Converse gain greater footing in international markets with the power of live chat

Best known for its Chuck Taylor All Star and One Star styles, Converse now offers a broad range of footwear and apparel designed to celebrate the individuality of every customer.

Challenge

Converse had set its sights on expanding its global presence, particularly in Latin America, and was in search of a marketing automation provider that would support the company as it introduced its shoes and clothing to new customers. Converse knew that personalized, scalable marketing programs would play a critical role in its efforts to connect with a larger audience.

Solution

The team at Converse heard that Dotdigital was the leading marketing automation provider for ecommerce platform Magento, and they set up a meeting to learn more about Dotdigital’s offerings. During the discussion, Converse quickly discovered everything that the Dotdigital platform had to offer — not to mention the added perk of having on-the-ground support in Spanish. After conferring with its teams, Converse made the decision to use Dotdigital as its marketing automation provider of choice for Converse Mexico.

Converse believed that a personalized experience was key to its efforts to reach more customers across the country — and that one of the most important ways to create that connection was by embracing live chat as a preferred channel of communication. The stats are clear: 44% of consumers consider real-time chat the most important feature of an ecommerce website, and a further 55% say they would abandon a transaction if they can’t find the answer to their question. By engaging one-on-one with customers and offering immediate responses, Converse knew that it could remove barriers to sale.

Known for pushing the boundaries, Converse wanted to take engagement a step further. The plan? The team would turn live chat into an acquisition channel to expand their footprint in new markets. Working closely with the Dotdigital team, they developed a strategy to use the Dotdigital live chat tool to not only keep their existing customers happy with top-notch customer service, but also acquire new customers through information obtained in data capture forms in the chat. Along with live chat, Converse used Dotdigital’s landing page and form builder to increase customer engagement and interest. These solutions were especially important when it came to limited-edition product launches, like the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary collection.

Results

Their strategy was a huge success. Live chat has proven to be an important growth tool for Converse Mexico, with 29% of the company’s marketing list now captured via Dotdigital live chat. More than a quarter of these contacts are now paying customers and represent 31% of total orders. What’s more, these customers show a greater propensity to buy, with an average purchase window of 13 days, compared to the established 19 days for customers who haven’t had the benefit of five-star live chat service.

Live chat has set an excellent foundation for Converse to further develop distinct customer cohorts that are ready for retargeting and marketing nurture programs. In addition, clear segmentation and implementation of an abandoned cart program have helped the team win over their newly acquired customers, with repeat purchase rates tripling just months after onboarding with Dotdigital.

To quote the Converse team, “Who knew, a simple ‘¡Hola!, ¿En qué puedo ayudarte?’ could go such a long way?”

What’s also helped Converse accelerate its marketing strategy in the LatAm market is Dotdigital’s position as a truly global provider of marketing technology. Visitors to the Converse Mexico website see live chat in Spanish, which means that no opportunity or key information is lost in translation — ensuring their shopping experience is elevated and relevant.

The Converse team benefits, too. With round-the-clock assistance from Dotdigital’s Spanish-speaking support team, they can get all the answers they need as they build out their international footprint.

Looking ahead

Converse has been continuing its quest to increase awareness in new markets by leveraging Dotdigital’s multichannel solutions. Combining Dotdigital’s segmentation features with decision nodes within the automation program, Converse has developed a plan to target only those customers who visited its website via Google Ads and Facebook Audience, allowing the team to engage relevant customers with truly personalized messages.