Urban Outfitters Increases Volume of Customer Transactions by 25% Through Virtual Customer Experiences

Urban Outfitters (URBN) said it has bolstered ongoing customer engagement and sales for its Anthropologie and BHLDN brands during COVID-19, raising its volume of customer transactions by 25%, through virtual customer experiences.

During the pandemic, Anthropologie and BHLDN have been connecting with customers in unique ways. Through in-store appointments, virtual appointments and email consultations the brands are complying with social distancing requirements, while providing seamless and highly personalized experiences to each shopper.

The retailer’s brands have engaged with 25,000 customers since April 2020 via virtual, email and in-store appointments. Customers who booked appointments purchased 40% of the time in stores and 65% of the time virtually, delivering higher results than any other channel.

URBN has been using JRNI Appointments from JRNI to deliver these new kinds of customer experiences throughout the restrictions and lockdowns. With all of the pandemic-related constraints, Anthropologie and BHLDN would not have been able to meet with a fraction of those customers, but with JRNI, the combination of appointments, remote appointments and email has made it possible to deliver ongoing service.

For customers, the experience has been seamless. The brands have been able to experiment within the platform with different types of triggers and communications to enhance the customer experience.

“As the business owner of our styling programs, it has been incredibly helpful to have the flexibility within the JRNI platform to make adjustments to the appointments and services we offer — to be able to go in and change booking questions, add new services, customize triggered emails, etc. — those types of features and functionality are so easy that we no longer have to involve our technology or web development partners to get them implemented,” said Maddie Bender, brand styling manager for both Anthropologie and BHLDN. “I can literally go in there and change them based on the needs of our business with little to no downtime, which has been instrumental, especially during COVID.

“JRNI was the reason, really the service, that allowed us to act so quickly and nimbly, to get this off the ground. My biggest test for JRNI was that there were no questions asked, just ideas to figure out how we can make this work during this crazy time. So that was really amazing. When we were able to open our doors using in-store appointments, it’s really great to see that everything can be managed in one space, even though the appointment channel is different.”