CRM Strategy

How Chic Are Chico’s CRM Details?

Discover how the American women's clothing and accessories retailer scores in its CRM marketing practices!

Adebisi Adewusi

Welcome back to PostFunnel’s 47th episode of the 7 CRM Commandment Series.

Today, we get to Chico’s.

In case you don’t know – Chico’s FAS is the name behind Chico’s and other retailers, including White House Black Market, Soma, and TellTale.

So, how do you think the American women’s clothing and accessories retailer scores and ranks against other brands when it comes to basic CRM practices?

1. Be Transparent 8/10

At the bottom of its website, Chico’s displays the California Supply Chain Act. This provided us with information regarding Chico’s efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from its direct supply chain. We would have liked to see a traceability platform or a supplier list to track where Chico’s supplies come from, though.

Chico’s parent company-Chico’s FAS, publishes its Sustainability and Social Responsibility reports, Financial reports, and Sales and Earnings Conference Call on its website. 

Making these reports accessible scores Chico’s some transparency points.

While the company keeps us updated about its operations, we don’t often see the faces behind Chico’s.

In an article published yesterday, Chico’s FAS reported data on customer engagement which is the key to its sustained growth:

  • Soma continues to lead the way, with sales up 65% over the first quarter in 2020.
  • Digital sales up by more than 13% as multi-channel customers continue to increase.
  • Customer engagement remains the key, by means of digital storytelling and influencers.

All in all, though Chico’s continues to summarize its growth initiatives, it needs to do more to show its human side to connect with customers.

2. Incentives and Perks 10/10

Chico’s does a great job at rewarding its customers and getting them to continue purchasing from them!

The top section of its HP displayed a range of perks and incentives:

  • $29.99 select styles
  • Up to 70% off sales
  • Mix and Match bracelets. “Buy 3 for $39 -BUY 2 for $35”
  • Free standard shipping when you spend $125 or more

One scroll down the HP, we were nudged to see “today’s offers.”

Chico’s has a Sale page that offers a huge variety of discounted apparel. So there’s something for everyone.

At the bottom of Chico’s HP, we see we can get $20 off if we refer a friend and 20% off if we subscribe to the brand’s email list! What’s not to love about all of these CRM promotional tactics?

 3. Be Relevant 7/10

Chico’s HP lets us know we can get out orders today. The copy-“Love it & want it today” appeals to today’s customer’s need for instant gratification.

Scrolling down Chico’s HP, we noticed a Safety + Easy shopping link. Clicking on the link led us to information about Chico’s cleanliness and safety measures.

To keep shoppers safe, Chico’s has altered its offerings to include Buy Online-Pickup in Store, Contactless Curbside, Pickup, and Shop-by-appointment services.

Also relevant to these times – Chico’s offers a virtual styling service through StyleConnect. This allows customers to receive personalized, one-on-one style advice online – without the need to leave their homes!

This service appears to be popular with customers as they can shop directly from their tablet or phone, too. The company reported, Style Connect orders nearly doubled in the fourth quarter.

As women reinvent their wardrobes in light of COVID-19, Chico’s says it has developed improved fabrics and comfort features to adapt to their needs. This shows Chico’s commitment to being relevant and customer-centric.

While Chico’s celebrates International T-shirt Day, the brand doesn’t mention a timelier topic on their HP – like Pride Month. We deducted just one point for this!

Finally, Chico’s seems to fall behind when it comes to showing diversity in its marketing compared to other brands. We’d like to see the brand feature more ethnically, racially, and physically diverse models in its marketing. Since this must be a top-of-mind topic for every brand, we deducted another couple of points here.

4. Be Helpful 5/10

We didn’t see any recent give-back programs on Chico’s website or social media accounts.

However, the brand’s parent company’s Chico’s FAS says, “Chico’s FAS and our family of brands, Chico’s, White House Black Market and Soma, are committed to women with a focus on their well-being, health and empowerment”.

Also, Chico’s FAS’s corporate responsibility report says “each of the brands under Chico’s FAS regularly collect gently used workwear to donate to women in need.”

Chico’s is committed to reducing its environmental impact and increasing sustainability efforts.

  • In 2020, Chico’s Outlets used 3D technology to design approximately 70% of its assortment.
  • Chico’s has introduced sustainable fibers and recycled fibers into its collections.
  • In 2020, Chico’s emphasized a heavier reliance on sustainable techniques in its denim finishing processes.
  • By Holiday 2021, Chico’s expects to offer more than 20 styles containing 100% Modal or 100% Lenzing’s TencelTM fabrics in addition to its fabrics containing Tencel TM or Modal fiber blends.

We had to dig through Chico’s parent company’s Sustainability Report and Social Responsibility report to find information about how Chico’s is being helpful. By not publicizing its give-back programs and sustainability initiatives on its website and social media accounts, Chico’s misses out on using philanthropy and social responsibility to build a strong relationship with its customers.

5. Realtime Personalization 5/10

To test Chico’s realtime personalization abilities, we clicked on a denim jacket. We liked how Chico’s immediately showed us compatible items using a “how to wear it” section on the denim jacket product page. This up-selling and cross-selling technique made it easier for us to find an assortment of apparel that looked great with the denim jacket we picked.

We were also presented with additional items that we may love. This helped us find other interesting items quickly and enhanced our shopping experience.

My Chico’s closet feature on the website offered us outfit recommendations that matched items in our shopping bag. We liked that the recommendations were well-curated and relevant.

No ads followed us on social media for items we browsed on Chico’s website after leaving the site.

6. Master UX 9/10

Navigating through the different categories on Chico’s website was easy. The product pages had enough information to help us make an informed purchase decision. The shopper reviews were detailed and we could filter reviews based on ratings and level of helpfulness.

We would have loved more category-specific filters to help us easily find items, though. In all, we had a great user experience.

7. Leverage Social Media 9/10

On Facebook, Chico’s has 1,243,850 likes; on Instagram, they have 110k followers, and on Twitter, they have 41.6K followers.

Chico’s seems to have mastered the art of using Facebook to build a strong relationship with its customers. The brand is very active on its Facebook page – filled with contests, challenges,  event-related content, such as International T-Shirt Day, sneak-peeks, and how-to videos.

On Instagram, Chico’s content is compelling and includes motivational quotes, how-to videos on IGTV, and user-generated content. We noticed Chico’s features customers with the branded hashtag #LoveChicos. This humanizes the brand and helps it connect with its audience.

We like how Chico’s uses live video formats on Facebook and Instagram to provide helpful content and maximize engagement. These videos support the consideration stage of the customer’s buying journey.

On Twitter, Chico’s posts regularly but the content is mostly promotional.

Overall, Chico’s is getting a 53/70 here (76%), positioning them in 20th place – in a tie with Etsy! With a few touchups on its Realtime Personalization and some tips on how to improve and gain higher scores on some other commandments – Chico’s will be able to take their CRM Marketing initiatives to the next level.

Here are the full rankings of all the brands we analyzed to date:

  1. Pets at Home 91%
  2. Lowe’s 90%
  3. Petco 90%
  4. The Home Depot 87%
  5. Target 87%
  6. Uniqlo 86%
  7. Paul Smith 84%
  8. JD Sports 84%
  9. Vrbo 83%
  10. N Brown Group 81%
  11. West Elm 81%
  12. The North Face 81%
  13. Holland and Barret 80%
  14. lululemon 80%
  15. Morrisons 80%
  16. Brooks Running 79%
  17. Best Buy 78%
  18. Angie’s List 77%
  19. Gap 77%
  20. Chico’s 76%
  21. Etsy 76%
  22. Nando’s 75%
  23. The Body Shop 74%
  24. Gymshark  73%
  25. William Hill  73%
  26. Essence 72%
  27. Deckers 71%
  28. Inditex 71%
  29. Iceland Foods 71%
  30. Total Wine & More 70%
  31. Tommy Hilfiger 70%
  32. Walgreens 70%
  33. Kohl’s 70%
  34. United Colors of Benetton 69%
  35. Buy Buy Baby 68%
  36. Carter’s 67%
  37. Fiverr 67%
  38. The White Company 66%
  39. Next 63%
  40. Babbel 63%
  41. Patagonia 61%
  42. Express 60%
  43. Burberry 60%
  44. Zara 59%
  45. Treatwell 58%
  46. COS 57%
  47. Dream11 53%

 

We publish a new analysis every other week, so watch this space for more brand analyses coming your way!