Bata Group

Roger Graell

In today’s world, delivering excellent customer service is a corporate must, as customers expect brands to deliver personalized experiences tailored to them at each point in the journey. The pace of changing consumer behavior is pushing all of us to rethink how we can interact with our customers. For the fashion retail industry and even more so, the footwear industry, one of the biggest challenges is that “one size does not fit all."

With over 74 percent of shoppers purchasing footwear online according to PowerReview’s State of Apparel & Footwear Shopping in 2022 and the expected increase in online sales, it goes without saying that the continuous development of our omnichannel is our focus. We are consistently implementing new processes and innovative technologies, such as AI technology, to achieve operational excellence.

As part of this omnichannel approach, brick-and-mortar stores remain an essential part of the customer’s journey because over 30 percent of customers still feel the need to test out the shoes before purchasing them. Undoubtedly, the inventory at a physical store is limited compared to an e-store, but this issue can be avoided with the Endless Aisle store app. It is a virtual presentation of the products used to complement the physical inventory at the shop. At Bata, this hybrid concept allows us to fulfill our customers’ expectations by enabling them to buy a product unavailable in store (size, color, etc.) and have it delivered to their home.

All of us can come up with new ideas, but they will only be meaningful if they respond to our customers’ needs and if we can measure their satisfaction. Thus, I believe a customer-centric approach is the ideal solution to create a fully integrated, best-in-class shopping experience across all channels, focusing on building a direct relationship with the consumers.

“By operating globally on digital product development but localizing our business in terms of content, online merchandising, and operation, we can leverage the digital assets to keep best-in-class local competitiveness.”

This is the approach we are currently taking at Bata to ensure customer satisfaction. With almost 130 years of existence worldwide, we have always been close to our local customers. Building on our omnichannel capabilities, we are now developing a fully integrated ecosystem with the finest digital assets to deliver a great direct-to-consumer experience by digitalizing our POS.

There are many benefits to an integrated POS: faster checkout, access to real-time reporting, a better customer experience, fewer payment vendors, reduced costs, and improved stock control. We started the journey with a full integration of our stock, which is probably one of our best assets as a company. As part of our digital transformation vision, we have optimized our inventory through a dynamic ranking with defined parameters to fulfill orders. For instance, when a customer purchases a pair of shoes through our e-store, our system will analyze the stock requirements at the closest POS to the customer’s address before selecting the most effective shipping source. These advanced OMS rules with AI technology allow us to increase customer experience, decrease costs, and consider needed stock for future potential sales at each POS.

This approach is different from that of other large retail companies, which usually deliver online purchases from one fulfillment center, but it is beneficial for large glocal companies like us due to its scalability and cost-efficiency. By operating globally on digital product development but localizing our business in terms of content, online merchandising, and operation, we can leverage the digital assets to keep best-in-class local competitiveness.

With the growing expectations of digitally native customers, technology is not just a tool anymore but a complementary part of the business that enables companies to provide a seamless retail customer experience. Organizational success starts with an integrated customer experience model. With customer connection as an integral part of the overall company strategy, companies will be able to set themselves apart through the experience they create for their customers.