the results all the way at the bottom.

6. " The Met ," by Fantasy

What's the best way to showcase the responsiveness and user interface of a website? Probably by diving right into it with a series of simple showcases— which is exactly what Fantasy does on their case study page for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They keep the page simple and clean, inviting you to review their redesign of the Met’s website feature-by-feature.

Each section is simple, showing a single piece of the new website's interface so that users aren’t overwhelmed with information and can focus on what matters most.

If you're more interested in text, you can read the objective for each feature. Fantasy understands that, as a potential customer, this is all you need to know. Scrolling further, you're greeted with a simple "Contact Us" CTA.

Key Learnings from the Fantasy Case Study Example

• You don’t have to write a ton of text to create a great case study. Focus on the solution you delivered itself.
• Include a CTA at the bottom inviting visitors to contact you.

7. " Rovio: How Rovio Grew Into a Gaming Superpower ," by App Annie

If your client had a lot of positive things to say about you, take a note from App Annie’s Rovio case study and open up with a quote from your client. The case study also closes with a quote, so that the case study doesn’t seem like a promotion written by your marketing team but a story that’s taken straight from your client’s mouth. It includes a photo of a Rovio employee, too.

Another thing this example does well? It immediately includes a link to the product that Rovio used (namely, App Annie Intelligence) at the top of the case study. The case study closes with a call-to-action button prompting users to book a demo.

Key Learnings from the App Annie Case Study Example

• Feature quotes from your client at the beginning and end of the case study.
• Include a mention of the product right at the beginning and prompt users to learn more about the product.

8. " Embracing first-party data: 3 success stories from HubSpot ," by Think with Google

Google takes a different approach to text-focused case studies by choosing three different companies to highlight.

The case study is clean and easily scannable. It has sections for each company, with quotes and headers that clarify the way these three distinct stories connect. The simple format also uses colors and text that align with the Google brand.

Another differentiator is the focus on data. This case study is less than a thousand words, but it's packed with useful data points. Data-driven insights quickly and clearly show how the value of leveraging first-party data while prioritizing consumer privacy.

Key Learnings from the Think with Google Case Study Example

• A case study doesn’t need to be long or complex to be powerful.
• Clear data points are a quick and effective way to prove value.

9. " In-Depth Performance Marketing Case Study ," by Switch

Switch is an international marketing agency based in Malta that knocks it out of the park with this case study. Its biggest challenge is effectively communicating what it did for its client without ever revealing the client’s name. It also effectively keeps non-marketers in the loop by including a glossary of terms on page 4.

The PDF case study reads like a compelling research article, including titles like "In-Depth Performance Marketing Case Study," "Scenario," and "Approach," so that readers get a high-level overview of what the client needed and why they approached Switch. It also includes a different page for each strategy. For instance, if you’d only be interested in hiring Switch for optimizing your Facebook ads, you can skip to page 10 to see how they did it.

The PDF is fourteen pages long but features big fonts and plenty of white space, so viewers can easily skim it in only a few minutes.

Key Learnings from the Switch Case Study Example

• If you want to go into specialized information, include a glossary of terms so that non-specialists can easily understand.
• Close with a CTA page in your case study PDF and include contact information for prospective clients.

10. " Gila River ," by OH Partners

Let pictures speak for you, like OH Partners did in this case study. While you’ll quickly come across a heading and some text when you land on this case study page, you’ll get the bulk of the case study through examples of actual work OH Partners did for its client. You will see OH Partners’ work in a billboard, magazine, and video. This communicates to website visitors that if they work with OH Partners, their business will be visible everywhere.

And like the other case studies here, it closes with a summary of what the firm achieved for its client in an eye-catching way.

Key Learnings from the OH Partners Case Study Example

• Let the visuals speak by including examples of the actual work you did for your client — which is especially useful for branding and marketing agencies.
• Always close out with your achievements and how they impacted your client.

11. " Facing a Hater ," by Digitas

Digitas' case study page for Sprite’s #ILOVEYOUHATER campaign keeps it brief while communicating the key facts of Digitas’ work for the popular soda brand. The page opens with an impactful image of a hundred people facing a single man. It turns out, that man is the biggest "bully" in Argentina, and the people facing him are those whom he’s bullied before.

Scrolling down, it's obvious that Digitas kept Sprite at the forefront of their strategy, but more than that, they used real people as their focal point. They leveraged the Twitter API to pull data from Tweets that people had actually tweeted to find the identity of the biggest "hater" in the country. That turned out to be @AguanteElCofler, a Twitter user who has since been suspended.

Key Learnings from the Digitas Case Study Example

• If a video was part of your work for your client, be sure to include the most impactful screenshot as the heading.
• Don’t be afraid to provide details on how you helped your client achieve their goals, including the tools you leveraged.

12. " Better Experiences for All ," by HermanMiller

HermanMiller sells sleek, utilitarian furniture with no frills and extreme functionality, and that ethos extends to its case study page for a hospital in Dubai.

What first attracted me to this case study was the beautiful video at the top and the clean user experience. User experience matters a lot in a case study. It determines whether users will keep reading or leave. Another notable aspect of this case study is that the video includes closed-captioning for greater accessibility, and users have the option of expanding the CC and searching through the text.

HermanMiller’s case study also offers an impressive amount of information packed in just a few short paragraphs for those wanting to understand the nuances of their strategy. It closes out with a quote from their client and, most importantly, the list of furniture products that the hospital purchased from the brand.

Key Learnings from the HermanMiller Case Study Example

• Close out with a list of products that users can buy after reading the case study.
• Include accessibility features such as closed captioning and night mode to make your case study more user-friendly.

13. " Capital One on AWS ," by Amazon

Do you work continuously with your clients? Consider structuring your case study page like Amazon did in this stellar case study example. Instead of just featuring one article about Capital One and how it benefited from using AWS, Amazon features a series of articles that you can then access if you’re interested in reading more. It goes all the way back to 2016, all with different stories that feature Capital One’s achievements using AWS.

This may look unattainable for a small firm, but you don’t have to go to extreme measures and do it for every single one of your clients. You could choose the one you most wish to focus on and establish a contact both on your side and your client’s for coming up with the content. Check in every year and write a new piece. These don’t have to be long, either — five hundred to eight hundred words will do.

Key Learnings from the Amazon AWS Case Study Example

• Write a new article each year featuring one of your clients, then include links to those articles in one big case study page.
• Consider including external articles as well that emphasize your client’s success in their industry.

14. " HackReactor teaches the world to code #withAsana ," by Asana

While Asana's case study design looks text-heavy, there's a good reason. It reads like a creative story, told entirely from the customer's perspective.

For instance, Asana knows you won't trust its word alone on why this product is useful. So, they let Tony Phillips, HackReactor CEO, tell you instead: "We take in a lot of information. Our brains are awful at storage but very good at thinking; you really start to want some third party to store your information so you can do something with it."

Asana features frequent quotes from Phillips to break up the wall of text and humanize the case study. It reads like an in-depth interview and captivates the reader through creative storytelling. Even more, Asana includes in-depth detail about how HackReactor uses Asana. This includes how they build templates and workflows:

"There's a huge differentiator between Asana and other tools, and that’s the very easy API access. Even if Asana isn’t the perfect fit for a workflow, someone like me— a relatively mediocre software engineer—can add functionality via the API to build a custom solution that helps a team get more done."

Key Learnings from the Asana Example

• Include quotes from your client throughout the case study.
• Provide extensive detail on how your client worked with you or used your product.

15. " Rips Sewed, Brand Love Reaped ," by Amp Agency

Amp Agency's Patagonia marketing strategy aimed to appeal to a new audience through guerrilla marketing efforts and a coast-to-coast road trip. Their case study page effectively conveys a voyager theme, complete with real photos of Patagonia customers from across the U.S., and a map of the expedition. I liked Amp Agency's storytelling approach best. It captures viewers' attention from start to finish simply because it's an intriguing and unique approach to marketing.

Key Learnings from the Amp Agency Example

• Open up with a summary that communicates who your client is and why they reached out to you.
• Like in the other case study examples, you’ll want to close out with a quantitative list of your achievements.

16. " NetApp ," by Evisort

Evisort opens up its NetApp case study with an at-a-glance overview of the client. It’s imperative to always focus on the client in your case study — not on your amazing product and equally amazing team. By opening up with a snapshot of the client’s company, Evisort places the focus on the client.

This case study example checks all the boxes for a great case study that’s informative, thorough, and compelling. It includes quotes from the client and details about the challenges NetApp faced during the COVID pandemic. It closes out with a quote from the client and with a link to download the case study in PDF format, which is incredibly important if you want your case study to be accessible in a wider variety of formats.

Key Learnings from the Evisort Example

• Place the focus immediately on your client by including a snapshot of their company.
• Mention challenging eras, such as a pandemic or recession, to show how your company can help your client succeed even during difficult times.

17. " Copernicus Land Monitoring – CLC+ Core ," by Cloudflight

Including highly specialized information in your case study is an effective way to show prospects that you’re not just trying to get their business. You’re deep within their industry, too, and willing to learn everything you need to learn to create a solution that works specifically for them.

Cloudflight does a splendid job at that in its Copernicus Land Monitoring case study. While the information may be difficult to read at first glance, it will capture the interest of prospects who are in the environmental industry. It thus shows Cloudflight’s value as a partner much more effectively than a general case study would.

The page is comprehensive and ends with a compelling call-to-action — "Looking for a solution that automates, and enhances your Big Data system? Are you struggling with large datasets and accessibility? We would be happy to advise and support you!" The clean, whitespace-heavy page is an effective example of using a case study to capture future leads.

Key Learnings from the Cloudflight Case Study Example

• Don’t be afraid to get technical in your explanation of what you did for your client.
• Include a snapshot of the sales representative prospects should contact, especially if you have different sales reps for different industries, like Cloudflight does.

18. " Valvoline Increases Coupon Send Rate by 76% with Textel’s MMS Picture Texting ," by Textel

If you’re targeting large enterprises with a long purchasing cycle, you’ll want to include a wealth of information in an easily transferable format. That’s what Textel does here in its PDF case study for Valvoline. It greets the user with an eye-catching headline that shows the value of using Textel. Valvoline saw a significant return on investment from using the platform.

Another smart decision in this case study is highlighting the client’s quote by putting it in green font and doing the same thing for the client’s results because it helps the reader quickly connect the two pieces of information. If you’re in a hurry, you can also take a look at the "At a Glance" column to get the key facts of the case study, starting with information about Valvoline.

Key Learnings from the Textel Case Study Example

• Include your client’s ROI right in the title of the case study.
• Add an "At a Glance" column to your case study PDF to make it easy to get insights without needing to read all the text.

19. " Hunt Club and Happeo — a tech-enabled love story ," by Happeo

In this blog-post-like case study, Happeo opens with a quote from the client, then dives into a compelling heading: "Technology at the forefront of Hunt Club's strategy." Say you’re investigating Happeo as a solution and consider your firm to be technology-driven. This approach would spark your curiosity about why the client chose to work with Happeo. It also effectively communicates the software’s value proposition without sounding like it’s coming from an in-house marketing team.

Every paragraph is a quote written from the customer’s perspective. Later down the page, the case study also dives into "the features that changed the game for Hunt Club," giving Happeo a chance to highlight some of the platform’s most salient features.

Key Learnings from the Happeo Case Study Example

• Consider writing the entirety of the case study from the perspective of the customer.
• Include a list of the features that convinced your client to go with you.

20. " Red Sox Season Campaign ," by CTP Boston

What's great about CTP's case study page for their Red Sox Season Campaign is their combination of video, images, and text. A video automatically begins playing when you visit the page, and as you scroll, you'll see more embedded videos of Red Sox players, a compilation of print ads, and social media images you can click to enlarge.

At the bottom, it says "Find out how we can do something similar for your brand." The page is clean, cohesive, and aesthetically pleasing. It invites viewers to appreciate the well-roundedness of CTP's campaign for Boston's beloved baseball team.

Key Learnings from the CTP Case Study Example

• Include a video in the heading of the case study.
• Close with a call-to-action that makes leads want to turn into prospects.

21. " Acoustic ," by Genuine

Sometimes, simple is key. Genuine's case study for Acoustic is straightforward and minimal, with just a few short paragraphs, including "Reimagining the B2B website experience," "Speaking to marketers 1:1," and "Inventing Together." After the core of the case study, we then see a quote from Acoustic’s CMO and the results Genuine achieved for the company.

The simplicity of the page allows the reader to focus on both the visual aspects and the copy. The page displays Genuine's brand personality while offering the viewer all the necessary information they need.

• You don’t need to write a lot to create a great case study. Keep it simple.
• Always include quantifiable data to illustrate the results you achieved for your client.

22. " Using Apptio Targetprocess Automated Rules in Wargaming ," by Apptio

Apptio’s case study for Wargaming summarizes three key pieces of information right at the beginning: The goals, the obstacles, and the results.

Readers then have the opportunity to continue reading — or they can walk away right then with the information they need. This case study also excels in keeping the human interest factor by formatting the information like an interview.

The piece is well-organized and uses compelling headers to keep the reader engaged. Despite its length, Apptio's case study is appealing enough to keep the viewer's attention. Every Apptio case study ends with a "recommendation for other companies" section, where the client can give advice for other companies that are looking for a similar solution but aren’t sure how to get started.

Key Learnings from the Apptio Case Study Example

• Put your client in an advisory role by giving them the opportunity to give recommendations to other companies that are reading the case study.
• Include the takeaways from the case study right at the beginning so prospects quickly get what they need.

23. " Airbnb + Zendesk: building a powerful solution together ," by Zendesk

Zendesk's Airbnb case study reads like a blog post, and focuses equally on Zendesk and Airbnb, highlighting a true partnership between the companies. To captivate readers, it begins like this: "Halfway around the globe is a place to stay with your name on it. At least for a weekend."

The piece focuses on telling a good story and provides photographs of beautiful Airbnb locations. In a case study meant to highlight Zendesk's helpfulness, nothing could be more authentic than their decision to focus on Airbnb's service in such great detail.

Key Learnings from the Zendesk Case Study Example

• Include images of your client’s offerings — not necessarily of the service or product you provided. Notice how Zendesk doesn’t include screenshots of its product.
• Include a call-to-action right at the beginning of the case study. Zendesk gives you two options: to find a solution or start a trial.

24. " Biobot Customer Success Story: Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida ," by Biobot

Like some of the other top examples in this list, Biobot opens its case study with a quote from its client, which captures the value proposition of working with Biobot. It mentions the COVID pandemic and goes into detail about the challenges the client faced during this time.

This case study is structured more like a news article than a traditional case study. This format can work in more formal industries where decision-makers need to see in-depth information about the case. Be sure to test different methods and measure engagement .

Key Learnings from the Biobot Case Study Example

• Mention environmental, public health, or economic emergencies and how you helped your client get past such difficult times.
• Feel free to write the case study like a normal blog post, but be sure to test different methods to find the one that best works for you.

25. " Discovering Cost Savings With Efficient Decision Making ," by Gartner

You don't always need a ton of text or a video to convey your message — sometimes, you just need a few paragraphs and bullet points. Gartner does a fantastic job of quickly providing the fundamental statistics a potential customer would need to know, without boggling down their readers with dense paragraphs. The case study closes with a shaded box that summarizes the impact that Gartner had on its client. It includes a quote and a call-to-action to "Learn More."

Key Learnings from the Gartner Case Study Example

• Feel free to keep the case study short.
• Include a call-to-action at the bottom that takes the reader to a page that most relates to them.

26. " Bringing an Operator to the Game ," by Redapt

This case study example by Redapt is another great demonstration of the power of summarizing your case study’s takeaways right at the start of the study. Redapt includes three easy-to-scan columns: "The problem," "the solution," and "the outcome." But its most notable feature is a section titled "Moment of clarity," which shows why this particular project was difficult or challenging.

The section is shaded in green, making it impossible to miss. Redapt does the same thing for each case study. In the same way, you should highlight the "turning point" for both you and your client when you were working toward a solution.

Key Learnings from the Redapt Case Study Example

• Highlight the turning point for both you and your client during the solution-seeking process.
• Use the same structure (including the same headings) for your case studies to make them easy to scan and read.

27. " Virtual Call Center Sees 300% Boost In Contact Rate ," by Convoso

Convoso’s PDF case study for Digital Market Media immediately mentions the results that the client achieved and takes advantage of white space. On the second page, the case study presents more influential results. It’s colorful and engaging and closes with a spread that prompts readers to request a demo.

Key Learnings from the Convoso Case Study Example

• List the results of your work right at the beginning of the case study.
• Use color to differentiate your case study from others. Convoso’s example is one of the most colorful ones on this list.

28. " Ensuring quality of service during a pandemic ," by Ericsson

Ericsson’s case study page for Orange Spain is an excellent example of using diverse written and visual media — such as videos, graphs, and quotes — to showcase the success a client experienced. Throughout the case study, Ericsson provides links to product and service pages users might find relevant as they’re reading the study.

For instance, under the heading "Preloaded with the power of automation," Ericsson mentions its Ericsson Operations Engine product, then links to that product page. It closes the case study with a link to another product page.

Key Learnings from the Ericsson Case Study Example

• Link to product pages throughout the case study so that readers can learn more about the solution you offer.
• Use multimedia to engage users as they read the case study.

Start creating your case study.

Now that you've got a great list of examples of case studies, think about a topic you'd like to write about that highlights your company or work you did with a customer.

A customer’s success story is the most persuasive marketing material you could ever create. With a strong portfolio of case studies, you can ensure prospects know why they should give you their business.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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How to Improve Your Brand: Retail Store Case Study

I remember the first time I stepped into a Vans store. I was on vacation with my family in California and we happened to stumble upon one of their stores in San Francisco. I had never seen anything like it before. The store was so cool and hip, and the staff was so friendly and helpful. It felt like a completely different world from the stuffy, boring retail stores back home. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by Vans’ unique approach to retailing – which is why I decided to write about retail store case study!

Retail store case study Explained

A retail store case study is a customer research method used to investigate a retail store in order to understand its operation and performance.

A case study of retail outlets can provide insights into the stores’ customer service, product selection, and marketing techniques.

It can also reveal problems and challenges that the store faces, which can be used to improve its operations.

Case Studies Prove Experiential Retail Is The Future

Physical shops are in decline, but experiential retail stores are on the rise.

Millennials are the biggest spenders on experiential shopping, with 52% of their total expenditures going towards these types of products. This has introduced the term ‘Retailtainment’.

Experiential Retail in Action

Brands have to stay creative in order to keep up with their competitors. By providing unique, fun, and immersive experiences, retailers are able to provide their customers with memorable shopping experiences that set them apart from the pack.

Stores are moving away from the features-and-benefits approach to retail sales , and focusing more on creating a memorable customer experience.

To be a successful retailer, you must provide your customers with a pleasant, convenient, and enjoyable experience.

Here are 3 great examples of how experiential retail is being implemented.

Marvel: Avengers STATI-O-N

The Marvel’s Avenger: The Science Behind The Super Heroes is an interactive exhibition that tours around the world.

It’s appeared all over the world, including in New York, Las Vegas, and South Korea.

Based on Disney’s blockbuster Avengers movies, this store has actual costumes and props that were used in the films, as well as interactive exhibits.

The (Marvel): (Avengers) (STATI-O) (project) is not about (selling) (T-shirts) and (mugs). (The goal) of the project is (to deliver) (an in-person) (experience) to fans and (bring) (the brand) (to life).

The Marvel Avengers: S.T. A. T. I. O. N. exhibit at Discovery Times Square is an excellent example of interactive and immersive entertainment.

Fans of the MCU can immerse themselves even further into the fictional world that they enjoy, further cementing their allegiance to the Marvel brand and their love of the franchise.

For a brand as successful as Marvel, it would be easy for them to rest on its laurels. But, they continue to impress fans through creative marketing strategies, such as turning their stores into entertainment centers.

Farfetch: Creating a Retail Experience of the Future

The e-commerce site, farfetch.com, is for high-end boutiques that are looking to create a unique shopping experience for their customers.

The founder of online fashion retailer, FarFetch, believes that the future of shopping lies in using technology to enhance the shopping experience. He predicts that by 2025, 80% of retail sales will still take place in a physical store, but that this percentage will decline as online shopping becomes more popular.

Farfetch’s Store of the Future

The CEO of RetailNext, Robert Neves, envisions a future where consumers can have more human interaction with retailers.

He developed an augmented reality solution called “Store of the Future” that linked offline and online shopping experiences. The “store of the future” featured interactive, touch screen-enhanced mirrors that allow shoppers to virtually try on clothes, as well as digitalized, sensor-enabled, smart-racks that allowed customers to digitally browse items.

The sign-in page at FarFetch gives retail sales reps access to a customer’s order history, wishlist, and profile information.

The mirrors in the changing room allow customers to instantly request different items, sizes or payment methods without having to leave the fitting rooms.

This revolutionary approach to retail allows customers to enjoy the best of both worlds: the personalized experience of shopping in boutiques with the speed and convenience of online shopping.

Huda Beauty: Cosmic Experience in Covent Garden

The luxury cosmetics company, Huda Beauty, created one of a kind immersive shopping experience in London’s Covent Garden. The pop-up gave customers a chance to try on products, learn about the company, and shop the newly launched line.

To launch their new product, the cosmetics company, Huda Beauty, created a futuristic pop-up shop in London. This allowed them to reach a new audience and showcase their products in a unique and memorable way.

The outside of the building featured various geometric and mirror-like shapes and designs. Inside, there were even more reflective surfaces, as well as more ‘spacey’ and ‘cosmic’ features.

At the London launch of her makeup line, the cosmetics queen herself, @hudabeauty, sat on the throne that she used in her marketing materials. This was all part of the effort to get as many likes and shares on social media as she could.

The introduction of the pop-up store was hugely successful. It introduced a whole new set of customers to the brand.

If you’re looking for a retail store case study that will make you think, look no further than Vans. This post dives into the company’s unique shopping experience and how it can be used to improve your own business. From their cool and hip stores to their friendly and helpful staff, there’s a lot we can learn from Vans about creating a great customer experience. So next time you’re thinking about ways to improve your retail business , take some inspiration from this iconic brand!

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• Case study: Key Drivers of...

Case study: Key Drivers of Retail Sales Performance

• Does the diversity of product lines in each outlet influence sales performance?
• Does location have an impact on the sales of each retail outlet?
• Does the presence of certain employees (e.g. sales representatives, merchandisers, merchandising supervisors) have an impact on the sales of each retail outlet?
• Does the psychometric profile of employees influence the performance of their respective retail outlets?
• Does the brand name of each retail outlet attract more (or less) customers leading to differences in sales?

How We Intervened

Initial Phase

Manipulating the presence of merchandisers to improve profit

Manipulating product diversity and the number of sales representatives per outlet, taking advantage of the different brand names the outlets belong to, not focusing on the wrong things, the second phase.

• Striving for social acceptance describes a person’s striving for social status and recognition. The higher the percentile rank, the more important it is for the person to feel socially accepted and to behave accordingly.
• Aspiration level – This dimension indicates whether the respondent tends to set realistic or unrealistic goals for him or herself (e.g. with regard to the quantity of work that one can carry out or to the accuracy and thoroughness one aims at). Achievement-motivated people set realistic but ambitious goals that somewhat exceed their previous achievements. Goals of this type are indicated by medium to high percentile ranks.
• Extroversion – The merchandiser enjoys being around and interacting with people. He/she would rather take charge than be reserved. The insight above is invaluable when the company wants to recruit new merchandisers or take merchandisers that are already in the system through training.

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Case Study: Can Retailers Win Back Shoppers Who Browse then Buy Online?

• Thales S. Teixeira
• Sunil Gupta

A brick-and-mortar retailer searches for a response to “showrooming.”

Bertice Jenson couldn’t believe how shameless they were. Right in front of her in the Benjy’s superstore in Oklahoma City, a young couple pointed a smartphone at a Samsung 50-inch Ultra HD TV and then used an app to find an online price for it. They did the same for a Sony and an LG LED model, as the Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz danced across all three screens.

• TT Thales  S. Teixeira  is the co-founder of Decoupling.co, a digital disruption and transformation consulting firm. He is the author of  Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption  and a panel judge in CNBC’s Disruptor 50 annual startup competition. Previously he was a professor at Harvard Business School for ten years and now teaches at the University of California.
• SG Sunil Gupta is the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

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Cracking the Sales Code: Lessons from 8 Sales Case Studies

While HubSpot’s sales report shows a decent close rate of 29%, the lower win rate of 21% suggests inefficiencies. This gap indicates that unqualified leads are likely slipping through the cracks, requiring a closer look at lead qualification and potentially a sales process refinement to improve conversion rates.

Challenges in selling may have many reasons:

• Selling has become more challenging with the changes in consumer behavior.
• Salespeople’s selling techniques are not as effective anymore as they were years ago.
• The supply of products and/or services offered has saturated the market
• The sales distribution has spread thinly among individual salespeople.

The journey from prospect to conversion is a maze of challenges, and within these challenges lie the keys to mastering the art of sales. 

To address these challenges and others, sales case studies offer valuable insights. Let’s delve into eight specific sales scenarios—selling something readily available for free, navigating crowded markets, approaching small and medium businesses with high-value solutions, tackling overseas sales, engaging with informed consumers, navigating long sales cycles, introducing emerging technologies, and overcoming price objections.

Each case study offers valuable lessons to be learned and applied to improve your sales strategy. The book, “ Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You ” provides essential guidance on transforming a business into a sellable asset by focusing on scalability and systematization. Integrating insights from this book into sales case studies offers valuable perspectives on how strategic planning and operational efficiency can lead to sustainable growth and increased valuation for businesses.

Now, in this exploration of sales case studies, let us delve into the dynamic process of sales and let us discuss challenging sales case studies and how to deal with them.

1. Selling Freemium Solutions

Some products that are being sold have some free alternatives that people can get to. Examples include paid content and their free content alternative, CRMs, project management tools, and others. However, some businesses can sell these products and make good business out of it.

Charging for something that could be obtained for free is feasible.

That’s why services and products vary immensely – from smartphones to finding a carpenter or looking for apartments in the same area.

So, how do you sell something that people could get for free?

Let’s take the case of selling a Bottled Water. In a world where water is freely available, selling bottled water faced the challenge of convincing consumers to pay for something they could obtain at no cost.

First, you need to identify the alternative options and how it presents an opportunity for your product.

Let’s review what the options are if you want to gather water for free. Roughly speaking, you can either drink tap water or go to the nearest mountain or lake with seemingly good water.

Tap water is known to contain certain chemicals like chlorine and aluminum sulfate. Pesticides and herbicides can also be found in some tests of tap water. This could cause asthma or different forms of skin damage, along with weakening the cells and a number of known and unknown problems (that add up with time).

It’s dependent on the region, your neighborhood, the building, and the pipe installation in your home. Filtering is not a top priority for many since tap water wasn’t meant to be consumed orally in the first place. Some safety mechanisms are in place, but that’s not nearly enough. Plus, if you visit relatives or friends, there’s no way you can test the water upfront (every time).

Spring water is somewhat clean as it’s being filtered through rocks. That said, you can’t rely on the structure of the water in different pools or rivers as it depends on different factors – like the flora or fauna living there, how far the stream is from the source, and the like (there are studies out there that explain everything more scientifically).

You also need to determine what makes your product better. This will help convince people to pay a premium.

Showcase the unique value proposition, emphasizing standards, safety, and convenience. The Bottled Water Case Study unveils the mastery of transforming a freely available resource into a premium, standardized product.

• Standards and Safety: Bottled water positioned itself as a safer, standardized alternative to tap water. Compliance with government regulations and quality standards reassured consumers about the purity and safety of the product.
• Convenience: The convenience of having access to clean water on the go became a significant selling point. Bottled water addressed the inconvenience and potential health risks associated with alternative sources, emphasizing the ease of carrying, accessibility, and reliability.
• Environmental Factors: Some brands further elevated value by promoting eco-friendly practices, contributing to the sustainability narrative. This additional layer of value appealed to environmentally conscious consumers.

The Bottled Water Case Study demonstrates that by strategically emphasizing standards, safety, and convenience, a product can be transformed from a freely available resource into a premium solution with perceived value.

All things considered, there are good reasons why bottled water is priced when people can obtain it for free. The filtering process is different and is standardized across brands. It’s more widely available than public sources (except for tap water), and it’s easier to carry small bottles whenever needed.

Other goods, resources, tools, or services follow a similar process. Professional vendors invest in different activities to improve the quality of a product or a service – leading to higher demand and an actual business model. Free products and services always come with limitations – a premium provider can invest in customer support, the convenience of delivery, or anything else that is of value to the buyer.

To sum it up, identify pressing problems that free alternatives face (in this case, lack of standardization and possible health risks) and turn the narrative in your favor.

2. Selling Products With Too Many Competitors

Is your business one of the many vendors selling different flavors of the same product (or in a niche with many competitors)?

This is where storytelling comes into play. People need solutions to problems in their specific industries.

Storytelling allows for putting those features to work by defining practical scenarios. Each business is unique in a way – there is a company mission, and there are business goals. And the company culture.

There’s a backstory to starting the business and an ideal subset of problems that are uniquely solved by a solution.

Stand out through storytelling. Examine the strategies of iconic brands like Nike and McDonald’s. Learn how they leveraged storytelling to create a unique identity and connect with their audience.

What Makes You Different?

If you are entering a saturated market, the question is: what makes you different?

There are tons of supermarkets, design agencies, and dentist offices. Yet, each one of them profiles in something unique or has some vibe attuned to the energy of their ideal audience.

• Nike sells sports equipment. But aside from the notorious “Just do it”, they’ve positioned themselves with multiple influencer-baked stories through athletes like Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, and lots of football players.
• McDonald’s spent $2.3 million in 1967 for a national advertising campaign, building a solid brand, pioneering outstanding customer service, and innovating in the “Happy Meals” department. Since then, they’ve created hundreds of incredible campaigns, including “love story” journeys with marriage proposals in their stores, responses to international events, and pivots in takeaway products (among others).

Businesses operate in different manners and follow various business processes . Some focus on quality, others – on price.

Each market has value for a specific audience. To build the bond between your business and your market, you need a story that serves as the bridge between you and your customers.

The mastery of storytelling by Nike and McDonald’s highlights the power of creating a unique brand narrative. By going beyond features and connecting emotionally with consumers, these brands established themselves as leaders in saturated markets.

3. Selling High-Value Solutions to SMEs

Selling high-value solutions to SMEs involves addressing specific challenges faced by smaller businesses that may not have the resources of larger enterprises.

The thing is, most small and medium business owners provide services or products that are not completely digital. Those that sell online goods and services would do fine through on-site and online sales and marketing .

Most “outstanding” solutions fall into one of the following categories:

• Those that would bring a ton of new customers to a business.
• Solutions that depend on someone who will manage the process, configure parameters, and talk to support staff to leverage the solution (after the onboarding/training process).
• Automation tools that will simplify the process (and possibly grow the traffic or bring new leads).
• Software that promises everything but won’t commit to a “money-back guarantee” if something goes wrong.

If I receive a hard offer for something that would yield a good multiplier on an annual basis and I’m 100% confident that this would work, I’ll pay the right amount. But that’s never the case.

For instance, if your software truly promises 3x growth of the business in a year, a company may not be able to cope with hiring and training in order to accommodate that growth.

And some businesses do prefer to stay small. Not every company aims to be the next Facebook or Airbnb.

Other tools depend on team members who are heavily involved in operations, maintenance, and adherence to a process. A business may be unable to allocate the resources required for the job. A small team only employs so many decision-makers and managers capable of allocating a good chunk of their time to something new that may or may not work.

Categorize solutions and tailor offerings to bring new customers, simplify processes, or promise growth. Understand the nuances of guaranteeing ROI and the importance of building a convincing case.

• Customer Acquisition Solutions: Tailor solutions that attract new customers to help SMEs expand their client base.
• Process Simplification Tools: Develop solutions that streamline processes, ensuring efficiency and ease of operation for SMEs.
• Growth-Promising Software: Offer tools that promise growth, providing SMEs with the means to scale their operations.
• Building a Convincing Case: Understand that SMEs often need reassurance about the return on investment. Build a compelling case by showcasing success stories, emphasizing long-term benefits, and offering flexible payment plans.

Successfully delivering high-value solutions to SMEs requires a nuanced understanding of their needs. By categorizing solutions and addressing specific pain points, businesses can establish trust and demonstrate the tangible benefits of their offerings.

All in all, if you build the right case and warm up a lead enough, you may be able to close a (new) client with the right proposition. 

4. Selling Overseas

Expanding sales overseas involves navigating diverse markets, understanding cultural nuances, and overcoming logistical challenges inherent in international business.

Navigate international waters through a mix of digital marketing, local hires, social media, and strategic partnerships.

• Digital Marketing Abroad: Leverage digital marketing strategies tailored to specific international markets. This includes localized content, targeted advertising, and SEO optimized for regional preferences.
• Local Hires for Market Insight: Employ local sales representatives who understand the cultural, economic, and business landscapes. Their insights can guide effective market penetration and relationship building.
• Social Media Engagement: Utilize social media platforms to engage with international audiences. Create content that resonates with diverse cultures and encourages dialogue with potential clients.
• Strategic Partnerships: Form strategic partnerships with local businesses. Collaborations can provide access to established networks, facilitate smoother operations, and enhance credibility in the target market.

There are plenty of ways – some traditional, others – creative.

Are you selling services or products, digital or physical, B2B or B2C?

Do you target a single country or worldwide?

What are the demographics of your target audience?

What techniques do competitors use for selling?

For B2C sales (less expensive digital products/services), digital marketing and advertising work well. 

Here’s what else you need to consider as a set of strategies for multinational sales penetration.

• Influencer marketing is a good investment, albeit long-term (it takes a while to work with multiple influencers on targeted campaigns).
• Hiring a local salesperson in each area is also a great idea. Selling more expensive products in a specific country (say, the US) may justify hiring a local salesperson there. Attending conferences, trade shows, meetups – and meeting prospects locally.
• Social media works in all cases, along with a well-maintained blog. The latter takes a while and is contingent on your content strategy and keyword research.
• Personal branding online could help you land podcast appearances and other interviews. Being able to position yourself in the right media outlets (that your prospects read) may yield good results.
• Consider partnerships, too. This is extremely valuable if you team up with a business managing a portfolio of “ideal” clients providing other services (complementing yours).

Triumph in international sales requires a multifaceted approach. By combining digital marketing, local expertise, social media engagement, and strategic partnerships, businesses can overcome the complexities of global markets and achieve success beyond borders.

5. Selling to “Informed” Consumers

In the age of information, consumers are more informed than ever before. They research products, read reviews, and compare options before purchasing. This shift in consumer behavior poses a unique challenge for sales professionals—how to engage and persuade individuals who already possess a wealth of information about the products or services they seek.

Adapt to the evolving consumer landscape by focusing on informed selling. Understand the preferences, knowledge, and expectations of modern consumers to tailor your approach.

Selling electric vehicles (EVs) in a market where consumers are becoming more informed about environmental issues and sustainable living was no easy feat for Tesla. But, Tesla strategically positioned its electric vehicles as not just cars but as a sustainable lifestyle choice. The company leveraged the increasing environmental awareness among consumers, emphasizing the benefits of EVs for reducing carbon footprints. 

Elon Musk’s transparent communication and updates on Tesla’s advancements in battery technology and autonomous driving also contributed to winning over the informed consumer. 

Acknowledge and respect the knowledge consumers bring to the table. Here’s how you can do it:

• Embrace Transparency and Honesty: Be transparent about your product or service, providing comprehensive information that complements the consumer’s understanding. Consequently, you build trust by being honest about your offerings. If a product has limitations or certain conditions, communicate them openly. Consumers appreciate authenticity.
• Tailor Your Pitch: Recognize that informed consumers seek personalized experiences. Tailor your sales pitch to address their specific needs and concerns. Showcase how your offering aligns with their individual preferences.
• Become an Advisor: Position yourself as an advisor rather than just a seller. Offer valuable insights, additional information, and industry knowledge. By adding value, you position your brand as a trusted resource.
• Leverage Digital Platforms: Meet informed consumers where they are – online. Utilize digital platforms, social media, and informative content to engage with your audience. Share educational content that goes beyond the basic product features.
• Understand Their Requirements: Practice active listening. Understand the specific requirements of the consumer, and align your pitch with what matters most to them. This demonstrates that you value their individual needs.
• Incorporate Consumer Feedback: Showcase that you value consumer opinions. Integrate feedback into your sales approach. Highlight improvements made based on customer input, demonstrating a commitment to continuous enhancement.
• Stay Up To Date: The consumer landscape evolves rapidly. Stay current with industry trends, consumer preferences, and emerging technologies. An adaptable sales approach ensures you resonate with the ever-changing informed consumer.

Adapting to the informed consumer landscape is not about circumventing their knowledge but aligning your strategies to complement it. 

Understanding their preferences, acknowledging their expertise, and offering a personalized and value-driven approach can help you navigate the challenges of selling to a well-informed audience with finesse.

6. Selling Over Long Sales Cycles

Extended sales cycles can test the endurance of sales professionals. Today, the B2B purchasing process involves an average of seven decision-makers. Navigating through intricate decision-making processes, especially in industries with long buying cycles, requires a strategic and patient approach.

Cultivate patience and resilience. Learn effective strategies to nurture leads, build relationships, and stay top-of-mind during extended decision-making processes.

Here’s how you can go about it:

• Long-Term Relationship Focus : Shift the focus from immediate transactions to long-term relationships. Understand that building trust and rapport takes time, especially in industries where decisions are intricate and involve multiple stakeholders.
• Segmented Lead Nurturing : Divide your leads into segments based on their position in the sales funnel. Tailor your communication and engagement strategies according to each segment’s needs. Provide targeted content that addresses specific concerns at each stage.
• Continuous Education : During prolonged sales cycles, prospects may seek deeper insights. Provide educational content that addresses industry challenges, emerging trends, and potential solutions. Position your brand as an authoritative source of valuable information.
• Stay Top-of-Mind : Stay relevant in your niche . Regular, non-intrusive communication is key. Utilize newsletters, informative emails, and personalized updates to stay top-of-mind. Consistency in communication reinforces your commitment and interest in the prospect’s journey.
• Adaptive Approach : Be adaptable in your sales strategies. Understand that client needs and priorities may shift during extended sales cycles. Stay informed about any changes in their organizational goals or challenges, and adjust your approach accordingly.
• CRM Integration : Implement a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track and manage interactions. Leverage automation to streamline communication and ensure that no prospect falls through the cracks during a lengthy sales cycle.
• Timely and Relevant Follow-Ups : Timely follow-ups are crucial. However, ensure that your follow-ups are not perceived as intrusive. Instead, provide value with each interaction, offering additional insights, case studies, or information that aligns with the prospect’s needs.
• Internal Resilience Training : Equip your sales team with resilience training. Extended sales cycles can be emotionally draining; having a resilient mindset is crucial. Train your team to bounce back from setbacks and remain focused on the long-term goal.
• Proactive Relationship Management : Anticipate potential concerns that may arise during a prolonged sales cycle. Proactively address these concerns, demonstrating your commitment to understanding and overcoming obstacles.

IBM often deals with complex B2B sales cycles, especially in the technology and enterprise solutions sector. The good thing is that IBM understands the need for patience in enterprise-level sales so well that IBM is the seventh largest technology company by revenue and the 49th largest overall as of 2022 and is also one of the world’s largest employers, with over 297,900 employees worldwide in the same year.

The company focuses on relationship-building through continuous communication, providing valuable insights, and showcasing the long-term benefits of their solutions. IBM invests in educational content to guide prospects through the decision-making process, recognizing that major IT decisions take time and careful consideration.

Patience is not just a virtue; it’s a strategic advantage in navigating extended sales cycles. Staying adaptive to changing dynamics positions you for success in industries where patience truly pays off.

7. Selling Emerging Technologies

Challenge: Introducing and selling emerging technologies.

Navigating the uncharted waters of selling emerging technologies presents unique challenges. The market for these products is often undefined, and potential customers may be unfamiliar with the benefits or hesitant to adopt new, unproven solutions.

Embrace the unique challenges of selling cutting-edge products. Explore ways to position your offerings as solutions to emerging needs, targeting early adopters.

When Amazon introduced its voice-controlled virtual assistant, Alexa, it was a relatively new concept in the consumer market.

Amazon strategically targeted early adopters by emphasizing the convenience and futuristic aspects of voice-activated technology. They rolled out frequent updates, continually expanding Alexa’s capabilities, and integrated it with a variety of smart home devices. By positioning Alexa as an innovative solution for smart homes, Amazon effectively captured the early adopter market and set the stage for widespread adoption.

How can you do the same?

• Identify Innovators and Early Adopters: Recognize that early adopters are key players in the technology adoption lifecycle. Understand their characteristics, motivations, and risk tolerance. Tailor your marketing and sales strategies to appeal to this audience.
• Employ Informative Content Marketing: Develop comprehensive content that educates potential customers about the benefits and applications of the emerging technology. Use webinars, case studies, and whitepapers to showcase real-world scenarios and success stories.
• Collaborate with Industry Influencers: Partner with influencers, thought leaders, or industry experts who can vouch for the credibility and potential of your emerging technology. Their endorsement can significantly impact early adopter confidence.
• Offer Pilot Programs: Mitigate the risk for early adopters by offering pilot programs. Allow them to test the technology in a controlled environment, gathering feedback and addressing concerns before a full-scale launch.
• Personalize Messaging: Craft messaging that speaks directly to the pain points and challenges early adopters face. Showcase how your technology provides innovative solutions and addresses their specific needs.
• Iterate Product Development: Adopt an agile approach to product development. Leverage customer feedback to make continuous improvements and updates. Early adopters appreciate the opportunity to influence the direction of a product.
• Establish Thought Leadership: Position your company as a thought leader in the emerging technology space. Publish insights, research, and predictions about industry trends. Build trust by demonstrating your commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements.
• Participate in Industry Events: Attend and actively participate in industry events, conferences, and meetups focused on emerging technologies. Networking with potential early adopters provides valuable insights and establishes your presence in the community.
• Highlight Early Success Stories: Showcase success stories of early adopters who have experienced positive outcomes with your technology. Peer testimonials and success narratives can be powerful motivators for others considering adoption.

Effectively selling emerging technologies requires a balance of innovation, education, and strategic partnerships. Remember this to successfully navigate the challenges associated with introducing cutting-edge products to the market

8. Selling Over Price Objections

Price objections are a common hurdle in the sales process. Customers may perceive your product or service as expensive, leading to hesitancy or the exploration of more budget-friendly alternatives.

Entering a market dominated by established razor brands, Dollar Shave Club needed to justify its subscription-based model. Dollar Shave Club addressed price objections by focusing on the convenience and cost-effectiveness of its subscription service. 

The company highlighted the quality of its razors, the simplicity of doorstep delivery, and the overall savings compared to traditional razor purchasing. By providing additional value through a hassle-free experience and high-quality products, Dollar Shave Club successfully attracted customers despite initial price objections.

Highlight the value proposition beyond price. Showcase the long-term benefits, unique features, and additional value your product or service brings to overcome objections.

• Emphasize Comprehensive Value: Clearly communicate the holistic value your product or service provides. Highlight not only the immediate benefits but also the long-term advantages, cost savings, and positive impact on the customer’s business or life.
• Highlight Unique Selling Points: Identify and emphasize the unique features or attributes that differentiate your offering from competitors. Showcase how these distinctive elements contribute to a superior customer experience or enhanced outcomes.
• Provide ROI Demonstrations: Offer concrete demonstrations of the return on investment (ROI) that customers can expect. Use case studies, data analytics, or testimonials to illustrate how your product delivers tangible value that surpasses its cost.
• Create Value-Added Bundles: Package your product or service with complementary offerings to create additional value. Bundling allows you to present a more attractive overall proposition, making the price seem reasonable in comparison to the bundled benefits.
• Introduce Flexible Pricing Models: Explore flexible pricing options, such as tiered plans or subscription models. This allows customers to choose a pricing structure that aligns with their budget while still accessing essential features or services.
• Share Customer Success Stories: Leverage the power of customer testimonials and success stories. Showcase how other customers have overcome initial price concerns and achieved significant value and satisfaction over time.
• Offer Free Trials or Samples: Provide customers with the opportunity to experience your product or service through free trials or samples. Allowing them to test the offering firsthand can alleviate concerns and demonstrate its worth.
• Educational Materials on Value: Develop educational content that specifically focuses on the value derived from your product or service. Highlight the unique attributes that contribute to a positive customer experience or solve critical problems.
• Transparent Pricing Discussions: Be transparent in pricing discussions. Clearly articulate the value proposition and explain how the pricing structure aligns with the benefits and features offered. Open communication builds trust and addresses concerns.

Overcoming price objections involves showcasing the true worth of your product or service. 

Effectively communicating comprehensive value, emphasizing unique selling points, and providing tangible evidence of ROI position your offering as a valuable investment rather than a mere expense.

Without a doubt, the sales industry is a dynamic one that requires adaptability, ingenuity, and strategic thinking. Exploring the various sales case studies brings to light the contemporary sales process and have gleaned priceless insights from major players in the field. 

I hope these insights help you as you start your sales journey and provide you the confidence to confidently navigate the difficult sales landscape. With these lessons in hand, you’re well-positioned to succeed in the constantly changing field of salesmanship. Cracking the sales code is a quest that never ends.

Do you struggle with sales and other business challenges ? Head to this sales guide and learn more practical tips and strategies.

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15% Increase in Retail Sales: a Success Story

The search for operational optimization and productivity has always been a priority for retailers. Simultaneously, recent consumer trends have highlighted the need for shop teams to always be available to the customer. The balance between profitability and customer service is an eminent challenge in retail. Improving the convenience and quality of customer service without increasing costs starts by ensuring process efficiency, transforming shop teams from operational teams to customer-focused teams.

The company

A leading retailer with a growth strategy focused on price competitiveness, product diversity and quality with a strong brand and loyalty programmes.

The business model encompasses a network of more than 700 shops, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, local stores and an e-commerce platform.

The challenge

Personalization and convenience are common trends across retail sub-sectors. Customers are looking for an experience tailored to their preferences and expect products to be available at the right time, in the right quantity and with the right quality. To respond to these consumer demands, there is a need to free up the teams’ time for customer service and simultaneously guarantee the robustness of the logistical processes that ensure the availability of products.

In this context, a project team was established involving elements from the different areas of the shop. The objective of the project team was to increase the productivity of logistical tasks, eliminating the number of shop disruptions and freeing up the teams’ time so they could be more dedicated to customer service.

The approach

To meet the proposed challenge, the team began by analyzing the processes and tasks, which allowed them to identify the potential for improvement, followed by the design of the solution.

Root causes analysis

– Stockouts and low team productivity

The lack of consistency between the organization of the shop’s back warehouse and the shop’s layout proved to be one of the causes of productivity loss and increased stockouts, due to the excessive handling of products. This mismatch, despite allowing each location to be optimized, causes many losses during replenishment, since it requires longer journeys and empty runs.

On arrival of material at the shop warehouse, opportunities were immediately identified regarding the stock organization and amount ordered. Excessive stock of items makes its storage difficult, which consequently contributes to increased stock shortages and loss of productivity in handling. Palletized storage complicates not only handling but also ergonomics at the time of replenishment.

The identification and resolution of stockouts on-shelf are carried out in an ad-hoc way . This leads to a loss of productivity for the team as they leave the tasks they were carrying out to urgently respond to unanticipated replenishment needs.

– Poor customer service

If a stockout is not prevented, and store teams aren’t reacting to its occurrence, there is a large chance that customers have been affected by the unavailability of the product and that this has resulted in lost sales for the retailer.

Through observations on the shop floor, it became clear that workforce sizing was not meeting demand fluctuation throughout the day , as there were long checkout queues and customers were struggling to find a salesperson to assist their shopping journey.

All of these factors have a direct or indirect negative impact on the three most important indicators of shop operations: sales, productivity and customer service. Thus, the solution design contemplated initiatives to boost productivity, reduce or eliminate stockouts and increase retail sales.

Solutions design

How to increase retail sales and productivity, while reducing stockouts

All of the solutions below were implemented, tested, and validated in pilot shops, and then extended to the entire network with the necessary customization.

Store warehouse and in-bound flow  optimization

The first step was to review the layout of the back warehouse , considering the frequency of consumption and the configuration of the shop itself, to make the picking sequence in the warehouse coincide as much as possible with the replenishment sequence on the shelves. This ensures, on the one hand, rapid accessibility to higher rotation articles and, on the other, the optimization of replenishment routes, minimizing empty runs and unnecessary returns.

The implementation of a sorting process at the reception has enabled unnecessary handling to be minimized: on leaving the lorry, the articles are sorted according to their point of destination (storage rack or replenishment aisle) into standardized load units (pallets or trolleys, respectively).

To reduce excess stock, the inventory management algorithm was refined by considering consumption in real-time. To cope with variability in demand, the delivery frequency to the stores was increased. On the one hand, this solution levels the material replenishment and, on the other hand, reduces the risk of stockouts and inventory errors.

Shopfloor replenishment

To ensure the efficient movement of material, routes that set the pace for the replenishment operation were implemented. The frequency of the replenishment routes was determined by matching on-shelf capacity (in product units) with demand profile throughout the day. These cyclical routes, with a defined timetable and circuit , together with the use of trolleys, survey the replenishment needs and the replenishment of the products. In this way, the replenishment is guaranteed evenly throughout the day, prior to the occurrence of a stockout, with minimum impact on the customer’s experience. To allow this process to flow smoothly, a stock area with easy access for the replenisher was designed, close to the shopfloor and replenished according to consumption.

Workforce sizing, team scheduling and checkout

Team sizing was one of the store managers’ concerns. To correctly size the resources needed throughout the week and day, an analysis of the operational processes needed to be carried out by matching this with the customer flow patterns , the fluctuation of workload was made clear.

With the correct data in hand, it was possible to design and implement a workforce management algorithm for workforce sizing and daily resource scheduling , to effectively meet demand, while minimizing checkout and counter queues, and leaving availability to assist customers in the shopping journey.

The checkout area was also redesigned to promote a more pleasant experience and reduce the perceived waiting time.

Customer service and team skilling

Having freed-up time for the team to assist the customer, it was crucial to make sure that this assistance was valuable. Teams were trained in sales, customer service, and in the product portfolio.

All the new processes had to be deployed through the large network of stores . To successfully carry out this skilling effort, a group of team leaders were trained within the scope of the pilot store. They understood the challenges of implementing the new processes and experienced first-hand the benefits that they provided. This transformed the team leaders into efficient change agents. With detailed support material and follow-up sessions, they were able to deploy new ways of working in their stores and multiply the benefits for the company.

The retailer achieved significant gains in all target indicators: overall productivity of the operations team increased by 25%, while damaged goods and stock levels fell by 21% and 12%, respectively. Customer satisfaction surveys show an increase of 7% mainly due to a reduction in shelf turnover and due to a general improvement in convenience and in-store experience.

The combined effect of the operational indicators resulted in an impactful increase in retail sales, with a confirmed growth of around 15%. It is estimated that in the months following the project, the company’s market share increased by around 2.2%.

There is now greater stability and predictability in logistical processes, and an increase in the reaction speed of the teams in the shops.

# retail # operations

See more on retail.

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Top 22 Case Study Examples That Boost Sales (+ Templates and Tips)

Jackie Jacobson | June 29, 2023 | Case Studies | 20 min read

Quick Links

• 1.   What Is It?
• 2.   Why They're Important
• 3.   Case Study Length
• 4.   Where Do I Put Them?
• 5.   Case Study Format
• 6.   How to Write One
• 7.   Examples
• a.   PDF
• b.   Online

The Best Case Study Examples

• 1.  Adobe: Royal Bank of Scotland
• 2.  BrightEdge: Stanley
• 3.  LeadGnome: Host Analytics
• 4.  Bitly: Vissla
• 5.  Taboola: The Line
• 6.  OutBrain: Lane Bryant
• 7.  Google Analytics: Optimizely
• 8.  LinkedIn: HubSpot
• 9.  LevelEleven: Staples
• 10.  Life Size: Rackspace
• 11.  Five9: Weed Man
• 12.  LogMeIn: Extent Technologies
• 13.  Red Hat: North Carolina State Websites
• 14.  VMWare: CenturyLink
• 15.  HPE: Mendix
• 16.  Gravitate: Global Expeditions Group
• 17.  IDEO: INFARM
• 18.  Forge and Smith: Happy Planet
• 19.  CoSchedule: English Heritage
• 20.  Slack: OpenAI
• 21.  Square: The Epicurean Trader
• 22.  Bluleadz: BandGrip

Building an effective content marketing strategy that can take your prospects through every stage of the buyer's journey means creating a variety of content.

From relevant, informative blog content to engaging webpages, landing pages, whitepapers, and emails, a comprehensive content marketing strategy should run deep.

One powerful, but often underused, piece of content is the case study .

What Is a Case Study?

A case study acts a narrative, featuring real-world situations where certain products or services are used in a way that demonstrates their value. They are a special type of thought leadership content that brands can use in marketing and sales to guide their target audience to the decision stage of their buyer's journey . Engaging case studies walk prospects through how a real life customer identified a specific pain point , started using your product or service, and overcame that pain point while reaping additional benefits.

A case study is a unique type of thought leadership content that tells a story.

Case studies are narratives that feature real world situations or uses of products or services to demonstrate their value. A well written case study will follow a customer as they define a problem, determine a solution, implement it, and reap the benefits.

Case studies offer readers the ability to see a situation from the customer's perspective from beginning to end. 

Need an example of a case study? Check out some of our case studies here !

Why case studies are important.

A marketing case study is one of the most compelling content items in your sales funnel .

It’s the perfect way to guide people into and through the decision phase, when they have the best options laid out on the table and they’re ready to puzzle through that final selection.

Because of this, case studies are uniquely useful as bottom of the funnel content .

By the time prospects are ready to read case studies, they have a nuanced grasp of the problem in front of them. They also have a good selection of potential solutions and vendors to choose from.

There may be more than one option that’s suitable for a given situation. In fact, there usually is. But there’s just one option that fits the prospect best. The challenge is figuring out which one.

Since B2B decision makers aren’t mind readers, they need content to bridge the gap between “what they know about your solution” and “what they know about their own business.” The case study does that by showing how a similar customer succeeded.

The more similar the prospect is to the customer in the case study, the more striking it will be.

For that reason, you might want to have a case study for every buyer persona you serve. And naturally, case studies pertain to specific products or services, not your whole brand.

So, you could find yourself with multiple case studies for each buyer type.

However, the effort is worth it, since case studies have a direct impact on sales figures.

How Long Should a Case Study Be?

Honestly, the more to-the-point you can be in a case study, the better.

Great case studies should pack a lot of meaning into a small space. In the best examples, your reader can grasp the single main idea of each page in a short paragraph or two.

Each detail should build on the next, so they’ll keep moving forward until the end without getting distracted.

Sure, it’s no Dan Brown novel, but if you do it right, it’ll still be a real page-turner.

Note: Some businesses will have a brief case study in PDF form to use as sales collateral then a longer form, more in-depth version of the same case study on their website. In this case, it can be normal to write a lengthier case study.

Where Should I Put My Case Studies?

Anywhere you want, really!

Ideally, you should upload case studies somewhere on your website so new leads coming to your site have the opportunity to see just how kickass your business is at driving revenue and results for your current customers.

Whether it's an online case study or a PDF version, making your successes available to the public can prove just how valuable your efforts are.

Plus, make sure every member of your sales team has access to your case studies so they can use them as sales collateral to send to prospects and opportunities! A quick PDF attachment to a sales email can be very convincing.

It can also help to sprinkle links and CTAs to your case studies throughout your content:

The Best Case Study Format

• Introduction: Provide context for the story.
• Challenge: Describe the primary issue being faced.
• Solution: Identify the product or service being used.
• Benefit: Emphasize the most impactful advantages.
• Result: Detail the specific outcomes the customer earned.

Like press releases, case studies often fall into a certain specific format.

While it’s not required that you have all of the possible topics in a particular order, picking a consistent format will help you accelerate production down the road. It also makes your content easier to read.

Many B2B businesses use the following approach:

• Introduction: sets the stage by providing context for the situation.
• Challenge: discusses the key problem that the customer was facing.
• Solution: a basic overview of the product or service the customer used.
• Benefit: recaps the solution’s top advantages – why it was the right choice.
• Result: the positive business outcome arising from the solution and benefits.

This formula gives you enough flexibility to highlight what’s most important about your enterprise, solution, and the customer you’re showcasing.

At the same time, it ensures that your team will know exactly what information they need to compile to design case studies in the future.

It also serves as an intuitive trail of breadcrumbs for your intended reader.

How to Write a Case Study

1. Ask Your Client/Customer for Approval.

This first step is crucial because it sets the layout for your entire case study. 

If your client or customer gives the ok to use their name and information, then you can add as much detail as you want to highlight who they are, what you helped them do, and the results it had.

But, if they would rather remain anonymous or want you to leave out any specific details, you’ll have to find a way to keep your information more generalized while still explaining the impact of your efforts.

2. Gather Your Information.

Like any good story, a marketing case study has a beginning, middle, and end. Or, you could think of it as “before, during, and after.”

Before: The Problem

Your case study will always open by presenting a problem suffered by one of your clients.

This part of the study establishes what’s at stake and introduces the characters – your company, the client company, and whichever individual decision makers speak for each side.

During: The Solution

Once you define the problem, the next step presents your offering, which serves as the answer to the dilemma.

Your product or service is, in a very real sense, the hero of the story. It catalyzes the change, which you describe in terms of your features, advantages, and other differentiators.

After: The Result

In the final step, you discuss the “happy ending” brought about by your solution.

Returning to the “stakes” you established at the very start, you expand on how much better things are thanks to your intervention. You want prospects to imagine themselves enjoying that level of success.

3. Get a Quote.

Of course, a study about two corporations isn’t very interesting on its own. The best case studies personify the protagonists, including the vendor and the client company, by having plenty of quotes peppered throughout the entire story.

Naturally, the business problem to be solved is the big, bad villain here, so you want the client (and preferably, your own team as well) to weigh in on that problem: How complex it is, what solving it would mean, and what not solving it would cost.

Then, as the situation turns around, testimonials become essential.

Naturally, the longest, most emphatic testimonial should come from the top decision maker. But you should aim to include a glowing quote from many different stakeholders – representing the full cast of “characters” who might be making consensus buying decisions around your solution.

Note: Don’t use a testimonial or quote if your case study is anonymous. 

4. Find Some Compelling Graphics.

A case study isn’t a whitepaper: You shouldn’t be trudging through page after page of text.

In fact, some of the most powerful case studies establish their own vivid, graphics-heavy style – looking a lot more like an infographic, or even a magazine, than traditional B2B marketing collateral.

Color blocks , strong contrasts, skyscraper photography, and hero shots are all on the table when it comes to case studies. The more data you have to convey, the more creative you should be in presenting it so it can be understood at a glance. 

15 Great Examples of Offline Case Studies

1. adobe: royal bank of scotland.

This study focuses on the solutions Adobe provided for the Royal Bank of Scotland. Their top challenges included fostering a culture of data driven decision making, eliminating disjointed systems, and delivering digital experiences that are relevant and easy to use.

Adobe's approach resulted in a 20 percent increase in conversion, as well as improved internal communications, faster optimization, and a reduction of their content management footprint. 

2. BrightEdge: Stanley

In 2015, Stanley consolidated two separate brand web properties into one site. The process needed to mitigate traffic disruption, improve traffic, and increase organic search results.

The results? Almost 40 percent of keywords Stanley ranked for were on the first page of organic results, and the company generated a 100 percent lift in revenue, thanks to support from the BrightEdge platform.

3. LeadGnome: Host Analytics

Host Analytics moved to an account based marketing strategy in 2015. They noticed that the marketing efforts were limited by a large number of low quality needs.

Their problem was solved when they used an automated email marketing approach from LeadGnome to nurture and qualify leads via email marketing.

4. Bitly: Vissla

Vissla is an online ecommerce company with a need to understand big data across multiple marketing platforms.

Bitly provided a a way to consolidate data and literally link channels together to display all information on a single dashboard.

5. Taboola: The Line

The Line is an online boutique that offers shoppers a unique experience and showcases products that can be found at their brick and mortar store in NYC's Soho neighborhood. Their goal was to increase first time visitors to their site.

Taboola offers a product that drives first time users. The result? Over 72 million impressions within three months, and email subscriber growth of 12 percent.

6. OutBrain: Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant, the leading retailer for women sized 14 – 28, launched a campaign designed to celebrate all women and redefine the traditional notion of sexy with a simple message – ALL women are sexy.

The goal was to amplify the campaign and drive traffic and engagement.

The result? OutBrain used media amplification to take the campaign viral, resulting in over 48,500,000 impressions in just two weeks!

7. Google Analytics: Optimizely

Optimizely is a leading online A/B testing and user experience optimization platform that offers innovative data-driven marketing solutions to maximize user experience and keep them coming back for more. 

The challenge they faced was better identifying page views to determine where customers are in the buying cycle.

The solution was provided by using data from Google Analytics Premium to successfully move leads through the sales funnel.

8. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: HubSpot

HubSpot, in search of quality leads, turned to LinkedIn Marketing Solutions to engage with marketing professionals in small to medium sized businesses, targeting them with ebooks, webinars, and how-to guides. Sponsored organic content appeared in members' LinkedIn feeds.

The result: 400 percent more leads within their target audience than efforts on other platforms.

9. LevelEleven: Staples

LevelEleven helped Staples focus their teams on the critical sales activities that matter.

The end result? Their team developed a better understanding of the KPIs that matter and experienced a 182 percent increase in key selling activities.

10. LifeSize: Rackspace

Rackspace is a world leader in hybrid cloud computing with offices throughout the world. The challenge was collaborating and communicating across offices.

The approach? LifeSize created a video solution to build stronger relationships across international offices.

11. Five9: Weed Man

Five years ago, the lawn care company Weed Man had an idea -- If their phone-based reps could connect with more prospects, more decisions would result, without adding sales reps.

The solution? Five9 assisted Weed Man with migrating their data to the cloud. This case study shows why SMBs like Weed Man should store business data on the cloud for CRM.

12. LogMeIn: Extent Technologies

One of the better, more concise case study examples, this one page synopsis clearly defines the challenges and goals of Extent.

It explores how LogMeIn provided effective solutions and produced stellar results, including a boost in staff productivity, an increase in first contact resolution rate, and an improvement in overall service. 

13. Red Hat: North Carolina State Websites

Under mandate from the governor, the North Carolina Department of Information Technology needed to update state websites to overcome complex processes and limited technical resources.

The resulting solutions from Red Hat reduced maintenance times and lowered staffing costs.

14. VMWare: CenturyLink

This study addresses the complexities of cloud hosted infrastructure. One element of all case study examples is to educate perspective clients about the services and products offered.

This study takes a complex subject and makes it easy to understand, while clearly outlining the solutions VMWare can provide.

15. Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Mendix

This study breaks down another complex subject: rapid hosted cloud app development.

HPE links to additional content so readers can gain even more knowledge about the subject and the solutions HPE offers.

7 of the Best Online Case Studies

1. gravitate: global expeditions group.

This case study is a great example of how to break up a detailed case study for an easier read.

Gravitate starts off by introducing their client, Global Expeditions Group (GXG), to give visitors a little background into what they do. They then dive straight into what their role was in helping GXG with a robust content marketing strategy.

What catches your eye at the beginning of this case study is the results. Rather than forcing readers to find out the impact of their efforts at the very end, they call out some major statistics and improvements that they helped GXG achieve. It's a great way to entice readers to keep them wanting to learn just how they did it.

Gravitate did a great job breaking up their rather long case study. Since it focuses on an entire content marketing strategy, they put various parts of their case study into separate sections, from their rebranding efforts to their website design and copywriting.

2. IDEO: INFARM

What we like so much about IDEO's case study about INFARM is that it reads just like a simple blog post – there's no sections and no busy graphics. While this doesn't work for everyone, it really matches the vibe of IDEO's brand.

This case study is short, sweet, and to the point, with the largest elements on the page being the images and a quote. At the very top, they outline the entire case study in two small sections – the challenge and the outcome.

What we like about this particular case study is how IDEO talks about what's next for INFARM. Beyond the typical problem-solution-result structure, they took it one step further to talk about the future and what INFARM plans on doing next. 

3. Forge and Smith: Happy Planet

Forge and Smith effectively uses real mockups and examples from the work they did for Happy Planet to showcase their work in action.

This case study is perfectly designed into multiple modules to break up chunks of text into three phases. They start off with the objectives they set in place for their website design and development work for Happy Planet, which is pretty unique for a case study.

What's great about this case study is the opportunity to view the finished website. A hyperlink isn't just hidden within the text forcing you to dig around looking for it; it's called out right then and there to let you view their finished work on the Happy Planet website.

Another great feature is the option to view a previous case study or all the case studies if you're interested. No need to locate the main page, you have direct access! 

4. CoSchedule: English Heritage

CoSchedule treats their case studies as customer stories, highlighting who their customers are and how their platform was able to help them. Their case study on English Heritage is simple to view and comprehend.

On the left, there is a customer spotlight on English Heritage, complete with a company logo, brief description, industry, company size, size of the marketing team, and more. These little details help give you a better idea of who the company is.

Then, on the right side of the screen, is a blog-like case study.

Rather than breaking up their message into the standard format, CoSchedule calls out the results that English Heritage has seen since switching to CoSchedule. Within each result, they touch on the challenge they had before CoSchedule then the lasting impact it created.

Throughout the case study, CoSchedule includes relevant screenshots and impactful quotes from English Heritage employees. This helps readers visualize what they are talking about.

5. Slack: OpenAI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have quickly claimed center stage in the digital world. Slack is one business that hopped on the bandwagon and incorporated AI generated assistance into their platform, and this case study tells a story of success using modern technology.

In this case study , Slack relies heavily on testimonials to share the impact that OpenAI has made on their product. The story of Slack and OpenAI is told directly to readers by the people who experienced the partnership and how it can improve user experience for all kinds of businesses. Sharing a success story in this way makes the whole case study feel much more personal than just providing a list of statistics. 

When customers read through the case study, they'll get to know perspectives from multiple people, hopefully coming across one that really resonates with them. 

6. Square: The Epicurean Trader

The Epicurean Trader case study featured on the Square website follows the tried and true structure for a closer look into a success story. First, this case study introduces The Epicurean Trader and what problems they were facing as a retail business. 

The next section of the case study discusses the solution proposed by Square and the implementation of their products as The Epicurean Trader expanded their business. Finally, this case study concludes with notable impacts as a result of using Square's software, including revenue growth and comparisons to standards set within the industry. 

Reading through this case study, you'll join The Epicurean Trade on their journey to enhance their retail practices. Thanks to testimonials from the owner of the business, you'll also get an inside look at how this brand was able to grow with some help from Square. 

Overall, this case study example is clear, concise, and easy to follow. Readers will get to know a highlighted business and how Square stepped in to resolve a problem they were facing. 

7. Bluleadz: BandGrip

We couldn't  not pat our own backs for recently publishing a case studies page on our website.

Bluleadz often uses case study PDFs as sales collateral to send to qualified prospects. While we used these PDF designs internally, we wanted to make sure our client success stories were available to everyone coming to our site.

Thus, our case study page was born.

Our BandGrip case study really sticks out to us. We start off by introducing who BandGrip is, who they serve, and what they do.

Then, we highlight the struggles they were having with getting demo sign-ups on their page. We included relevant quotes from the CEO to show their need for a solution.

We then begin to outline all the pre-show and post-show tactics that we implemented to help them tackle their challenge and earn them more demo sign ups. Landing page screenshots and other various graphics help readers visualize what we were able to do.

Toward the end of the case study, we highlight the impact of our efforts, calling out some of the major statistics. 

Highlight Your Past Successes to Attract Future Business

Each of these case study examples does an excellent job of outlining the challenges, solutions, and results provided. If you are building a portfolio of case studies, use these excellent examples for inspiration and format.

Once you master the art of the case study, you’ll find it’s packed with marketing power, giving you a huge ROI for the time you put into creating it.

If your leads have been falling off in the decision phase, a marketing case study may be just what you need.

Case studies are a powerful tool in your content marketing arsenal, so why not create one today? Click below to create your very own case study!

General FAQ

What is a case study.

Case studies are narratives that feature real-world situations or uses of products or services to demonstrate their value. A well-written case study will follow a customer as they define a problem, determine a solution, implement it, and reap the benefits.

The more to-the-point you can be in a case study, the better. Case Studies typically range from 500 words to 1,500 words depending on what's getting highlighted.

What Format Should My Case Study Be In?

Typically, a case study contains an introduction, a challenge, a solution, a benefit, and a result.

Why are Case Studies Important?

Case studies allow businesses to showcase how their product or service has been implemented successfully by their customers. It allows businesses to show how their product/service is actually used and the impact that it can have.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie is a Copywriter at Bluleadz. She graduated from Elon University with a degree in Creative Writing and is currently living in Charlotte, NC. If you need her, you can find her exploring the city or relaxing with a good book.

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Retail Case Studies

Cybertill RetailStore customer success stories.

Visitor Attraction Case Study: Whistlestop Valley

by rachel abraham | Nov 21, 2019 | Blog , Case study , Retail sectors , Retail Software , Retail software case study , Visitor Attraction Case Study

3 mins read Running for three and a half miles through the West Yorkshire countryside, Whistlestop Valley has been operating as a tourist attraction since 1991. Whistlestop Valley have been customers of Cybertill for just over two years and have reaped many benefits from using the system

Case Study: Mill Hill Wines

by rachel abraham | Aug 5, 2019 | Case study , Download , Retail Software , Retail software case study

3 mins read Mill Hill Wines case study looking at how the independent wine merchant has seen instant success with Cybertill.

Case Study: Daniel Footwear

by rachel abraham | Jul 12, 2019 | Blog , Case study , Download , Retail software case study , Retail software download

3 mins read Daniel Footwear is an independent retailer with over 30 stores throughout the UK and a busy ecommerce site. The shops provide an extensive range of on trend designer shoes, bags, and accessories in a boutique retail environment.

Case Study: Macadoodles Liquor Store

by rachel tonner | Jun 10, 2019 | Blog , Case study , Download , Macadoodles case study , Retail sectors , Retail Software , Retail software case study

3 mins read Located across Missouri and Arkansas, USA, the wine, beer and spirit merchants, Macadoodles® was founded in 1997 on the vision of Roger L. Gildehaus, a former Walmart retail executive, with the top priority of providing customers with the best shopping experience.

Barnardo’s improving ROI and processes with EPoS

by rachel abraham | Apr 9, 2019 | Charity Software , Charity: Case Study , Charity: Download , Download , Retail Software , Retail software case study , Retail software download

3 mins read National charity Barnardo’s work to transform the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children, helping thousands of families each year build a better future. With over 700 shops across the UK, its retail operation generated £15m profit in 2018, 25% up on previous years.

Case Study: Postmark

by rachel abraham | Jan 15, 2019 | Case study , Download , Retail Software , Retail software case study

Case Study: Manx Telecom

by rachel abraham | Dec 20, 2018 | Case study , Download , Retail software case study

3 mins read Bespoke consultancy days for Manx Telecom, paving the way for a new era of stock control and improved reporting.

Case Study: After Noah

by rachel abraham | Dec 14, 2018 | Case study , Download , Retail sectors , Retail Software , Retail software case study

4 mins read Eclectic independent homeware retailer After Noah, has been a Cybertill customer for nearly 15 years and recently celebrated its one millionth transaction through the Cybertill system!

Case Study: O’Neills

by rachel abraham | Jul 1, 2018 | Case study , Retail Software , Retail software case study

Case Study: Imperial War Museum

by rachel abraham | Jun 30, 2016 | Case study , Retail Software , Retail software case study , Visitor Attraction Case Study , Visitor Attraction Download

5 mins read Premier UK visitor attraction The Imperial War Museum has five sites across the UK and uses Cybertill’s retail management software to improve stock control.

Case Study: St. Paul’s Cathedral

5 mins read Landmark heritage site St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most loved UK tourist venues, using Cybertill’s retail management software to modernise their retail operation.

Privacy Overview

© 2024 Cybertill Ltd and Cybertill Inc. All Rights Reserved. UK Company Registration Number: 4007218

Case Study: Real-Time Analytics Boost In-Store Sales

For retailers that sell both online and offline, it can sometimes feel like you’re in competition with yourself. Brick-and-mortar stores provide customer service and the ability to experience the product in person, but customers often go home to make the purchase. Who gets credit for the sale?

Taiwan-based EC Life was experiencing this dilemma firsthand. The video gaming and computer retailer had plenty of foot traffic in its chain of stores, but the conversion rate was low. Customers were coming in to play with the equipment, but they were leaving and placing orders online. Friction between the ecommerce and in-store managers sent EC Life’s general manager looking for a solution to improve in-store sales.

Ecommerce outlets have had an advantage due to strong customer analytics, but advances in facial recognition and AI are leveling the playing field. Instead of relying on human instincts, retail store managers can get real-time access to business intelligence—helping them and their staff close more deals on the spot.

“Many store owners see the cost of rent as a necessary investment for prime locations in certain business districts. But some customers tell us that landlords raise rents due to busy traffic flow. Yet these retailers don’t necessarily see a corresponding increase in revenue,” said Grace Liu, Business Development Manager for Advantech.

Lui said that some store owners experience internal arguments between online and offline business units: “EC Life—one of our long-term partners—wanted to find a better solution to make both departments work together as one company. And the retailer needed a way to help its store managers enhance their performance.”

EC Life chose UShop+ , an AI-driven retail management platform from Advantech to help transform its in-store sales. The solution enables data-driven insights to help retailers create personalized customer experiences, improve brand loyalty, drive foot traffic, and increase sales ( Figure 1 ).

Customer Data Provides Valuable Insights

  The first step in addressing EC Life’s challenges was installing smart cameras that collect and analyze visitor traffic and behavior.

“Before you can increase your conversion rate, you have to know how many people are inside your store and where they are,” said Liu. “With these two data points, you can take action.”

The EC Life Branch Manager reported how they use the Ushop+ heatmap function to track shoppers. “If 1,000 customers visited the store, but only 20 transactions were made, they can look at the images to understand customers’ paths and interests,” said Liu.

With this information, EC Life can educate its staff on how to do better in leading customers from simply having interest into actual purchasing behavior.

“Before you can increase your conversion rate, you have to know how many people are inside your store and where they are. With these two data points, you can take action.” @advantechretail @insightdottech

AI Improves Store Efficiency

Instead of resorting to educated guesses, Advantech gives EC Life the insights it needs to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of each store. With the UShop+ mobile app, store managers can review and take action on real-time information, including:

• Numbers of visitors
• Transactions
• Sales volume
• Sales per shopper
• Rate of returning customers
• Average time spent inside store

And UShop+ was integrated with the retailer’s POS system to complete the analytics model, providing comprehensive business intelligence.

Advantech’s Edge Intelligence Servers are deployed in each store. Powered by Intel ® technology, these servers provide the performance needed for real-time analytics. The data collected is sent to the cloud for a complete dashboard of all branch stores as shown in Figure 2 .

Real-Time Analytics Generate Results

The information gathered through the UShop+ system helped EC Life implement valuable changes. For example, the company had previously awarded store managers bonuses based on monthly sales revenue. Using the data it collected, it set goals based on conversion rate.

“This change influenced the store manager’s behavior,” said Liu. “If the conversion rate was low, the manager could track back and find out who was on staff at that certain time. They could use the heatmap solution to see where customers had spent time in the store. And then they could coach the employee to improve customer service, modifying the sales talk, and teaching them how to perform better next time.”

In just five months, EC Life sales revenue increased by double digits. It improved its inventory management based on interest and engagement, and streamlined costs, such as the number of hourly employees it needed based on traffic.

As the EC Life example demonstrates, technology is giving back brick-and-mortar stores their advantage in the retail arena. Consumers want personalization and best-in-class shopping experiences. Retailers can now deliver by collecting and collating intelligence—online and offline—to provide an omnichannel experience that offers the best of both worlds.

“Everybody is talking about the future trend that more online sales will go offline,” said Liu. “It’s already happening. People still want to see, touch, and try out the merchandise. And more personalized, one-to-one shopping will have a huge impact on the industry. This can happen using the UShop+ solution.”

Retail Consultant Sales Training Lessons [Case Study]

Access My FREE 5-Part Retail Sales Training Email Course!

As a retail consultant, I partner with clients to increase conversions, attract customers, and become more profitable.

In this series of blogs, I'm sharing several case studies from some of the largest brands to some of the smallest mom-and-pops with lessons on your physical location , merchandising, branding, targeted marketing , and retail sales training - all of which you can use in your stores.

I’m sharing how we used intense retail sales training to increase sales by over 20 percent in three to six months.

The Challenge

A window fashions company that had used me as their "go-to guy" for sales training at their large quarterly meetings was looking to provide additional training for their independent dealers to help them stand out from their competition.

The Situation

The independent dealers, who had committed tens of thousands of dollars to upgrade each store's interiors, wanted a higher return on their investment.

The company was looking for ways to deliver that higher expected return. One salesperson shared, "I thought our owner paid a lot for those fixtures we didn't utilize."

The Prescription

We created a 2 1/2 day intensive sales training course. The goal was to raise the average sale and increase the closing ratio. We created a custom program incorporating the new store design, product scripts, a more detailed sales process, and new ways to follow up on leads. Particular emphasis was placed on limiting participant size. We offered lots of hands-on training, personal coaching, and role-playing for owners and their salespeople. We concluded the weekend with the dealers in teams teaching the rest of the group what they'd learned.

The Results

The stores that participated in the sales training weekend saw their sales rise 22.3% over the next three to six months. Five stores in the region that did not attend the training saw their sales decline during the same period.

Participants shared some of their "aha" moments, including, "My personal relationship to the customer makes or breaks the sale, I'm not just selling a product, I need to sell myself now," and, "I never had an 'approach' - I winged it, but I now have a process for myself to be consistent with my approach."

Lessons for you

You’ve probably attended sales training before. You’ve heard about features and benefits and making a customer feel important. Still, many sales training don't stick because people need to internalize the training, overcome their fears of selling, and have a chance to practice in a safe environment. My retail sales training does precisely that.

I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but if you can’t hire me for a custom retail sales training program, here are three things I include that lead to “aha” moments.

Try sharing these three sales training elements with your crew:

Role-play a customer and salesperson and ask the group if they would have purchased based on that presentation. You are looking for honest feedback on how it looked and felt.

Have your sales crew write their thoughts about admitting to family or friends that they are salespeople . Have them list three emotions they feel when they tell someone. Then, have them share it with the group.

Everyone goes through your store looking for a fixture or display not used to its best advantage. Then, brainstorm how to improve the use of those fixtures or displays to sell your merchandise better.

An added benefit of these sharing moments is a closer connection to your crew.

The more time you can devote to getting your sales force comfortable with selling, the more impact these training moments will have. Having participants teach it back shows how well they learned and can transfer that knowledge to others.

See also, Best Retail Consultant Case Studies

It may not be new fixtures or a lack of return on investment that leads you to call me. It might be that sales are suffering, or you feel you’re in a rut, or you are wondering how much higher your business can go. Whatever the reason, if your store or region is not where it needs to be or if you’re not getting that higher conversion and higher average ticket, and you still intend to win at retail this year and beyond, I can help you demystify the sales process and upgrade your salespeoples’ ability to sell.

And isn’t that what success is all about?

Best Retail Consultant Success: Changing A Toy Store Retail Sales Culture [Case Study]

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Retail Consultant Tip: 4 Stages of A Customer's Buying Cycle

Precise attribute modeling uncovers 6.8% of incremental sales 

Tesco PLC, Waitrose & Partners, Sainsbury's

About the project

A global grocery retailer partnered with Retail Insight to get a better understanding of the major drivers behind its financial performance. 

Discover how we helped them use the power of precise attribute modeling to uncover key insight and identify new sales opportunities. 

Solutions used

Store insight.

• count-up#start"> 6.8% Increase in incremental sales

Range of individuals

A global grocery retailer wanted its entire Merchandising function to be able to identify and understand the major drivers of financial performance.

Many decisions were based on individuals’ knowledge and experience, but without any consistent process, measures or accountability to understand when, and more importantly why, variance from the plan occurred.

Readily integrated

We partnered with internal Analytics, Merchandising and Finance teams, to define and prove a hypothesis; that using available internal and external data, it was possible to accurately identify, isolate and quantify the key drivers of monthly store sales performance.

Our structured approach considered four key stages:

• Framing the challenge to clarify users’ key needs
• Creating the building blocks by creating a living database of over a thousand potential modeling attributes
• Developing a reusable and scalable capability by training our Performance Engine to model monthly category store sales and isolate the primary drivers 
• Validating the opportunity by demonstrating a highly predictive model which explained 86% of the sales variation, without using any historic sales input

Realistic incentives

Clear diagnostic scorecards prioritized the tactical actions for Merchandising and Stores to focus on, categorized by those which each party had control over, at the same time democratizing this insight to provide a single consistent view of the facts, from head office to stores.

Strategically, the ability to more accurately predict category performance provided insightful support to the annual budget setting process, ensuring that achievable targets were set across the business and identifying an incremental 6.8%pts of sales opportunity to achieve.

We uncovered 6.8% of incremental sales

• Together, the retailer and Retail Insight identified 6.8% of incremental sales opportunities .
• Highly predictive model explains 86% of sales variation without needing any historic sales input.
• Clear diagnostic scorecards help teams prioritize tactical actions .
• The retailer can now set achievable targets across the entire business.

It’s time to unleash your retail potential

You might be interested in, q&a: an interview with paul boyle, retail insight ceo, retail insight extends contract with central co-op, what u.s. shoppers want from their markdowns, the growing significance of customer-centric merchandising, how to reduce retail shrink and pinpoint the root cause, lincolnshire co-operative renews contract with retail insight, calming the chaos: how to transform in-store operations with grocery technology, how to maximize retail labor productivity, unveiling the true cost of inventory inaccuracy, shoppers still plagued by out-of-stocks, how to tackle inventory drift with advanced inventory systems, how to improve retail loss prevention with cognitive technology.

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Case study: Retail Store Clustering Saves Retailer $40M

daVinci Retail business consultants visited a leading retailer of women’s fashion apparel. Our retail store clustering analysis uncovered missed opportunities worth millions of dollars.

Download this case study to find out what we uncovered and how daVinci corrected $40 million in misallocated buy dollars using our Clustering application module .

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Retail Management Case Study: Top 3 Case Studies

Here is a compilation of top three case studies on retail management.

1. Case Study on Tiffany & Co:

“Tiffany’s global retail operations once again demonstrated the ability to generate strong operating earnings growth despite weakness in certain individual country markets. Our continued expansion throughout Asia and Europe should contribute to increasingly consistent and resilient long-term earnings growth,” says Michael J. Kowalski, the chairman.

Tiffany & Co. is a holding company that operates through its subsidiary companies (“company”). The company’s principal subsidiary, Tiffany and Company, is a jeweler and specialty retailer, whose merchandise offerings include an extensive selection of jewelry, as well as timepieces, sterling silverware, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances and accessories. Through Tiffany and Company and other subsidiaries, the company is engaged in product design, manufacturing and retailing activities.

Tiffany was founded on September 18, 1837 when Charles Lewis Tiffany opened a stationery and fancy goods emporium at 259 Broadway in New York City. Every article was marketed with a non-negotiable selling price, a revolutionary policy that made headlines.

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The first day’s store sales were total five dollars in downtown Manhattan. Soon after the company was founded a distinctive shade of blue was chosen to symbolize the company’s renowned reputation for quality and craftsmanship.

Tiffany as a Brand:

The company adopted the color for it’s for use of boxes, catalogues, shopping bags, brochures, as well as advertising and for other promotional materials. Over time, this lustrous color became an identify mark for Tiffany & Co., universally recognizable as the Tiffany blue. Tiffany blue boxes and shopping bags evoke images of elegance and exclusivity, as well as lush bounty. The Tiffany blue box was later to become an American icon of style and sophistication.

Distribution of Tiffany & Co:

The company’s channels of distribution are through: U.S. retail (50% of fiscal 2006 sales) consists of retail sales transacted in Tiffany & Co. stores in the United States and sales of Tiffany & Co. products through business to business direct selling operations in the United States; International Retail (38% of fiscal 2006 sales) consists of sales in Tiffany & Co. stores and department store boutiques outside the United States and, to a lesser extent, business- to-business, internet and wholesale sales of Tiffany & Co. products outside the United States.

Direct marketing (seven per cent of fiscal 2006 sales) consists of Internet and catalog sales of Tiffany & Co. products in the United States; and others (five per cent of fiscal 2006 sales) consists of worldwide sales of businesses operated under trademarks or trade names other than Tiffany & Co. (i.e., Little Switzerland and Iridesse). Others also include wholesale sales of diamonds obtained through bulk purchases that are subsequently deemed not suitable for Tiffany’s needs.

Growth Strategies Adopted by Tiffany & Co:

The company’s key growth strategies are to selectively expand its channels of distribution in important markets around the world without compromising the long-term value of the Tiffany & Co. trademark; to increase sales in existing stores by developing new products; to increase its control over product supply and achieve improved profit margins through direct diamond sourcing and internal jewelry manufacturing; to enhance customer awareness through marketing and public relation programs; and to provide customer service that ensures a superior shopping experience.

The company’s shares are traded on The New York Stock Exchange with the symbol TIF. Headquartered at 727 Fifth Avenue in New York, Tiffany has more than 8,000 employees around the world.

Smaller Format:

Tiffany & Co. announced plans to open a smaller-format store in Glendale, California, in mid-October 2008. The approximately 2,600 sq. ft. store was to be located in The Americana at Brand, a new 900,000 sq. ft. retail and residential environment developed by Caruso Affiliated.

Covering 15.5 acres that’s beautifully landscaped with fountains, plazas and walkways, the expansive property is designed as an ultimate lifestyle and leisure destination, with shops and boutiques, casual cafes, fine dining, and luxury residences.

The store’s clean, ultra-modern environment invites relaxed browsing and interaction with contemporary Tiffany & Co. collections, ranging from diamond jewelry in platinum and gold to an array of sterling silver jewelry.

“We are pleased to be the first retail environment in the world to unveil this new concept shop by Tiffany & Co.” stated Rick J. Caruso, CEO of Caruso Affiliated. “Rich in history and true luxury, Tiffany & Co. is simply the finest purveyor of diamonds, jewelry and gift items.”

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported results for the three months (“second quarter”) and six months (“first half”) that ended on July 31, 2008. Strong net sales growth in Asia- Pacific and Europe led to an 11% increase in worldwide net sales in the second quarter.

Combined with a higher operating margin, this resulted in a 21% increase in net earnings from continuing operations and a 31% increase in earnings per diluted share in the quarter. These results enabled the company to slightly increase its earnings expectation for the full year.

Net sales in the second quarter increased 11% to $732.4 million. On a constant-exchange-rate basis which excludes the effect of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales into U.S. dollars (see attached “Non-GAAP Measures” schedule), worldwide net sales rose to seven per cent and comparable store sales declined one per cent. In the first half, net sales rose 11% to $1.40 billion. On a constant exchange-rate basis, sales increased seven per cent and comparable store sales rose one per cent.

Promotion Strategies Used by Tiffany & Co:

The world has been infatuated with the Tiffany style since the early twentieth century. From Hollywood premieres to Centre Court at Wimbledon, celebrities choose Tiffany for its urban sophistication and glamor. Design that is innovative, unique and stunningly beautiful is, by definition, irresistible.

For this very reason, Tiffany’s timeless jewelry pieces are seen prominently on the world’s most beautiful people. Movie stars, fashion models and women of achievement embrace Tiffany’s spectacular beauty and superlative craftsmanship.

Tiffany plans to enter into Indian market because of the ideal growth prospects. The Indian jewelry sector, one of strongest retail segments of India, has an estimated total domestic market size of Rs. 52,000 crore. The organized jewelry retail sector accounts for just about three per cent of the total market size at Rs. 1,450 crore.

While the overall jewelry retail sector has grown by 9.2% in 2006 over the Rs. 47,600 crore market in 2005, the organized segment has shown a nearly 32% growth in 2006 over the Rs. 1,100 crore organized market in 2005. The share of organized jewelry retail has grown from two per cent in 2004 to nearly three per cent over the two-year period. The Indian jewelry sector’s current global standing is estimated at over US $90 billion.

According to industry sources, in India 65% of the jewelry is bought during weddings, with gifting contributing around 26%. Global players will look to establishing a foothold in this market in view of the sheer size of the domestic market and because India’s expertise in the trade is well recognized across the globe.

Competitors of Tiffany & Co:

An analysis of some of the major organized jewelry retailers indicates that in terms of increase in retail outlets there was equal growth (39%) in 2005 and 2006 whereas the growth in retail space was more in 2005 than in 2006.

1. Tanishq:

Tanishq, from the Tata Group, was started in 1995 and is one of the most diversified business conglomerates. Ten years ago it challenged the established family jeweler and introduced new rules in the precious jewelry segment.

Tanishq marked the beginning of jewelry chains in the country, as against the single store norm of the category traditionally. It has witnessed steady growth over the last two years. From a retail presence in 55 cities with 69 stores across 1,01,290 sq.ft. of retail space in 2004-05, it currently has 92 stores across the cities.

2. D’Damas:

In 2003, the Gitanjali Group and Damas LLC Dubai — the largest jewelry retail chain in the Middle East came together to form D’damas — a contemporary collection of gold and diamond jewelry. D’Damas’ gold jewelry is endorsed by the World Gold Council (WGC) and its diamond brands by DTC. Some of the most successful brands of the group are Gili, D’damas, Giantti and Sangini diamond Jewelry.

It owns 20 standalone stores across 15 cities in India. A part of the Rosy-blue Group, it has metamorphosed into a brilliant entity. Today, the group has cast its glow over 14 countries across the globe and is among the largest sight holders and India’s largest diamond and platinum retailer.

4. Intergold:

Intergold, another rentuse from the Rosyblue Group, was started in 1996, and works in close association with DTC (De Beers), World Gold Council and Platinum Guild International. It the one of the largest diamond jewelry retail chain in India with over 20 stores across India.

Carbon has two exclusive stores, one each in Bangalore and Delhi. Since its launch in 1998, it is also present in 58 shop-in-shop formats. By 2007 end, Carbon planned to have 20 stores across India.

2. Case Study on Hindustan Oil XtraPower Fleet Card Program:

Introduction to Hindustan Oil XtraPower Fleet Card Program:

About 50% of high speed diesel sales of the transport sector are through highways. This was a thought which brought about the concept of gaining loyalty from this segment of customers capable of giving huge purchases from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).

The introduction of fleet cards and network loyalty programs was meant to be an extension of the pre-existing customer loyalty program. Even here B.P.C.L. was the pioneer, launching SmartFleet in February 2001, followed by IOCL’s Power-Plus in January 2002. These programs gave fleet owners the option of giving drivers pre-loaded cards which allowed better MIS, transaction tracking and points earning.

With the launch of a co-branded card with MyShoppe, a network loyalty program with a number of retail chain affiliates by IOCL, network loyalty came into the picture. The IOCL XtraPower Fleet Card was launched in March 2004 and at present accounts for 10% of the company’s diesel sales, 13% of the sales on the highways and 22% of the fleet market share.

XtraPower Fleet card program is the largest fleet card program in India with around 12.25 lakh cards issued till March 07. It has a total of 3.2 lakh customers under its umbrella. Regular users are less than a lakh. The average customer usage is less than two per cent. A large amount of resources have been deployed for this program since it is one of the biggest revenue generators for India’s highest ranked fortune 500 company.

No other oil company offers such a vast network as Indian Oil. This makes the Indian Oil Program a clear winner amongst fleet card program in the country bringing it a revenue of more than 25 crores a day.

Rewards Obtained by Hindustan Oil XtraPower Fleet Card Program:

On every purchase of fuel/lubes through Xtrapower fleet card (except for cards with interest free credit limit facility), the owner earns Xtra points. With the points accumulated by a card, the member can redeem a choice of reward items from the Xtrapower rewards catalogue including fuel/lubes. For every Rs.100 one earns five Xtra points which gives 40 paise as a reward value. It means for every purchase of Rs.10, 000 the member earns Rs.400.

Inspite of all these benefits the program leaves much to be desired. In the entire program only 21.5 % cards are active out of the total of 12.25 lakh cards issued till March 07. Lack of knowledge to the customer about the program benefits is a constraint which has to be overcome.

Also the fact that in terms of benefits there is not much to choose between the fleet card programs of various oil companies in India, this would require a major customer communication program.

Indian Oil Xtrarewards is India’s first on-line rewards program that seeks to inculcate the habit of redeeming points. The loyalty program rewards customers who pay by cash, credit and debit cards. Each transaction is confirmed on-line through a charge slip and customers can earn points on fuel/lube purchases by participating at Indian Oil retail outlets.

Additional points can also be earned outside the Indian Oil network, covering prominent FMCG, food, automobile, travel, entertainment, apparel and hospitality sectors. Xtrarewards is currently active in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore and Chennai. It will be shortly available in other markets like Delhi.

Apart from redeeming the accumulated points instantly on fuel/SERVO lubes at participating retail outlets, the card holder can also redeem the points to get some exciting gift items from a catalogue.

The redemption on gifts can be registered either from the participating retail outlets or from the comfortable confines of one’s home through the 24 x 7IVRS Help Line number. The program continuously provides the cardholder with privileges, benefits and offers from alliance partners like Domino’s Pizza, Subhiksha, Rediff Shopping, Kumaran Silks, Dhabba Express, Chennai Corporate Club and Archana Sweets.

As loyalty programs become ubiquitous, some interesting dynamics will evolve in the loyalty marketplace. Companies will continue to look for ways to differentiate their loyalty programs, while balancing program revenue and costs to achieve favorable economics. How will the loyalty program evolve? It has been slow but future economic, demographic and legal landscapes could accelerate company attention to customer retention.

3. Case Study on Vimal :

Vimal suiting is one of the brand which comes under Reliance. Vimal suiting, one of the oldest and most respected iconic textile brand of India is languishing some-where in the attic of the mega corporation Reliance. The brand which started off as a saree brand developed itself into a mega textile brand for women, men and even for furniture (Vimal harmony is one of the largest furnishing brands).

Vimal suiting was launched in 1980 after the successful Vimal range of sarees. At that point of time, Reliance was predominantly a textile company. This brand was carefully positioned as a premium men’s suiting brand. The brand which was handled by Mudra was promoted heavily by Reliance. At that time the major competitors being Bombay Dyeing and Raymond.

The Vimal Suiting Brand was Developed in Six Stages:

1980 saw the making of Vimal’s suitings brand. It was a challenge for the agency since the consumer was already exposed to quite a few venerable and longstanding brands. Loyalties ran high with little or no tolerance for newcomers. It was against this backdrop that Vimal launched their suitings brand. They had one major advantage over the existing players—product superiority.

And this is exactly what the advertising cashed in on for their launch. It was unusual for a textile brand to be sold as a consumer durable. In fact the first campaigns of Vimal actually carried insets of the machinery! And quite naturally it drew considerable criticism from the advertising pundits of the time. But the brand’s courage of conviction eventually won the day. Slowly and surely the brand moved forward and upward in a series of well-orchestrated moves.

Established the superiority of Vimal suitings backed by, technology endorsements.

Achievers endorsed the caliber of the brand.

And yes, it was a most unusual take on the conventional celebrity endorsement route.

The brand achieved enough momentum to dictate fashion, and to be taken seriously.

Saw Vimal firmly established as ‘The Style Guru’.

Yet another first for textile advertising- Cricketers as celebrities.

The brand continues with its passion for fashion.

The brand was targeted at the young ambitious people who are challengers to the CEOs. The brand personality was stylish, and inspirational. Vimal was promoted using the famous tagline “Only Vimal” created by Frank Simoes. The tagline is said to be personally approved by Dhirubai Ambani himself. It was a premium brand and the ads were catchy. Reliance also opened exclusive Vimal showrooms as part of brand promotion.

Later in the 1990’s, the Reliance business model changed. The company changed from textiles to petrochemicals and Vimal was not fitting into the reliance business plans. It was the only retail brand of Reliance (now we have RIM) and the company never focused on Vimal.

As far as a marketer is concerned, Vimal was a great brand with huge potential. Late 90’s also saw the shift in the consumer’s preference towards ready-mades. Although Reliance had a readymade brand “Reance” it was a half-hearted move which resulted in a flop.

Vimal was known for its quality and style and people still people remember its simple baseline “Only Vimal”. Lack of marketing support had virtually killed the brand. Vimal is now owned by Raymond’s and Reid & Taylor.

Rebirth of Vimal:

After a decade long sleep, Vimal is making a comeback in a new avatar with a:

1. New Logo :

2. New Designing :

The Company hired a famous Italian designer Maurizio Bonas to train the Indian tailors on the latest in global styles and to launch a special range of premium apparel called Vimal Black.

3. New Product Offerings Along with different Pricing Strategy :

Created three sub-brands that straddle all price points:

1. Vimal Red offers basic formal wear for the popular segment (formal shirts for Rs. 699-899).

2. Vimal White, which is trendier apparel, is the mid-price range (Rs. 799-1,099).

3. Vimal Black is the company’s premium offering (Rs. 999-1,800).

Thus, targeting new and various segments of customers with different brands, the new look Vimal is planning to roll out 16 stores in the next financial year. However, it will take more than a suit maker for that reason, even an Italian suit maker, to help Vimal regain its once iconic “Only Vimal” status.

New Distribution Channel :

Ready to wear range will be sold in the company’s exclusive stores and the franchisees. It is also counting on Reliance Retail’s own stores to help promote the men’s wear brand, especially Vimal Red.

Already, fabric sales have been initiated at Reliance Trendz and Reliance Mart stores. Reliance’s Vimal did its homework very well in every aspect i.e. advertising, promotion and distribution channel but don’t you think it will be very difficult for Vimal to establish its brand as it was in the late 80s and early 90s?

New Advertising Campaign :

A 60-second commercial by Grey Worldwide shows the root values of company. The ad shows a father readying his son to take over his business empire. He picks his own brand Vimal, of course, and it ends with the original theme tune and tagline.

It was first time at any textile company showed its machinery etc. in ads to boast that Vimal fabrics were made in the most modern plant in India. The company spent Rs. 40 crore on promotion through television, radio spots and print ads, apart from extensive point-of-sale promotions for high visibility.

Major Competitors of Vimal:

Vimal is facing good competition from established players like Park Avenue from Raymond, Madura Garments (Louis Phillipe, Allen Solly, and Van Heusen), Arvind Brands (Arrow), Zodiac and Reid & Taylor and premium international brands like Brioni, Alfred Dunhill and Ermenegildo Zegna have also entered the Indian market.

Madura Garments :

Madura Garments, a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo, is India’s leading apparel and retail company. It enjoys market leadership in the branded garments business through its power and popular lifestyle brands — Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England.

Recently, the company has entered into a distribution agreement with the international brands like Esprit, Marks & Spencer’s Tommy Hilfiger, Polo and several other discerning international buyers. Madura Garments products are sold through a network of more than 130 exclusive franchisees and over 2,000 premier multi-brand outlets as well as leading departmental stores within India and overseas.

It has exclusive showroom space, which includes several large format brand outlets of world-class standard, providing top quality retail experience to the consumers. It also has a highly visible presence in large department and multi-brand stores. The thrust is on brand building through development of innovative new merchandise, exciting communication campaigns and enhancing the product portfolio.

The overall marketing strategy has been to move from a ‘Wardrobe’ brand to a ‘Lifestyle’ brand. Fashion brands have 95 showrooms which exclusively sell Louis Phillippe/Van Heusen/Allen Solly and SF jeans. Popular brands have 160 showrooms and 600 shops-in- shops and 800 multi-brand outlets spread across 250 towns in India.

Planet Fashion:

Madura Garments has successfully launched Planet Fashion showrooms in India and SAARC and Middle East countries with further expansion plans. With over 3,000 square feet of space, the planet fashion showrooms promise an ambience of sheer luxury. Today 45 Planet Fashion Showrooms have been opened up in 20 cities nationwide.

This format was designed by renowned French architect Jan Claude Pannighetti. Plant Fashion hosts some of the best know menswear brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England & SF Jeans and also provides a wide range of fashion accessories to complete a man’s wardrobe.

Each store stocks about 6,000 garments with the store theme of world class shopping experience delivered through 500 square feet of shopping area in each store where individual brands are merchandised.

Trouser Town:

It is a whole new concept in retailing as it is the only store in India dedicated solely to readymade trousers. Presently TT has nine showrooms across seven cities nationwide.

1. Louis Philippe:

Louis Philippe’s range of superbly crafted garments make an exclusive fashion statement that is accepted as a status symbol, recognized by its distinctive icon — The Upper Crest.

2. Van Heusen:

Van Heusen has redefined corporate attire through continuous product innovation and exclusive collections.

3. Allen Solly:

Allen Solly popularized the Friday dressing concept in India. It has won the IFA Images 2001 Best Brand Award in the readymade menswear apparel category. With the launch of its women’s wear in December 2001, Allen Solly has made a successful foray into the growing women’s work and casual wear market.

4. Peter England:

This mid-segment shirt brand has effectively penetrated the mini metros. It has won several awards, including Shirt of the Year 2000 and India’s Most Admired Menswear Brands in 2001.

With a turnover of Rs. 395 crore, Madura Garments is one of the leading and fastest growing branded apparel companies in the country. The company enjoys a 30% market share in the premium segment for all brands. The company is a preferred global supplier for international brands such as Marks & Spencer’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren and several other international buyers.

Madura Garments was expected to report revenue of a round Rs. 600-650 crore in FY’07, and is currently a clear leader in the domestic apparel space with annualized growth of 20% in recent years. Its total turnover is projected to touch Rs. 650 crore, in line with a planned 20% growth for itself while the market grows at 15%.

5. Raymond’s:

The Raymond Group was incorporated in 1925 and within a span of a few years transformed from being an Indian textile major to being a global conglomerate. Today, the Raymond group is vertically and horizontally integrated to provide the customers total textile solutions. Few companies across the globe have such a diverse product range of nearly 12,000 varieties of worsted suiting to cater to customers across age groups, occasions and styles.

Raymond’s turnover is US$ 500 million and the group is today one of the largest players in fabrics, designer wear, denim, cosmetics & toiletries, engineering files & tools, prophylactics and air charter services in national and international markets.

For over 80 years, Raymond has been one of the world’s premier manufacturers of worsted suiting fabric in fine grade wool, in the same league as the finest in Europe has to offer. Today, the Raymond product range includes pure wools, blended wool with exotic fibres like camel hair, cashmere and angora and innovative blends of wool with polyester, linen and silk offering suiting and trouser fabric for all occasions and needs.

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Case Study | How Brands Can Balance DTC and Wholesale

• Malique Morris

Key insights

• In today’s market, brands need DTC and wholesale to thrive, but have to navigate challenges in both channels.
• Digitally native start-ups investing in wholesale are using it to test new markets, improving product curation each channel and applying the data they get to better target prospective consumers.
• Brands ramping up DTC are using it to promote their full array of products and push their more expensive items.

The notion that there are wholesale brands and direct-to-consumer brands is dying.

Just look at Glossier, one of the defining DTC start-ups of the last decade, which after years of resisting wholesale, began selling its $16 lip balms and $22 eyebrow pomades in Sephora in 2023. On the flip side is century-old Levi’s, a legacy wholesale brand that has been reducing inventory at multi-brand retailers in a bid to do 55 percent of its sales direct to consumers by 2027.

That’s the tip of an industry-wide shakedown. Digitally native disruptors like Allbirds have flocked to wholesale in recent years to widen their reach as the costs to acquire customers online skyrockets. Traditional wholesale brands, such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and a host of luxury labels, are investing more in their DTC businesses and pulling back from third-party retailers as those partners struggle and brands seek more control over their pricing, image and customer relationships.

Today, the idea of being either a DTC or wholesale brand is being supplanted by the understanding that each channel has its strengths and weaknesses, and that most brands need both to thrive. Shoppers are just as quick to stand on a line for a brand’s pop-up store as they are to peruse Ssense for the best deals or visit Sephora to indulge in beauty trends. Brands have to make themselves available wherever they think their customers will be, and that’s increasingly everywhere.

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“We need this diverse shopping environment,” said Claudia D’Arpizio, a senior partner at management consulting firm Bain & Company. “I don’t envisage a world where you only buy in a mono-brand environment … It’s difficult for the brands to keep an assortment that is ok for all the markets and for all the customers.”

But striking the right balance can be difficult even for the most successful players. After Nike started pulling sneakers off the shelves of retail partners in 2017 and driving more sales through its own stores, website and app, it found that customers weren’t always following it to its own channels. In the past year, it revitalised wholesale partnerships after seeing its sales growth slow and only modest increases in its profit margins .

In this case study, The Business of Fashion lays out how brands can ensure that each channel is contributing to overall sales and profit growth without cannibalising one another. Brands investing in wholesale, like activewear start-up Vuori, womenswear label Cult Gaia and shoe brand Aldo, are tapping retail partners to test new markets, improving how they tailor their assortments for each channel and using the data they get to better target prospective consumers. The companies that are leaning into DTC, such as denim brand Paige and Rebecca Minkoff, are using it to promote their full array of products and push their more expensive items.

Ultimately there is no magical formula for the right mix of wholesale and DTC sales. The correct balance is different for each brand and its individual business needs. But the insights in this case study will allow brands to work out how each channel can best serve them. The goal of balancing the wholesale and direct-to-consumer models is that sales should be growing concurrently in both.

Editor’s Note: This case study was revised on Jul. 8, 2024, to clarify the price of Glossier’s lip balm.

Malique Morris is Direct-to-Consumer Correspondent at The Business of Fashion. He is based in New York and covers digital-native brands and shifts in the online shopping industry.

© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions

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