Le Bar à Boucle is a French company founded in 2017 that offers natural products dedicated to hair care. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign in March 2018, the brand launched its e-commerce website on which visitors can find a variety of products for wavy, curly, and frizzy hair. The products include shampoos, conditioners, masks, oils, gels, sprays, and accessories.
Since the launch of the e-commerce site, the company has experienced explosive growth. They have opened several pop-up stores in Paris, Marseille, and Lyon. In January 2020, the company launched its first permanent store in the capital, with a hair salon that is 100% dedicated to curly, wavy, and frizzy hair types. The salon’s two hairdressers are also trained to cut these types of hair.
Managing activity peaks: a challenge for customer relations
On the 1st of each month, the company opens the salon for hair appointments. This period is the brand’s peak time and receives many requests for Ambre, the customer service manager. She used to answer hundreds of emails and messages on social media about booking appointments on her own.
The Loop Bar needed a solution that could support Ambre by providing quick and relevant answers to customers during peak periods of activity to improve customer service performance and maintain a privileged relationship with customers. After thorough research, the company tried Botmind to automate answers to frequent and time-consuming questions.
Reasoned automation for simplified appointment scheduling
Integrating the virtual agent was done quickly on the e-commerce site with tools such as Shipup that were already in place. Shipup allows the company to track the shipping status of each order and automate delivery follow-up for customers via the chat channel. Within ten days, the virtual agent was up and running and could automate answers to over 60 frequent and time-consuming questions such as, "Where is my order?" and "What are your opening hours?"
The Botmind virtual agent considerably manages and facilitates activity peaks linked to appointment scheduling at the beginning of the month. The average volume of automated conversations every 1st day of the month represents 25% of the monthly volume. Thus, the virtual agent filters out frequent and time-consuming questions and allows Ambre to handle high value-added requests effectively. Customers can enjoy an optimized customer experience with simplified appointment scheduling and real-time access to information.
A "Swiss Army knife" solution for e-commerce
The various functionalities of the virtual agent surprised the Bar à Boucle teams. They discovered a potential for ultra-advanced personalization and a wide range of opportunities to facilitate their work and enrich the customer experience of visitors, particularly with the help of triggers and product advice paths.
Triggers (small notification bubble displayed by the virtual agent) engage customers in the sales tunnel and start conversations to help them throughout their visit to the site. According to Ambre, triggers play a key role during peak periods. They allow to put forward information simply, and they engage visitors in the appointment-setting process. In May 2021, the Loop Bar team set up triggers, which generated 75.5% of all automated conversations.
Personalization at the heart of all customer interactions
The advanced personalization of the virtual agent also allows the different teams to give free rein to their creativity. For example, the marketing team uses the Botmind solution to set up automated communication campaigns via the chat channel. In May 2021, the team launched a Mother's Day campaign in which visitors received personalized advice on how to find the perfect gift for their beloved mother!
The Curl Bar has also launched channels to advise clients on the best routines for their curl types.
Visitors can rely on the virtual agent to qualify their needs and propose the most appropriate hair products for retaining their curls or addressing hair problems. As a result, customers are more likely to make good purchase decisions and have a pleasant customer experience. Product recommendation paths are the second most popular response paths after those related to booking a salon appointment.
A complete tool for an optimized customer experience
By integrating the Botmind virtual agent on its e-commerce site, the Bar à Boucle has a solution to help customers during their visit and support Ambre manage customer support, especially during peak periods of activity. Because of its many functionalities and advanced customization, the virtual agent enables the company to start conversations with customers and engage them in the sales tunnel. It can also deploy themed campaigns to enhance its brand image and increase sales. In the future, the company wants to leverage the gamification potential of the virtual agent by deploying campaigns and contests directly through the chat channel. At Botmind, we're thrilled to support an e-retailer that is innovating in favor of the customer experience and whose mission is to give freedom to curls that have been neglected for too long. #FreeTheCurls