Bensons for Beds Increases Ecommerce Sales 41% YoY With Bloomreach Engagement

Story Behind the Brand

Bensons for Beds is a British bed retailer that specializes in selling a diverse range of beds, mattresses, and bedroom furniture across its 160+ stores and online. With over 70 years of retail and manufacturing experience, Bensons understands the importance of creating a tailored sleep experience for customers.

increase in ecommerce sales YoY comparing Q4 2022 to Q4 2021

increase in like-for-like overall sales YoY comparing Q4 2022 to Q4 2021

Challenge

After changing leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bensons for Beds shifted focus to invest more in digital to match its in-store offers. The company wanted to learn how to use its digital propositions to not only just support in-person shopping, but also use its collected customer data to construct personalized journeys for customers that would build brand loyalty.

Since then, Bensons for Beds has begun to redefine the role that digital plays in an omnichannel business by making its website the focal point of the sales process. Bensons is using its website as more than just a referral engine for brick-and-mortar locations, but also as a hub where customers can learn more about products and transact.

Bensons for Beds is redefining the role of digital in its business and is using a customer data platform — specifically Bloomreach Engagement — to do so.

Solution

When Bensons for Beds adopted Bloomreach Engagement and worked closely with Voxwise to implement the platform to lead its digital transformation, it gained the ability to complete the customer experience through ecommerce personalization. That included being able to take an unknown customer just beginning their journey with the brand and lead them all the way through their customer journey with Bensons via personalized marketing campaigns.

During a 12-week end-to-end implementation that started from scratch, Bloomreach and Voxwise helped Bensons for Beds warm up its new IP, ingest offline customer data, set up its marketing automation campaigns, and set up its transactional journey, among other things. That led to Bensons for Beds being able to get off the ground quickly with personalized email marketing campaigns.

“Email as a channel has grown and is driving both online and offline sales,” said Graham Wilson, Director of Omnichannel and Customer Experience at Bensons for Beds. “We’re also able to get additional customer data out of the CDP and more insights into the ways that customers shop with us.”

In addition to email marketing, Bensons for Beds is also using Bloomreach Engagement to:

Offer personalized mattress recommendations to customers
Retarget customers who have received a quote at a brick-and-mortar location
Stitch customers together across channels to accurately portray the picture of what the overall customer journey looks like

“Bloomreach is the best on the market because you guys are always willing to help,” Wilson said. “That kind of personal service is really important to us. Bloomreach has always been a partner — not a supplier.”

Since Bensons for Beds can now use compliantly collected customer data to send more timely and relevant marketing communications, the company has seen a significant increase in satisfied customers.

We have made big steps towards our goal of becoming a market-leading omnichannel retailer.

Nick Collard

CEO, Bensons for Beds

Results

Retail Times UK reported that Bensons for Beds reported robust sales numbers to conclude 2022. The article specifically stated that:

Bensons’ like-for-like sales increased 7% in quarter four of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
Bensons saw a 41% increase in online sales as digital transactions ran at double pre-pandemic levels.

“We remain well-placed to navigate the year ahead,” Collard said. “Our performance over the quarter provides a good indication that our investments across the business are beginning to bear fruit. I’d like to thank the dedication and hard work of all of our colleagues as we continue to transform the business as we invest online, in stores, and in our ranges.”

Internet Retailing reported that Bensons said that its “digital success reflects (an) investment in omnichannel capabilities” and that implementing a customer data platform allowed the company to “gain insights into how its customers shop across channels as it looks to both win new customers and increase conversion rates”.