Introduction
Although JCPenney says no to most vendors it had to say yes to Metrical’s predictive AI. It drives online revenue, increases conversion rates, and reduces site and cart abandonment.
“Helping customers in their online shopping journey is a major advantage in today’s online retail market.”
— Richard Adams, VP of Digital Experience
JCPenney is a storied, national discount retail brand with 650+ stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. They’ve been an Internet retailer since 1998 and on a mission to meet the digital needs of the 21st-century shopper. Even though they’ve been doing DOTcom for over twenty years, Metrical presented innovations they hadn’t considered possible. Metrical’s predictive AI produced the following, for targeted segments:
- 40% more new cart creation
- 18% less cart abandonment
- 10%+ increase in revenue
The Story of JCPenney
JCPenney is an American department store headquartered in Plano, TX. Its 650+ locations span the United States and Puerto Rico. Founded on April 14, 1902 in Kemmerer Wyoming, JCPenney had one simple rule – “to treat others as we would like to be treated”. The focus of putting customers and associates at the heart of what it does has remained constant.
The 50,000+ employees represent one of the nation’s largest retailers of apparel, home, jewelry, and beauty merchandise. JCPenney has a portfolio of private and national brands of remarkable quality and exceptional value. Many of its private brands like Liz Claiborne®, Stafford®, okie dokie™, and Worthington™ are so well known that consumers don’t realize they are exclusive to JCPenney.
The retailer has a long history of building brands and consistently developing and introducing exciting new products to meet the evolving needs of customers and their families.
JCPenney is on a mission to meet the digital needs of the 21st-century shopper. The company has been an Internet retailer since 1998. It has streamlined its catalog and distribution while undergoing renovation improvements at store level. They’re making the shopping experience easy and seamless across all channels and devices with a mobile-first website design, new and innovative in-store experiences and formats, and multiple fulfillment methods such as in-store and curbside pickup, and ship to home.
40% New Cart Creation
JCPenney is always on the lookout for innovation to drive their key metrics, traffic, conversion or basket size (AOV – average order value) and wanted to be more strategic about online discounting and promotions. Metrical’s AI presented them a unique way to meet their needs and increase conversion.
“We partnered with Metrical’s predictive AI to give us the ability to better understand our shopper’s online journey in real time, enabling us to deliver an improved customer experience.”
— Richard Adams, VP of Digital Experience
Metrical made it possible for JCPenney to run targeted campaigns on shoppers predicted to abandon. 60+ targeted campaigns ran that incentivized, promoted, discounted, reminded, offered free shipping, and compared web and mobile visitors exposed to Metrical over those who weren’t. The campaigns ran over a year with some campaigns increasing conversion by over 25% at specific touchpoints. In aggregate the 40% increase in new cart creation in targeted segments led to a significant lift in conversions.
18% Drop in Cart Abandonment
Like most ecommerce brands, JCPenney considered that if a customer left the site it was too late to engage them, so Metrical provided AI to predict abandonment. Metrical highlighted troubling customer segments so campaigns could be built to target these segments and decrease abandonment.
They decreased cart abandonment by 18% for targeted segments. The decrease in abandonment built incremental revenue, and profits.
“Every retailer is looking for an ‘edge’ to boost their profitability while providing a memorable shopping experience.”
– Steve Dennis, Retail Analyst
Metrical built an anonymous PII-free database of online conversion and abandonment behavior of all the visitors to JCPenney’s ecommerce site. Metrical’s proprietary AI model identified the characteristics that predict abandonment before the shopper leaves their site. Metrical also built a unique behavioral thumbprint for the retailer’s ecommerce site. JCPenney was able to serve content and offers targeted to shoppers, accurately predicting what would lead to a conversion and decrease cart abandonment while protecting margins.
10%+ Increase in Revenue
JCPenney was curious about shopper’s re-visit behavior, specifically around identifying the correlation of the frequency of visits to AOV and purchase rate. They wanted to find a better way of engaging site “re-visitors”. Specifically those that showed high purchase intent while browsing the site but weren’t committing to a purchase.
Metrical’s AI engine built a behavioral model to begin tracking and targeting these “re-visitors”. JCPenney then ran specific campaigns via Metrical to target “re-visitor” segments which:
- Increased revenue by 11%
- Increased conversion rate by 12%
- Increased average order value (AOV) by 6%
“The beauty of Metrical’s predictive AI is that it sits quietly in the background, observing customers’ behavior and at the precise moment in time– when it predicts someone is going to leave the site, it makes a recommendation that moves the shopper along the ideal customer journey toward purchasing.”
— Steve Dennis, Retail Analyst
Overall Results
JCPenney saw almost immediate results with Metrical. More carts, less abandonment and more revenue has ultimately led to net new profits that help the retailer hit growth goals. And now there’s potential to unlock even more value with the platform’s dashboard of insights..
We know we can unlock even more value with the insights Metrical’s platform provides.
Since the retailer began using Metrical in 2019 it has had a huge impact on targeted segments:
- 40% more new cart creation
- 18% less cart abandonment
- 10%+ increase in revenue
Metrical’s seamless integration process made it easy for JCPenney to get Metrical up and running on their custom ecommerce platform. JCPenney could run intelligent, on-site campaigns focused on optimizing promotions to achieve the most efficient conversion rates.
Custom Predictions
Metrical’s proprietary datastore of billions of non-PII data sets coupled with its AI gives retailers the most accurate and custom predictions. Metrical’s AI continuously monitors, learns and builds a custom shopper behavior algorithm specific to YOUR customers.
Targeted Action
Metrical’s behavioral predictions deliver real-time customer engagement while customers are still on the site – automatically driving conversion and revenue without sacrificing efficiency.
Fast Setup
Metrical can be up and running in days, not months. It has an ultra-low IT burden and minimal ongoing management. Plus, it can be integrated into the leading ecommerce platforms.
