Challenge
A1 is the leading Telecommunications company in Austria. Their products and services help to digitize Austria and are the major backbone of Austria’s private and business life. Although digitalization and online shopping turned out to be quite normal for the brand, lots of people still need some help or want to consult an expert before making a purchase decision. Their customer base shows a wide range of generations – from Gen Z to baby boomers – nearly the entire demographics of Austria’s population. Therefore, the brand offers a selection of different contact points/channels to satisfy the various needs of their customers for sales and service.
A1 wanted to explore new ways of connecting with online customers, that would help better communicate their value propositions of various products and services and increase online sales.
Solution
The leading Austrian Telecommunications brand took a big step forward in digitally transforming their business and decided to collaborate with Whisbi. They saw a big potential in the Virtual Shop project, that enables their customers to get free advice online; like in the shop – but from the comfort of their own home. A Virtual Shop is just like your other physical store with real sales agents. Except that it’s not. It’s much more powerful as it enables A1 sales agents to attend numerous online customers in real time, using conversational tools like real-time video, voice and chat. It’s the latest innovation in digital customer experience.
Omnichannel is a major trend in terms of customers’ contact needs – so with the A1 Liveshop powered by Whisbi the brand combined assets of different channels into one innovative new point of experience – the availability of a service center, easy to access via the online shop, in combination with a physical shopping experience. According to the brand, 80% of A1 customers inform themselves online before contacting the brand. Online shoppers and people who are just searching for information on their website can get support from the A1 Liveshop Team in a very personal way without any channel-hopping. The success that the brand has seen in terms of sales and customer satisfaction proves that investing in this new project was a good business decision.
“We digitize Austria – that’s our aim and that’s why we wanted to create a new and innovative channel to support our customers while shopping online with competent personal sales consulting nearly anytime or anywhere.”
Timo Zöller, Head of Customer Interaction A1 A1 Telekom Austria Group
The Liveshop project proved especially essential for the business continuity during the COVID-19 crisis, when all the physical shops & contact centers had to close down. The A1 Liveshop became an innovative digital alternative to their physical A1 Shops in times of lockdown.
Results
A1 Austria saw great results with the Liveshop project. Their NPS ratings were incredibly high, compared to other online sales channels, comparable to those during a face-to-face shop experience. The brand also reported that they saw a 30% increase in the average basket size in the shopping cart, per sales contact, compared to their e-commerce channel. What is more, A1 recorded + 30% Conversion Rate from online leads to closed sales.
• A1 Net Promoter Score ratings for Liveshop = in store NPS
• 30% increase in average basket size for deals closed via A1 Liveshop
• +30% conversion rate for leads handled via A1 Liveshop
