How alice + olivia Uses Customer Insights to Deepen Loyalty

Rising customer expectations have retail brands working overtime this summer, and alice + olivia is no exception. The luxury fashion brand is launching a new program designed to provide its in-store associates with tools to deliver more consistent and relevant shopper experiences as a way to increase brand excitement and loyalty.

The omnichannel approach activates data from multiple touchpoints—including pre-purchase, point-of-sale, and post-purchase customer care—to create unified customer profiles, which can then be called on to develop personalized communication for online and in-store shoppers. Using the customer data platform Amperity, alice + olivia’s marketing and analytics teams will also be developing actionable insights that extend the company’s brand experience across its digital ecosystem.

alice + olivia has more than two dozen free-standing retail boutiques located in cities around the globe, including Beverly Hills, Chicago, and Tokyo. The company also has a robust e-commerce presence, which includes an online community, popular social media accounts, and an affiliate program designed to reward influencers for promoting the company’s products.

This isn’t the first time alice + olivia has used customer data to improve the shopping experience. The company had previously tried a black box system, however that proved to be too difficult to use. Senior director of e-commerce Michelle Ecock says surfacing the insights and identity resolution needed to create a true omnichannel program was nearly impossible with previous platforms. Those experiences led alice + olivia to explore what other options were available, and ultimately brought the company to Amperity.

Amperity’s AI-powered technology makes it unique in the CDP space, allowing brands to create unified customer profiles and deliver personalized experiences for each individual interaction. Ecock says alice + olivia’s customers expect a singular shopping experience whether they’re shopping online, in a department store, or in one of the brand’s brick-and-mortar boutiques.

“Our team tries to bring founder Stacey Bendet’s creative vision to life for every customer, and Amperity is helping us fully understand each shopper — especially for those that are most loyal — so we can remain true to our mission to provide today’s modern woman with options for every day and every occasion,” Ecock says.

Since the pandemic, more than one-third of Americans have made omnichannel features, like buying online for curbside pickup, part of their regular routine, according to McKinsey & Co. Nearly two-thirds of those shoppers say they plan to continue along that path — favoring white-glove service and convenience over everything else. In a 2022 report by Invoca, 63% of shoppers said they would pay more for products in exchange for better customer service. Omnichannel customer data programs, like alice + olivia’s, are helping retailers meet those needs, even as consumer expectations continue to rise.

Having a unified customer view means alice + olivia can curate the customer experience for each individual, and shoppers can have completely seamless interactions whether they’re in-store with a stylist or shopping online. 

Ecock says she’s particularly excited to see associates now recognizing longtime customers during in-store visits. The new system makes it easier for associates to check on sizing questions and point loyal shoppers to new arrivals that have come in since they were last in-store.

“Without a clean, accurate customer profile, we simply aren’t able to do this level of personalization,” she says.

Looking forward, alice + olivia plans to keep data at the center of its business strategy, while also prioritizing analytics and measurement across the customer journey. Ecock says the company expects to be able to increase the number of return customers, up the purchase frequency from loyal customers, and boost the e-commerce average order value with its customer data program in place.

“alice + olivia plans to extend the in-store shopping experience our customers have come to love across our entire digital ecosystem by delivering on brand and omnichannel messaging in every interaction with customers,” Ecock says. “We’re confident Amperity’s actionable insights about our customers will help us to not only increase brand excitement, but deepen loyalty.”