By Gadjo Cardens Sevilla
As part of its corporate transformation and brand strategy, Canadian office solutions provider Grand & Toy recently launched its new website and e-commerce solution at www.grandandtoy.com.
Aside from being an online catalogue and e-store, the redesigned Grand & Toy website offers small, mid and large businesses access to services, solutions and resources as well as live online help.
"Our digital transformation goes hand in hand with our overall corporate transformation on the path from an office products supplier to a trusted
business advisor and strategic ally," says Kevin Edwards, Vice President of Marketing for Grand & Toy.
Services, solutions and resources on even keel with products
Clean, crisp and intuitive, Grand and Toy’s new website has specific sections for Products, Services, Solutions and Resources and offers real time help via chat as well as direct access for their corporate account holders.
This customer tailored approach helps Grand & Toy focus products and solutions to specific types of customers based on their needs. By putting their services, solutions and resources sections on equal footing with the products, Grand & Toy aims to add value by supporting their customers in most aspects of business and not just in supply or product fulfillment.
Competing websites from retailers OfficeMax and Staples.ca offer a very similar product mix of office supplies, technology and office furnishings. They also target the same core audience. Their websites, however, are more centered on featuring and selling products and have more the traditional click and mortar online catalogue look and feel as opposed to Grand & Toy’s solutions-focused layout and navigation.
To ensure visitors have access to products, services and solutions relevant to their business needs, Grand & Toy’s website has been designed to deliver a segmented customer experience.
“During the past four years, the number of business accounts using Grand & Toy's online service increased exponentially. Currently approximately 70 per cent of Grand & Toy's business accounts utilize our online services for 100 per cent of their transactions. With the new web site improvements we expect the upward trend to continue as more businesses embrace the full suite of capabilities the site provides,” explains Susanne Morello, Director of Marketing at Grand & Toy.
Segmentation is the key to targeted user experiences
In just a few clicks, visitors are prompted to identify whether they are a large or small business, using the segmentation tool. Following this easy self-identification process, they can immediately access relevant services, solutions and resources aligned with their business needs.
“Small businesses will be able to access information and resources that will help them identify the right office solutions for their business needs. For example, small business customers will have access to website design, hosting and business registration services,” Morello points out.
“While the previous Grand & Toy website was predominately used as a platform for ordering office supplies, the new web environment creates an enhanced level of engagement for a knowledge and solutions-based, meaningful customer experience,” Morello explains.
The SPARK service, for example, offers an suite of services tailored to benefit small businesses, and Streamline helps mid, large and enterprise businesses become more productive and cost-efficient.
From supplier to business partner
With this strategy, Grand & Toy efficiently transcends the supplier relationship with its customers and becomes a business partner and service provider as well. This approach can foster long-term business relationship that goes beyond simply selling products and allows Grand & Toy’s service offerings to meet their customer’s needs.
“The overall goal is to help our customers grow and optimize their business. we hope to continue to engage our customers and provide an enhanced user experience that will shift the perception of Grand & Toy from a product-based organization to a resource they can rely on to access tools that will in turn save our customers time and money,” Morello reveals.