With all the letters Santa replies to each year and his amazing gift delivery service, it’s hard to imagine he’s not using the latest digital innovations. Recently, Vaimo received an enquiry from Santa’s little helpers to help bring them into the 21st century and to aid them in remaining number one in “customer” satisfaction.

Take a closer look at Santa’s concerns and our solutions below.

PRODUCT RANGE

Children today expect a much broader range of toys. As a result, new business relationships have to be created with other well-established manufacturers. We suggest automating the order fulfillment process with the aid of Magento Order Management System, to make sure all orders automatically flow to each manufacturer. Each manufacturer could either ship to Santa or fulfill orders directly through Royal Mail, UPS or other couriers. Integrated couriers send the parcel delivery status to Santa’s site directly, so children can check the location of the gifts in real-time.

FULFILLMENT

The fact that Santa can deliver everything on Christmas Eve doesn’t amaze anyone anymore, as children are used to Amazon delivering within an hour. Waiting up all night is no longer a thing, apparently! We propose an integration with the RMS (Reindeer Management System), so deliveries can be scheduled based on an itinerary. As a result, Santa’s new site will offer guaranteed delivery by 1PM on Christmas Eve, scheduled guaranteed delivery within a 2-hour time slot, and “scheduled delivery based on smartphone GPS location.”

ORDER PROCESSING

Santa’s orders stream in via letters, emails, text messages, Facebook, and various messaging services, while some expect Santa to simply pick up on the fact that they “liked” a toy, but were too shy to ask for it! We suggest a full omni-channel experience to provide a single-customer view. For example, all orders can be funneled from different channels into the Magento Order Management system via the Magento platform. In combination with Magento Business Intelligence, this will allow Santa and his little helpers to better understand their customers (children) before they even wish for their present.

RETURNS

Like any customers, children want to be able to return toys. We recommend a customised RMA module to allow for new options such as:

  • Return to Tree: Santa will pick it up the following year; but biscuits are non-refundable!
  • Return to Pole: Shipment at the parents’ expense.

In both of these cases, the toys are returned to Santa’s warehouse, integrated with Amazon via M2E Pro, and then sold on Amazon as refurbished. Presents shipped via courier are subject to EU regulations, meaning they will include a 30-day return policy. In such cases, the toys are returned to the warehouse of the third party.

PRODUCT COMPARISON AND UGC (User Generated Content)

Santa informed us that many children don’t like that it’s not possible to compare toys before wishing for them, and furthermore, that the toys lack user reviews from other children. We explained to Santa that this is now considered best practice, and that we know of several third party technology providers that can help with user generated content. Best of all, it will save Santa’s helpers from overtime at work! We recommend Yotpo, as their platform takes care of both reviews and other forms of user generated content.

PRE-WISH CUSTOMER SERVICE

Santa’s little helpers have asked for additional help with answering queries and clarification messages. For this we had to get creative, as the amount of queries is unbelievably high.

Chatbots are a great solution, as they are able to answer about 75% of all queries. Chatbots will delegate more detailed answers to the little helpers only when the system recognises the need for “human” intervention. In addition, instead of answering phone calls, the little helpers can rely on live chats, so each helper can deal with multiple requests at once, and with ease.

DATA PROTECTION AND CYBER-SECURITY

Santa informed us that many parents have enquired about GDPR and cyber-security. They want to know if their child’s data is protected. It’s really important that wishes are kept a secret and properly encrypted prior to being stored and processed. Vaimo has established a solid SLA for this purpose, and it explains, step-by-step, how Vaimo will be compliant with GDPR by May 2018 (when it will be enforced). Our Security Officer is available to answer questions on this matter.

We also propose using a Content Delivery Network (CloudFlare) to make sure content can be loaded rapidly from all around the world, while also protecting the system from DDOS attacks.

We’ve set up processes and hardware to take care of Disaster Recovery. All this is included in the SLAs that are available to all children (and clients).

PERSONALISATION

Santa received several complaints from children about Santa’s newsletter advertising random toys that don’t appeal to them. Why not utilise Nosto, dotmailer or Bronto, to ensure Santa’s newsletters are relevant not only to age groups and genders, but also to each individual child. We also recommend using Movable Ink to make sure emails are populated when they are actually opened. This way, Santa can drive interest towards toys that he needs to move off his shelves.

EXCESS INVENTORY

Some of the older toys produced in Santa’s factory are not being requested anymore, which in turn causes excess inventory to increase. We suggest connecting the web shop with Amazon, eBay, Play, AliExpress and a few other marketplaces through M2E Pro and other custom-built integrations, to recover some cash that will help pay for bills, biscuits, and fresh milk!

SEARCH

Because children are not necessarily good at writing, Santa’s team struggles with keeping their search tool updated with all the spelling mistakes in all the hundreds of languages. We advise using Klevu, a smart SOLR-based search tool powered by an AI backbone. Because the system learns automatically from a number of areas, it requires little maintenance and few base rules.

On top of all this, our eCommerce Strategy department will provide ongoing assistance in increasing conversions on the site, streamlining processes, and ultimately, delivering a better experience for children around the world.

If you too are looking into digital transformation at any level, give us a call. If we’ve managed to help Santa Claus, we’re confident we’ll manage to help you too! Happy Holidays to you all!

Author: Maurizio Stella,
Sales Manager at Vaimo UK