Event: SEJ Summit Chicago 2015
Presenter: John Curtis of Walgreen's
Description: To quote a Google Advertising VP, "If you're just focusing on mobile, you're solving yesterday's problems." With that in mind, John takes us through the art and science of omni-channel marketing: how to harness analytics, segmentation, and content for the best UX across channels and devices.
3. #SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics
• Walgreens: Rx, Daily Living, Photo,
Local, Site Search
• 6 years in SEO, 1 year industrial
laundry, 27 days professional poker
• Champion, Walgreens Intramural
Basketball League
@JohnJCurtis
4. 3 Takeaways
Convenience has a
new corner
The customer designs
the customer
experience
Customer intent
needs to drive the
omni-channel strategy
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
5.
6. Goal: Create a seamless customer journey
regardless of path
• Each customer defines what “omni” means
• Bigger than your brand’s assets
• Not just a multi-device presence
• Not a choice
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#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
7. Walgreens at a Glance
• >8,200 drugstores
• 856M scripts filled in FY14
• 6.3M customers/day
• 240K team members
• >70K healthcare service
providers
8. It’s more than channel shift, it’s a change in how our
customers know us and trust us
There’s a massive value here
9.
10. 1. Provide a path to purchase anywhere,
anytime
2. Offer anything desired in any channel
desired
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#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
11. We used to measure convenience in miles and minutes
“Two-thirds of
Americans live
within three
miles of a
Walgreens
store”
12. Now, with mobile, our
competition is a keystroke
away
For customer visibility, the corner of
index finger and touchscreen has
replaced the corner of 2nd and Main
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#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
13. Today, we measure distance in inches and instants
Mobile changes the nature
of retail convenience,
placing new pressure on
Walgreens to redefine
convenience once again
14. Providing key
customer paths to
purchase that
relate in-store
experiences to
multiple devices
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#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
18. 1. Follow customer desire paths beyond
owned properties
2. Offer value to the community to be
truly omni-channel
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20. Customers find
and trust
location
information
outside of your
owned media
Who do customers blame for
incorrect business information
on third party directories?
3 in 10 people blame the
business
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
21. 90% Of The Day, Her Phone Is Never Farther Than 3 ft
22. Photo Prints API: 160
integrations in less than 3 yrsIntegrating into
customers’
channels –
Walgreens API
Program
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
23. Integrating into
customers’
channels –
Walgreens API
Program
>40 million new patients gained
access to Walgreens prescription
refill service via a third party app
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
24. Integrating into
customers’
channels –
Walgreens API
Program
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
“21% of US consumers use
some form of technology to
track their health data, such as
a spreadsheet, website, app, or
device”
- Pew Research
Improving Medication Adherence
• Connect device + walk 1 mile/day = 7% more
adherent
• Diabetes patients who connect a glucose
meter = 11% more adherent
25.
26. 1. Use Site Search Analytics to identify
customer intent
2. Listen to customer feedback to drive
product development
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
27. #SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics
Site Search
Analytics and
Omni-channel
• Understanding customer intent for
categories of site searches is vital to
analysis
• Without tying online behavior directly to in-
store behavior, we cannot truly group and
optimize for our site search experience
• Omni-channel analysis can inform on site
search optimization and UX
30. Listening to customers: Whatever,
Wherever, Whenever
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#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
Customers demand in-
store pickup to be an
option
Customers expect
inventory to match
across channels
Customers expect
inventory and pricing
accuracy at store level
32. 3 Takeaways
Convenience has a
new corner
The customer designs
the customer
experience
Customer intent
needs to drive the
omni-channel strategy
#SEJSummit
#Searchmetrics @JohnJCurtis
What I want to talk to you about today is about shifting your thinking, strategy, way of doing business to an omni-channel mindset.
And what I want to leave you with are these 3 things:
There is a new location when it comes to convenience.
Your brand, your marketing – neither creates the customer experience.
Customer intent can drive product development and UX.
Mostly, it’s everyone’s favorite buzzword. After that
Omni means “all” and that is up to the interpretation of customers
There is no one omni-channel experience – it’s not an experience we can build, it’s a reality brands have to operate in
If a customer needs Vitamin C: One customer may start with a Google search on mobile, one may start at an affiliate site like Mr. Rebates
Bigger than your brand Example – can’t tell Siri what you want waiting for you at Walgreens when you show up
What omni-channel isn’t – It’s not simply being present on multiple devices
Omni-channel means a lot to Walgreens as a retailer
We have the most drugstores in the U.S.
6.3M customers walk through doors every day
(Can’t share exact numbers) Many touch digital channels first
Omni-channel isn’t a choice, it’s a reality – but the good news - it does bring opportunity to turn good customers into great customers
With that, let me get into my first point
While Walgreens positioned itself on the best corners in America for decades, that’s not enough anymore:
Still important
But not often the first contact with the customer today
So what do we need to do?
Provide a clear path to customers’ needs whenever and wherever they are
Customer expectations do not change whether they walk into a store, pick up a phone, or visit your website. If they can do it in one place, they expect it everywhere
Provide the experience the customer needs regardless of what they choose
Your customer does not understand your internal architecture – an average customer cannot fathom that the people running the website are not the people making the signs in the store – or that those people are not aligned
This is what coopetition used to look like when it came to visibility and convenience.
Now the competitive landscape looks like this.
The corner of 2nd and Main as a battleground has given way to the corner of index finger and touchscreen.
And distance takes on a new meaning – we’re moving from a mindset of miles and minutes to inches and instants. Here’s what does that shift look like in the world of Walgreens?
A few examples I’ll point out that speak to the idea of anywhere, anytime: Refill by scan, QuickPrints, Paperless Coupons
Refill by scan feature = 40% of online refill requests come through the app
The pharmacy business is a good reminder that these challenges and innovations are not new. In 1991, omni-channel innovation meant opening the first drive-thru pharmacy.
It’s about the seamlessness – and that seamlessness pays off
QuickPrints is an interesting story.
The writing on the wall was that photo prints were on the way out. But suddenly everyone had a camera all the time, and a good camera, with lots of reasons to take and share their photos.
Printing as a percentage of photos taken is small, but there are so many more photos taken, and the ideal place and time to print a photo is directly from your camera.
So new channels can create new opportunity – let’s talk a little about the customer
The customer designs the customer experience!
Oh no! That sounds complicated. What does it mean?
BEYOND YOUR PROPERTIES:
Yes use web analytics to improve your site’s UX, but go beyond that to anywhere a customer can interact with your brand
GIVE YOUR FUNCTIONALITY AWAY
Start to become truly omni-channel by branding within others’ owned properties
Let’s look at an example of going beyond your own properties…
Not only can our customer FIND our products and information outside of the things we build, they EXPECT to find it other places and the TRUST what they find.
If you’re a Walgreens customer and just searched “Walgreens near me” in Google, there is a very high likelihood that you won’t go any further than this page.
And if that information is wrong…
They blame us.
Even if they don’t blame us, they experience friction – it is not seamless – we are not failing at omni-channel marketing when that happens.
Maybe the best place to look to for how your customer really experiences your brand is to look at her phone
Nobody let this following sentence leave the room or our Mobile UX team will get upset:
Our customer does not own a smartphone because Walgreens has an app.
In fact, we’re one of many apps that exist in the least-used segment of apps - Utility
If we allow things to stay this way, the customer will only interact with Walgreens on her mobile phone when she thinks to, and that’s why we have to move beyond owned media. We’ve done a great job of that with our API program
Our Balance Rewards API with at least 40 integrations
And what’s interesting about that is how Walgreens is able to tap into wearables
Not only does this integration combine Walgreens with wearable fitness trackers, it ties directly to our customers’ health – the value you get from a customer is equal to the value you give your customer
Encouraging medication adherence (customer retention)
Use wearable and walk 1 mile per day – 7% more adherent
Diabetics who use a connected glucose meter are 11% more adherent
By understanding that we don’t fully own our customer’s experience, we have opportunity to leverage our brand’s assets beyond owned digital properties. Which takes us nicely to my final point today.
It's the intent that matters, not the device - we have to design to customer intents rather than customer experiences
Site Search analytics
Customer Feedback
A search on walgreens.com can span a variety of intents:
Find products to ship to home
Find products to buy online and pick up in stores
Find products at a local store
Find the hours of a local store
Find the hours of a pharmacy at a local store
Find the clinic services of a local store
Let’s take a look at why analysis at an omni-channel level is so critical…
Analyze site search data with web analytics
Might see Vitamin C coverts at 9% while a disposable knee wrap converts at only 1.5%
This is where understanding intent matters – if we assess CVR on an omni-channel level (website + in store) we might see this…
With omni-channel data we see that our knee wraps are converting well, but that our customers use the convenience of our brick and mortar locations to get the product immediately.
That type of analysis along with customer feedback…
…can lead us to offer digital features like searching for product at specific locations
Where our customer can view and buy an item for pickup in store
But we know where the omni-channel bar is set by listening to our customers and we’ve addressed it in a very real way with our in-store app mode
Webby nominated and transitions the in-store digital experience to match the pre-store digital experience.
Won’t spend much time
Try it out
So to wrap up – back to the 3 takeaways
Convenience has a new corner
It’s where the index finger meets the touchscreen. Physical locations are not the first step in assessing convenience.
The customer designs the customer experience
Reaching beyond owned media is critical.
Customer intent needs to drive the omni-channel strategy
Omni-channel succeeds when we analyze data from an omni-channel perspective and build digital products around the customer journey.