Platforms
Case studies
Resources
Merchants
About us
Case study
How Canon delivers a world class self-serve in-store shopping experience with personalised product recommendations
46%
who purchased a Canon camera in store, scanned a QR code when they were in store
93%
who started the camera quiz complete the journey
35%
who scanned a product QR code in store, purchased the product scanned
- Date: 15 September, 2022
- Client: Canon
Metrics based on Canon running a prototype which tested preezie over a 9-week period, across 42 stores and 4 key retailers.
The Challenge
Canon is the world's most trusted camera brand (YouGov, 2022). From mirrorless, DSLR, compact, cinema and video camera, their ultimate range of cameras takes photography and videography to the next level.
The challenge and opportunity they face:
- Enhancing the retail experience
- Limiting product exploration with gear locked behind glass walls
- Helping retailers drive increased convenience for shoppers
“We are focusing on enhancing the retail experience, to deliver better customer experiences and go above and beyond the needs of our shoppers. Gear locked behind glass walls offers little opportunity for product exploration, learning or inspiration, so we have therefore identified a need to enable an interconnected, cross-channel strategy, helping retailers drive increased convenience for shoppers,” said Claire Whitehouse, Marketing Manager - Customer & Trade, Canon.
Why preezie
Canon analysed the market and discovered that it was critical to offer a self-help tool to shoppers who patiently wait in-store to be assisted by staff members, or those that are not too sure what they are looking for, as well as enable shoppers to choose and buy Canon.
“We came across preezie whilst browsing through the Baby Bunting website, and as we flowed through their car seat finder, we immediately knew that this could be a game changer for our retail stores. We needed a solution that could provide both outstanding customer service and user-friendly technology to improve and impact our consumers' in-store shopping experience,” said Jane Dignam, Retail Marketing Manager, Canon.
The in-store project
Canon wanted to elevate their customer service by delivering world-class self-serve experiences and guided shopping in-store. They ran a prototype and tested preezie over a 9-week period, across 42 stores and 4 key retailers, transforming the way shoppers engage with Canon through guided shopping technology.
Canon printed easily accessible QR codes and displayed them at prime locations including the point of sale and the Canon camera cabinets within their retailers. Shoppers were able to scan the QR codes, interact with the camera quiz and efficiently find the right camera for them, without having to rely on a sales assistant. These dynamic QR codes were fully trackable and Canon were able to directly link preezie insights to their sales data.
“The most critical part of the project was the implementation of the ‘help me choose’ quizzes, allowing shoppers to find the right Canon camera that suited to their needs and wants. This quiz was built with preezie and could be activated via a QR code in the retail store, giving us great data and meaningful insights,” said Whitehouse.
The preezie implementation
Canon were able to visualise and test the preezie journeys very early on during implementation. After they supplied their data feed and provided imagery, preezie were able to provide journeys that could be tested and reiterated. This meant that Canon could spend more time on finessing and troubleshooting any of the journeys they wanted to roll out.
As Canon collected first party data powered by preezie, they used those insights for their cashback rewards promotion. They also used their preezie insights to analyse the correlation between their camera quiz results and the claims for their cashback offering.
“The team shared their expertise and knowledge, which made the whole implementation experience feel hassle free. The onboarding team are also very easy to work with, always patient with any questions and provide sound advice. They are always eager to assist, very responsive with their feedback and input during the roll out. The implementation of preezie was super smooth and they are so supportive,” said Dignam.
The future
In-store
“The preezie ‘help me choose’ journey plays a significant role in our strategy as it is at the forefront of our customer’s experience. We will be looking at optimising stores with higher volumes of entry-level shoppers. So for those shoppers who are beginner photographers, who are looking at buying their first camera or upgrading from a compact camera, preezie would be the best starting point to guide shoppers along their camera buying journey,” said Whitehouse.
Canon is exploring more ways to integrate their camera journeys, creating an entertaining and fun form to interact and connect with their shoppers, whether it be through screens in their demonstration areas or within the cabinets. They are also looking at rolling out Phase 2 of the preezie program, where new product display units will be implemented for all lenses and cameras. These products will be integrated with QR codes.
“The preezie journeys are integrated at the top of that QR code page when a customer scans, offering them a fantastic experience in which they are able to purchase the right camera or lens recommended to them, based on their needs, and can then easily access more information on that recommended product. Because this project has been such a success, we are also looking to roll-out the same program across our print category, ” added Dignam.
Online
Canon is in the process of implementing category specific versions of the preezie journeys. They are in the midst of rolling out preezie in categories including cameras, lenses and printers of both their Australian and New Zealand websites. This is to further assist shoppers in the consideration phase of their purchase journey.
“For our online strategy, we want to ensure that we take an omni-channel approach to our retail experience. Therefore, the implementation of the preezie journeys on our Canon website has been very effective in helping to drive shoppers to retailers, as we don’t sell to shoppers directly. The journeys have performed exceptionally well, with 92% of online shoppers that start the camera quiz, complete the journey, ” said Claire Whitehouse.
Canon will continue to place the preezie journeys with various iterations on their website, as well as work with retailers to share their experience. They also want to continue to utilise variations of their preezie journeys for their larger consumer promotions, to support their sales teams during those peak times by recommending products which are in the sale offer.
Results of prototype
Canon’s results successfully show that 46% of people who purchased a Canon camera in store, scanned a QR code when they were in store. In addition to the high level of engagement, 35% who scanned a product QR code in store, purchased the product that they scanned. This exhibits that shoppers require additional information at the point of purchase. This also shows that supporting shoppers through self-serve solutions like preezie are a must-have when it comes to executing an omnichannel strategy.
“The results from our preezie implementation have been phenomenal. We also included a version of the preezie camera journey in one of our large cash back promotions. The journey was hosted on the Canon website within the campaign landing page. We received strong engagement for this campaign, resulting in a 89% completion rate, this shows us that shoppers were very interested in the journeys, allowing them to “right size” the camera product for their needs, ” said Dignam.
“Working with preezie has enabled us to provide relevant technology to help our customers at the place of purchase, enhancing their experience in retail and delivering outstanding results for our business. The results show that 93% of shoppers who start our camera journeys complete it. This tells us that in order to deliver a world-class customer experience, we need to provide self-serve and guided shopping both in-store and online.”