How a premium boot brand saw a staggering 62% rise in AOV with Live Commerce
Lucchese
| Case Study
Overview
The retail industry has always been very
competitive and elastic. Downward trends in the economy are usually felt right away with consumers holding on to their disposable income.
And it was no different when the
COVID-19 pandemic took
the world by surprise. Lockdowns meant
job insecurity for a large number of people who were affected by them. They also led to retail stores being closed for months on end — and many eventually going out of business.
But there were some businesses that still came away strong despite everything the pandemic threw at them. Lucchese was one of those businesses that jumped on to the right.
About Lucchese
Lucchese is a premium, custom-made boot brand with nine locations in Texas. The company is also one of the leading cowboy boot manufacturers in the USA. Lucchese started out by making boots for the U.S. Cavalry based out of San Antonio — back in 1883. As a brand that already has a great reputation for quality and premium service, a visit to any of Lucchese’s nine physical stores will provide you with a very intimate shopping experience.
“The personal connection that we deliver in our stores, and at all levels of our organization, is what’s differentiates us from any other bootmaker”
— Shannon McGimsey, Director of Retail
Lucchese boots are handcrafted in El Paso, Texas, and are also sold at retailers such as Boot Barn, Sheplers, and Cavender’s. As a premier Western lifestyle brand, the company continues to follow the same handcrafted principles from 1883.
The Problem
Lucchese's customers are deeply loyal to the brand, but its boots are a significant investment, ranging from $500 to $13,000. And for a lot of premium retail brands like Lucchese, it’s difficult to expand and scale beyond the boundaries of its physical stores. Online sales for Lucchese were quite flat in comparison to in-store purchases due to the nature of the company's products and the higher price of the boots.
It's no surprise when you consider that online shopping can only provide a fraction of the intimate experience one would receive at one of Lucchese's nine stores.
Lucchese needed a way to virtually emulate the in-person buying experience customers received when shopping in their physical stores.
“People’s preference to buy cowboy boots probably will always be in person. It’s a very sensory-driven experience. Most people want to see, feel, and even smell the leather. We know that one of the best shopping experiences you can have — and one that we can control — is in our own stores.”
— David Berger, Director of Digital Commerce
The Solution
Immerss is a first-of-its-kind tool for merchants that allows them to connect directly with their online customers with live video and chat. The platform enables eCommerce stores to integrate 1-to-1 live commerce in three different ways: shoppable chat, live video co-shopping, and outbound clienteling. Immerss also supports one-to-many live streams that can be used for trunk shows.
With 1-to-1 live commerce, Immerss offers an outbound module that enables sales associates to communicate with individuals directly from a widget on their website, or within their contact lists. It features built-in messaging that can be delivered to a customer's email or SMS text inbox.
“The challenge is to figure out how can we drive more traffic through Immerss because the conversion rate is so much higher. It’s obviously a better experience for customers.”
— David Berger, Director of Digital Commerce
Through Immerss, eCommerce merchants are able to: Use live video and chat to provide a personalized shopping experience; Increase customer confidence in their buying decisions; Gain valuable insights into the customers’ behaviors; Create an integrated catalog with advanced sales tracking functionalities; Integrate a superior sales experience through direct calls and SMS messaging.