Automating Customer Experience: A Case Study of La De Da! Gift Shop

La De Da! is a gift store located in suburban Chicago. The store is owned by Jill Carlisle, who is known for her ability to recommend the perfect gift for her customers. The store's business model heavily relies on face-to-face interactions and personalized customer service. The store's inventory is light and constantly rotates with different items and styles. Prior to the implementation of the automation solution, the store did not have an online shop and its website was very basic, containing only photos of the store and its operating hours.

La De Da! is a gift store in suburban Chicago known for its personalized customer service. The owner, Jill Carlisle, is renowned for her ability to recommend the perfect gift for customers. However, with the advent of social distancing measures, the store was forced to close, posing a significant challenge to its business model which relied heavily on face-to-face interactions. The store's website was basic, with no eCommerce functionality, as Jill had always preferred to sell in-person. The challenge was to create an 'eCommerce-light' solution that was easy to manage and could replicate the in-person customer experience that La De Da! was known for.

Jill's son, Charlie, who had experience with automation, devised a simple solution to mimic the in-person customer experience. He set up a Google Form that replicated the questions Jill would typically ask when a customer walked into the store. When a customer submitted the form, Jill would receive a text alert and an email with the order details. This allowed her to follow up with the customer without having to navigate unfamiliar tools. Charlie also helped Jill link a PayPal account to her business bank account, enabling her to text a customized link to customers for purchasing their gifts. This single automation solution allowed Jill to take orders, stay organized, and keep a better record of individual customers' preferences.

• The automation solution implemented at La De Da! not only allowed the store to continue operating during a challenging period but also enhanced its operations. Jill was able to manage orders and stay organized more efficiently. The solution also enabled her to maintain the personalized customer service the store was known for, despite the lack of face-to-face interactions. Furthermore, the automation solution is flexible and simple enough to be maintained as part of the store's ongoing business operations, even when it reopens for in-person business. This case demonstrates that automation is not just for the highly tech-savvy and can be leveraged to create simple, flexible solutions to help businesses adapt to changing circumstances.

• The store's revenue numbers during the social distancing period were comparable to the same period in 2019.

• Jill was able to keep a better record of individual customers' preferences.

• The store was able to continue operating and taking orders despite being physically closed.