Retail Hero Chapter 8：AGift With Care
Preface:
Preface:With the help of digital transformation, a perfume brand in Malaysia was able to turn a loss into a profit during the pandemic, going from zero income to three times as much.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, the brand had no practical experience in e-commerce, and they regret not starting earlier, as it would have been easier to adapt to the MCO.
However, the world is unpredictable, and no one could have foreseen the events that took place. With hard work during the pandemic, their efforts have resulted in remarkable success. This experience has also taught them that digital transformation is a long-term effort and the future of business.
Let Exabytes Retail Heroes tell you the story of how a perfume brand went from keeping records of its members manually to using big data to improve the shopping experience of its members and customers.
Companionship for peace of mind; undeterred by challenges; Be the best version of yourself
There are many domestic perfume brands, but for young Malaysian women aged 16-30, AGift With Care is their top choice. According to Wilchard, CEO of AGift With Care, many high-priced perfume brands on the market are too expensive and not accessible to most people. On the other hand, low-priced perfumes are often too strong and overpowering, which can be off-putting.
On the contrary, AGift With Care aims to bring comfort and positive energy to its users through its gentle and familiar scent, accompanying and encouraging users to carry this scent with them throughout their lives.
AGift With Care was founded by Louis in 2010, selling only perfumes in the beginning. Over time, as the brand grew, it expanded its product line to include lotions, shower gels, skin care products, shampoos, conditioners, lip balms, and more.
Wilchard told the Exabytes new retail team that AGift With Care products are named after positive words and phrases, like “Passion” and “Courage”. The intention is to provide customers with encouragement from the product names and packaging and help them face challenges in their daily lives.
“AGift With Care hopes to accompany and give peace of mind to its users in different stages of life, from the academic pressure faced during the student period to the various uncertainties in the workplace, so that everyone can overcome the obstacles and become the best version of themselves,” said Wilchard.
Providing job opportunities for children with special needs
The core value of AGift With Care is caring. In addition to providing positive energy to customers through its products, the brand is also actively involved in charitable activities.
The glass bottle of AGift With Care perfume features beautiful, colorful paintings. These paintings are created by a group of special children. The fragrance not only enchants customers but also helps plant the seed of hope in the hearts of these special artists.
According to Wilchard, AGift With Care currently has collaborations with four charities. These collaborations enable children with special needs to draw designs on product packaging, providing them with job opportunities and allowing them to establish a social presence. Additionally, a portion of the brand’s annual profits will be donated to these collaborative charities.
Stay united to overcome difficulties; AGift With Care’s e-commerce sales tripled
Wilchard joined AGift With Care in 2018, and within just two years, he faced a major challenge: the Covid-19 pandemic. He admitted that the situation was a significant challenge for him and the entire team.
Before the Movement Control Order (MCO), AGift With Care had 16 stores across the country. All of a sudden, overnight, all of its physical stores must close and the company’s profits plummeted to zero. Everyone was in a state of panic. The team tried various methods, including selling through live broadcasts, websites, and e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada. The company’s 70 employees worked tirelessly, often sleeping only three hours a day, in an effort to overcome the effect brought by the MCO.
Luckily, their efforts were not in vain. A week after the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented, they successfully took the entire business online. As an e-commerce novice, they slowly achieved success through live broadcasts, platforms, and websites.
“We were constantly exploring and trying. As the team became more proficient in using various technologies and online tools, our e-commerce sales performance grew significantly. This happened even after the end of the MCO. We continued to reach greater heights.”
Today, the e-commerce sales performance of AGift With Care has increased threefold compared to the early stage of the MCO. Their successful transition to e-commerce not only helped the company overcome the challenges posed by the MCO but also allowed them to keep their 70 employees without any layoffs or salary cuts.
The only person who took a salary cut during the MCO period was the company’s founder, Louis, who was determined to protect the company by reducing his salary to zero. His action inspired and boosted the morale of the whole team, which helped everyone do their best even when things got hard during the pandemic.
Digital transformation is the future of retail
AGift With Care’s experience during the MCO acts as a foundation for digital transformation. They realized that digital transformation is a long-term solution to running a successful retail brand. In addition to their presence on platforms like Lazada and Shopee and their own website, AGift With Care has developed its own app and introduced new retail solutions. Today, they are utilizing big data and technology to provide customers with a comprehensive and high-quality online and offline shopping experience.
Wilchard stated that prior to their digital transformation, AGift With Care relied on manual recording of customer information. This method was not only inconvenient but also resulted in issues such as duplicated data and untimely updates of contact information. After undergoing digital transformation, the company now manages customer information through its app and is able to interact more closely with its customers.
According to Wilchard, the AGift With Care app is not limited to just purchase functions. The brand places a greater emphasis on how they can more effectively convey positive energy to their customers and enhance their daily lives.
Moreover, AGift With Care has also installed smart cameras in its stores to collect big data and gain a deeper understanding of each customer’s buying behavior in order to enhance their shopping experience. In the future, the company plans to use artificial intelligence technology to help it grow even more.
Make good use of data to make accurate decisions
Wilchard believes that big data is crucial for the success of retail brands in the future. For example, the data collected by the smart cameras in AGift With Care stores provides insights into key metrics such as the number of people visiting the store, the length of time customers spend in the store, the number of passersby who look at the store, and the conversion rate. This data enables the company to make more informed decisions and guide its development in the right direction.
In the past, retailers often relied on intuition and guesswork to understand their customers. But with big data, we can get a more accurate picture of customer behaviour and preferences. As Wilchard says, “Gone are the days of relying on feelings to estimate customer numbers in the store. Big data allows us to understand what customers think of us and where we can improve.”
Smart cameras provide valuable information about customers, such as the number of people visiting the store each day, how long they stay, and how many passersby looked at the store, as well as the conversion rate. This information helps the store workers make more informed decisions about store decoration, how to improve the shopping experience, product display, and brand expression. The successful winning model can also be replicated in other branches. This is especially important for AGift With Care’s planned expansion to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Hong Kong over the next three years.”
The truth is…
The key to digitalization is data and information. We can make accurate business decisions when we use data effectively and turn it into useful information.
Be our retail hero now
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