Riding the boxing day wave

When Boxing Day hits, online traffic at BestBuy.ca can reach 30 times its normal volume - making it the heaviest shopping day of the year. And the wave comes fast, with traffic spiking as early as 12:01 a.m., the minute the Boxing Day flyer goes live. Without the capacity to handle this volume and maximize flyer exposure both in-store and online, sales opportunities could be lost.

The Challenge
Making the most of high volumes of online traffic
As Canada's fastest-growing specialty retailer and e-tailer of consumer electronics, personal computers and entertainment software, Best Buy supports high volumes of web traffic that skyrocket on Boxing Day. To meet this demand, it needed a hosted online flyer solution that could serve customers reliably without the risk of bogging down. The solution also needed to be able to handle sensitive content in a secure manner, as well as generate detailed reports that would help Best Buy capture actionable information on customer interests and online behaviour.

The Conversys Solution
Turnkey functionality and seamless integration with existing business processes
Drawing from almost a decade of experience in digital promotions marketing (DPM), Conversys quickly demonstrated a thorough understanding of Best Buy's needs. The result was on-time, problem-free deployment of a tightly integrated turnkey solution - one that effectively delivers fast page loads and a positive user experience, all in a high-performance, distributed, redundant delivery network able to handle dramatic spikes in volume.

The Results
Real-time reporting, in-depth analytics and more targeted campaigns
Following the deployment, Best Buy enjoyed a very successful holiday campaign. Sales volume during peak periods increased, while Best Buy management was able to use real-time reporting to track web traffic and better understand consumer preferences, segmenting them according to brand, department and product. In turn, this marketing intelligence helped determine the most appropriate promotions for weekly e-mail campaigns, with each e-mail containing links to local stores as well as the specific flyers associated with each store location. Conversys continues to collaborate with Best Buy in the continual evolution and improvement of its e-tail environment.

"We needed an airtight solution delivered under ambitious timelines, and it quickly became clear to us that Conversys was up for the challenge. The increase in sales and positive feedback from customers is both a testament to the solution's success."