Doneckers: Successful high-end destination shopping with CRM

Case study
Doneckers: Successful high-end
destination shopping with CRM
With help from NSB’s CRM Solution, a multifaceted, rural retailer motivates
customers to drive far and wide to shop at their stores, and keeps them
coming back.
Values inspire the growth of a community
In an age in which higher-end merchandise is often associated with urban affluence and
downtown glitz, Doneckers is a refreshing study in contrasts. Located in Ephrata,
Pennsylvania, about an hour north of Philadelphia in the heart of Amish country, this
multifaceted retailer has demonstrated that sticking to proven principles while providing
exceptional goods and service can draw customers from far and wide, and be a model
for successful retailing almost anywhere.
Doneckers facts at a glance:
• Multifaceted retailer based in rural
Pennsylvania
• Offers high-quality apparel, jewelry,
home accessories, and furniture
• Also operates inns, a restaurant,
and a reception facility
• Local, regional, and national
customer base
• NSB solutions: CRM and
Merchandising
The enterprise began back in 1949 when C. Paul Donecker and his son, H. William
(“Bill”), started a mail-order business called Club Plan. Eight years later, they opened
their first store, a showroom for the furniture and dry goods that they continued to sell
by mail. Once the entire family became involved, in 1961, Doneckers began a steady
program of expansion by broadening their merchandise lines and opening a number of
complementary operations. Their original location now forms the heart of a graceful
complex that includes an exclusive furniture gallery; fine jewelry, linen, and specialty
department stores; several inns; a gourmet restaurant; and a banquet hall for weddings
and other elegant functions.
Today, after 55 years and many changes, the family values that originally inspired the
Doneckers are still reflected in every part of the business. The stores are still closed on
Sunday — as well as on Wednesdays, at Mr. Donecker’s request. Many of their 300
employees have decades of service with the company, and all are dedicated to providing outstanding, highly personalized customer service. It’s one reason why, in spite of
their five-day-per-week schedule, Doneckers is close to being one of the top-10 US
single-unit specialty stores based on sales revenues.
Creating and maintaining a shopping destination
“Reliably, effectively, and in a time-efficient
manner, NSB’s CRM Solution lets us manage and target the mailings and monitor
the responses for hundreds of events
each year at our specialty department
store.”
In the process of transforming a simple, small-town enterprise into a refined shopping
destination, Doneckers has worked steadily to retain and expand their customer base.
“Because we’re located outside of major markets such as Philadelphia and New York,
only 45 percent of our clients are local,” explains the VP of Corporate Development,
Ellen Mowrer. “Forty percent come from outlying districts, including Maryland,
Philadelphia, Jersey, and Delaware, and 15 percent are from elsewhere in the US, as far
away as California, Texas, and Florida.”
ELLEN MOWRER
Vice President for Corporate
Development, Doneckers
To serve these varied markets, Doneckers offers a range of better, best, bridge, and
designer merchandise. “This allows us to appeal to the more value-oriented local customer, while providing the higher-end exclusives that attract our best customers from
further away,” Mowrer says.
Beyond providing the right merchandise, the retailer’s main challenge is to attract its target customers, particularly women with household incomes greater than $100K, and to
make sure an outstanding shopping experience keeps them coming back. “We do this
in many ways,” says Mowrer. “We combine accommodation and meal packages at our
inns and restaurant, we offer numerous shows and events throughout the year, and we
stay in close contact with our customers to present promotions and new offerings.”
To do this, Doneckers relies on the Connected Retailer® CRM Solution from NSB.
Doneckers
Meeting direct marketing needs with CRM
Doneckers’s original CRM Solution was the Customer Profile
System, an earlier NSB product they implemented in 1993,
which included interfaces to their point of sale and merchandising systems. But as their client base expanded, so did
their CRM needs. To meet them, Doneckers purchased
NSB’s next-generation Connected Retailer® CRM Solution in
2002.
“To support our marketing initiatives, we needed a CRM solution that would enable us to track and reach all our customers,” Mowrer says. “We also needed an adaptable system
that could help us grow and embrace new opportunities,
such as our points-based loyalty program. NSB’s Connected
Retailer® CRM Solution met all these requirements.”
So many events, so much communication, so
little time!
In just four months during the spring of 2005, Doneckers held
65 trunk shows, parties, vendor appearances, and special
events featuring everything from bridal merchandise to
Mongolian rugs to famous New York hat designers. They also
staged eight fashion shows and a Mother’s Day banquet. Yet,
surprisingly, the retailer has only one person dedicated to
marketing these events with the Connected Retailer® CRM
Solution.
“Given our limited resources, we could not achieve this level
of activity without a reliable and responsive CRM solution,”
says Mowrer. “These events are critical to our business,
which is driven by service, not sales or discounting. Our highly targeted mailings find the right customer for the right event
thanks to the detailed information and analytical tools in the
CRM database.”
Tracking and targeting the right customers
Beyond looking at what someone bought, how much they
spent, and the last time they visited the stores, Doneckers
determines where their target customers live and how likely
they are to make the trip for any given event, based on distances and seasonal weather variations. The retailer also
plans its events to drive traffic during quiet times, like high
summer or the depths of winter. With all these activities, an
effective database is critical to their success.
“Our database is cleaner than any list we’ve ever rented or
been given,” says Mowrer. “Our mailings go first class on a
Friday to ensure that time-sensitive information is received no
later than the following Wednesday. This allows our customers to plan their agenda for the coming weekend. And
first-class mailings mean we get every change of address or
return, so we can rigorously update our database with the
new information.”
Results that speak for themselves
Using CRM, Doneckers achieves excellent response rates for
their mailed invitations and thank-you notes, which typically
include offers. Rates for frequent customers are often
between 25 percent and 30 percent, and even vendor pieces
usually generate responses of more than 10 percent.
“We capture from 80 percent to 100 percent of a customer’s
transactions, and the ones we don’t catch are for low-price
items like cards,” explains Mowrer. “The information feeds
through automatically from our POS to the CRM database.
Combining high capture rates with a clean database means
that 99.5 percent of our mailings reach their destination, and
we have a very effective and responsive line of
communication.”
The retailer pays special attention to customers who make
frequent, large purchases — most of whom tend to buy
items for themselves rather than as gifts. “The CRM solution
helps us understand and respond to the needs of our supercustomers,” Mowrer says. “The accuracy and detailed nature
of our CRM database allows us to address them personally
as individuals. And when you are in the business of maintaining the highest standards in merchandise, service, and communications, you absolutely need a reliable, detailed, analytical database to drive your programs in a personalized way.”
“Our clients truly appreciate the high level of service we provide through our marketing programs and in the stores,” she
continues. “I produce an employee newsletter twice a month,
and each one includes four or five letters from customers
who have written to tell us what an outstanding job we do.”
For a tradition-based operation like Doneckers, those
testimonials are as important as revenue when measuring
success — and they are results for which both the retailer
and NSB are justifiably proud.
Find out more today
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studies. Alternatively, call us at (514) 426-0822 to schedule a needs analysis and solution demonstration.
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