In this interview, our CCO Philipp Andrée gives insights into our omnichannel business model and explains its meaning and relevance for us as premium beauty retailer.
Philipp Andrée is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of the DOUGLAS Group. In his role, he is responsible for our omnichannel model. When it comes to retail, we believe that the strength of an omnichannel model lies in how the channels interact with each other. That’s why, in the interests of our customers, we like to think of our offline and online presence, our stores and our E-Commerce, as one.
Philipp, you say that ‘beauty is made for omnichannel’. What exactly do you mean by that?
PHILIPP ANDRÉE: We all know it: When buying premium beauty products, you sometimes feel the need to go to the store to get personal advice, e.g. on a fragrance or skincare product, or just to be inspired by the wide selection and the special atmosphere. And other times, you simply want to reorder your favorite product conveniently online. Today, customers switch between sales channels more fluidly, and in-store and online shopping are increasingly merging. From a customer’s point of view, omnichannel is ‘the new normal’ – especially in advice-intensive sectors such as premium beauty.
What does "omnichannel" mean for you?
PHILIPP ANDRÉE: We can proudly say that in previous years we have developed strongly both our store and E-commerce business, but we have mostly treated the business areas independently of each other. Today, we like to think of our offline and online presence as one. A truly omnichannel business model means creating one consistent ‘world’ for our customers across all channels and touchpoints. This is not limited to seamless ‘x-channel services’ like Click & Collect but includes a consistent brand experience, customer activation, and value proposition across all sales channels. The majority of customers visit online shops and stores anyway – when they switch channels, a successful omnichannel retailer should ensure that customers stay with them, offer them what they need at that moment, and always give them a choice of where they want to access the service.
What is the DOUGLAS Group already doing to create a customer-friendly omnichannel experience?
PHILIPP ANDRÉE: At DOUGLAS Group, we pursue a comprehensive omnichannel strategy. This includes the strategic expansion and modernization of our around 1,860 physical stores across Europe, where about 15,000 beauty experts advise and inspire our customers every day (as of December 2023). At the same time, we continuously develop our E-Commerce business with the latest tools, such as a test of an AI beauty chatbot in collaboration with Google (find out more in our press release).
For a consistent brand experience and customer activation across all touchpoints, we are working on an even more recognizable and efficient 360° omnichannel brand communication as well as a holistic, omnichannel CRM approach. Moreover, we are also optimizing our organization for more customer orientation: the functions Marketing, CRM, E-Commerce, Store Formats, Retail Media, and the IT are bundled – as all channels and touchpoints of the customer journey must be considered together nowadays. This is also the reason why my former role as Chief Digital Officer was expanded to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to include both the online and offline business.
Going forward, we will continue to evolve our omnichannel strategy, focusing on the seamless integration of online and offline experiences – customers first, channel second!
