Case Study
How Tapestry helped Cosyfeet make greater strides in multi-channel marketing
Trusted by customers and recommended by healthcare professionals, Cosyfeet has led the way in specialist footwear for almost 40 years. The brand combines decades of expertise with the latest technology to provide the most comfortable-fit, easy-access footwear on the market. But more than that, it also prides itself on unrivalled customer service and no-quibble guarantees.
Cosyfeet successfully reaches audiences across multiple DTC channels, as well as boosting sales via wholesale. But amid growing demand for specialised footwear and hosiery, coupled with changes in the way their elderly audience was engaging with marketing channels, Cosyfeet recognised the need for a more strategic approach to marketing. With the help of The Tapestry Agency, Cosyfeet has been able to employ a more rigorous approach to identifying best-performing channels, and improve engagement accordingly, to maximise acquisition and retention in 2021
Addressing the challenges to deliver new insights
Re-evaluating traditional channels
With an older audience profile, catalogue mailings are core to Cosyfeet’s marketing strategy. But as a relatively expensive channel, it’s important to identify how many customers still buy if they are sent catalogue mailings less frequently. By following Tapestry’s recommendations, Cosyfeet can maximise its catalogue mailing budget and reallocate spend where appropriate to test other channel activities.
There are types of buyers that buy less frequently than others, such as slipper-only buyers and seasonal gift buyers. To make sure that every customer interaction counts, Tapestry analysed the behaviour of these Cosyfeet customers to identify their most likely future purchase consideration period. Knowing when infrequent customers are likely to buy means that Cosyfeet can mail them at just the right time and frequency, thereby improving customer engagement and saving on mailing cost.
Realising the value of digital
While the catalogue remains central to Cosyfeet’s marketing strategy, by enhancing its approach to measurement, Cosyfeet now recognises the increasing value of digital. In particular, Tapestry has helped the brand to refine its order matchback strategy to gain a more accurate picture of channel performance, including which particular touchpoints drive sales.
Streamlining TV
Following lockdown, Cosyfeet wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of extending its national TV advertising, a core acquisition channel, by introducing regional campaigns. Despite the assumption that this tactic might replicate national success, especially considering the halo effect of other marketing activities, Tapestry’s analysis indicated the opposite. It revealed that local TV isn’t profitable across most areas of the UK. This, coupled with a marked increase in online acquisitions during the pandemic, means Cosyfeet can confidently reallocate part of its TV budget to digital channels in 2021.
Retention through reactivation
Tapestry analysis showed that not contacting lapsed customers at the right time resulted in a drop in overall orders. Not all customers lapse at the same time. If Mary buys every 3 months and John buys every 12 months, after 9 months, Mary has lapsed but John is still within his usual purchase cycle. To help Cosyfeet re-engage lapsing customers in a more bespoke way, Tapestry built a lapsing model to identify the point of lapse for each customer. Using this information, Cosyfeet can now direct a re-engagement marketing campaign to the right customers at the right time.
Tapestry’s in-depth analysis showed that reactivated customers don’t simply lapse again. Instead, their subsequent value is 3-4% higher than recruits. It’s also clear that the low cost of reactivation means Cosyfeet can prioritise this segment to drive a greater return on marketing spend. The brand can now use its reactivation model to test super-lapsed customers in 2021. In addition, by identifying those most at risk of lapsing, a strategy has been developed to take pre-emptive action to re-engage those at risk and convert them back into active buyers. Analysis also showed that purchase anniversary communications performed well, both before and during lockdown.
When working on the reactivation strategy, Tapestry discovered that despite strong email response rates, the proportion of customers contactable by email was relatively low. To take action, Tapestry advised Cosyfeet on data collection statements to increase the number of emails shared by prospects and customers. This means that when customers lapse, they can be contacted more easily and cost-effectively through an email customer re-engagement programme. The analysis also showed that not contacting lapsed customers at the right time resulted in a significant drop-off in response. As a result, Cosyfeet is now confident that using direct mail to reach customers without email addresses will give the return needed.
Looking forward to the future
“Bringing in the external perspective and industry expertise of The Tapestry Agency is helping us to evolve our marketing strategy, enhance our multi-channel approach and introduce new concepts to drive growth,”
said Andrew Peirce, Managing Director at Cosyfeet.“We’ve already seen huge online acquisition among UK audiences during the pandemic, and, having recently launched in the US, we look forward to testing and evaluating our global reach this year. Plans for 2021 include implementing a new ecommerce platform to support cross-selling based on basket behaviour, as well as enabling point-of-sale incentives to drive AOV.”
Through a programme of rigorous testing and ongoing strategic guidance across all marketing channels, Tapestry is helping Cosyfeet drive growth by getting to know its customers better than ever, one (comfy) step at a time.
