GNC Reveals Its Personalization Strategy to Keep Shoppers Coming Back
GNC is a recognized and trusted brand that provides customers with health and nutrition products both online and around the corner through their neighborhood storefronts. GNC’s health-conscious customers are always looking for new ways to optimize their well-being and performance, and the brand has earned a reputation for offering cutting-edge nutritionals and supplements that make a real difference. GNC has long recognized the need for personalization in their shopper communications, since their stores serve a wide spectrum of needs. A professional bodybuilder, a midlife health nut and a mom looking to lose weight might be standing in a cash register line together, but their needs are very different. That’s why GNC uses flexEngage to reach out after the sale with relevant product information and suggestions that add value and help to build a lasting bond with the brand.
Since 2014, GNC has relied on their partnership with flexEngage to power personalization for their transactional communications. We caught up with Jennifer Biefel, GNC’s Director of Customer Marketing and Loyalty at the 2019 National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City. Biefel shares how she’s scaled GNC’s personalization efforts with the help of flexEngage.
What led your company to a decision to personalize your transactional communications?
Personalization is a big initiative for GNC and transactional communications that we send to our customers are just one piece of the puzzle. Transactional communications are the first place where we’re engaging with our customers after the sale, so making sure that we’re making an immediate connection with them will drive engagement as well as reach repeat trips and increased revenue. We’ve seen great engagement with our digital receipts and continue to see customer engage with them both immediately after the purchase and ongoing.
Which specific initiatives and priorities did this effort coincide with?
GNC has been on this great road to drive personalization with our customer. We started with the launch of our loyalty program just two years ago, and we continued through consolidating our data through an integrated data mart. We’re continuing to add tools to drive personalization. So flexEngage is just one of those great tools that we have to be able to bring personalization to our customers through that transactional communication. We’re able to personalize the messages to them to drive them back to GNC, as well as help them learn more about the products they purchased and encourage continued use.
Why did you choose to work with flexEngage?
GNC has been a long-time partner of flexEngage, even prior to my arrival there, but we expanded the relationship when I came because flexEngage has such an amazing customer service. Really, our account management team, I can probably say they pretty much do everything for us. They’ll help us come up with the ideas, they’ll make them happen, they’ll put them into practice, they’ll recommend ideas to improve what we’ve done, and it’s really that type of service level that we’ve really capitalized on and continued our relationship with flexEngage and all the expansion that we’re doing today.
What are the benefits to the customer and GNC?
Customers enjoy digital receipts because they get that one convenience. It’s right there for them on their phone. They access those digital receipts multiple times. So, we’re able to serve up to a customer individualized offers, as well as additional information about products that they might want to consider adding to their regimen such as top sellers or things that other people have bought, products in their target that they’re buying as well. So, customers get the value-add of learning more about the products they purchased as well as thinking about how their regimen could be an improved performer.
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