From simple newsletters to international email marketing

Case Study: Inxmail Consulting

The Gabor company is currently successfully mastering the challenge of implementing a rapid digital transformation. The well-known shoe manufacturer launched its online shop in Germany in 2018 and immediately began its activities with an innovative marketplace concept – in which both regional, affiliated shoe retailers and the brand manufacturer benefit from the online business.

In this digital environment, email plays a crucial role in communicating with end consumers: newsletters, product recommendations, reactivation and lifecycle campaigns are – alongside transactional emails – the most important mailings for strengthening customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Since then, further Gabor online shops have been launched in Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium, following the example of Germany.

The ongoing internationalization, with up to three languages per country, presented a particular challenge for email marketing: “Always stay scalable!” – that was the company's objective.

Thanks to Inxmail's many years of experience, an individual solution for Gabor's requirements was quickly found. This was for both the transactional emails of the various online shops and the promotional newsletters of all kinds. The latter is used to write to online customers and also to use offline data from brick-and-mortar stores for the mailings in a GDPR-compliant manner.

As the company continues to expand and optimize its newsletter marketing, the constant exchange of expertise ensures fast and convincing results. In this way, new and promising use cases are continuously being implemented together.

[Translate to English:] Eine Reihe von Gabor-Schuhen, die ordentlich auf einem Boden vor einem weißen Vorhang aufgereiht sind. Verschiedene Modelle von Sneakers und Sandalen in verschiedenen Farben und Stilen sind zu sehen.

Challenge

Equipped for the digital market

[Translate to English:] Zwei stilvoll gekleidete Frauen spazieren auf einer gepflasterten Straße vor einem eleganten, historischen Gebäude. Beide tragen beige Outfits und Sneakers von Gabor, während sie entspannt lächelnd nebeneinander gehen.

For shoe manufacturer Gabor, the opening of its first online shop was also the starting signal for sales-oriented email marketing. To begin with, there was a historical newsletter distribution list, an offline customer card program in Gabor's own shops, competition addresses and the newly acquired customer data of online shoppers. The biggest challenge was the consolidation of all data, taking into account the origin and the legally compliant consent management.

This raised a number of questions: How do we deal with email addresses that we have generated multiple times, e.g. online and offline? How can we use email marketing to build and strengthen a flourishing online shop? Which campaign management tool is best suited to our needs? And where do we even start with the digital transformation in order to implement it as quickly as possible?

Gabor wanted answers to all these questions, as well as competent experts who would personally assist them in their further growth. They came to Inxmail in their search for a solution that was individually tailored, technically reliable and, above all, scalable.

Solution

Expertise at eye level

Example of a current Gabor mailing using the Inxmail Advanced Template

“Closer to the customer” is a promise that Inxmail takes seriously – and that also means that Inxmail is always looking for the best solution for its customers. And it does so with many years of experience in knowing which solutions are most likely to succeed. The key to mutual success is precisely the project work at eye level, in which everyone contributes their know-how in the best possible way.

Thanks to the various expert teams at Inxmail, it quickly became clear what the most efficient way for Gabor to reposition itself digitally would be. The Value IQ campaign management tool was the best way to meet the complex requirements. The Value IQ and Inxmail systems work hand in hand – including the automatic synchronization of all data. In a comprehensive “campaign management” project, Gabor, Value IQ and Inxmail built up the international newsletter marketing step by step – and it has been continuously developed ever since.

The results speak for themselves: transactional emails, such as invoices or confirmations, reliably end up in the buyer's inbox. Possible address duplicates from the various sources, such as the online shop or brick-and-mortar store, are detected and contacts are only ever sent once – always taking into account the current advertising status, of course.

The content transfer of products from the respective shop clients ensures that content is created quickly. Product information such as description, price, images and landing page links are automatically transferred to the mailing templates.

Cleverly designed automation sequences offer further important touchpoints along the customer journey and help with profile enrichment and the continuous improvement of data quality.

The next step in newsletter marketing is undoubtedly individualized emails based on personal customer data, such as shoe size, purchase history and calculated purchase probabilities. Last but not least, ongoing optimizations complete the cycle of testing and learning. So it remains exciting!

“In the end, it is the bond with the brand that determines the success of the sale. Without question, professional email marketing is the most important and cost-effective way to bind offline and online customers to the company. Each email is like a canvas on which the Gabor company and brands come to life – ideally creating a long-term, trusting and emotional bond between the customer and us.”

Britta Klement

Head of Content and Dialog Marketing, Gabor Shoes AG

[Translate to English:] Außenansicht des Gabor Hauptsitzes in Rosenheim an einem sonnigen Tag. Das moderne Gebäude mit großen Glasflächen und einem markanten Gabor-Schild wird von gepflegtem Grün umgeben.

About Gabor Shoes AG

Gabor Shoes AG, based in Germany, is a leading manufacturer of high-quality women's and men's shoes. The history of the company goes back to a shoe store founded by the Gabor family in 1919. It is still a family business today, but is now one of the largest shoe manufacturers in Europe. The Gabor brand is one of the most well-known women's shoe brands in Germany. In addition to being fashionable and up-to-date, the fit and quality of workmanship are the essential characteristics and the secret of the success of Gabor brand shoes. The product family also includes the men's shoe brand Pius Gabor and the rollingsoft brand, an innovative functional shoe that is available for women and men.