Halfords has partnered with Astound Commerce, to provide a unified, seamless customer experience across its retail and Autocentres businesses.
Halfords Group plc which specialises in motoring, cycling and leisure products also provides MOT, service and repairs through Halfords Autocentres from 465 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Halfords wanted to enhance the customer experience by creating relevant, data-driven, personalised and frictionless customer journeys across all touchpoints. With around 20 per cent of total sales now being delivered online, it also supports many multichannel journeys, too, with around 80 per cent of online orders collected in-store.
However, its IBM WCS legacy platform did not have the functionality necessary to allow for developments and site enhancement in a timely or cost-effective manner meaning customer experience was limited and rapidly dating. To support its digital transformation, Halfords had selected Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC), making Astound Commerce a natural digital partner as the agency has extensive experience implementing and maximising SFCC platform performance for several high-profile retailers globally.
Astound Commerce designed and delivered the solution, configuring and integrating Salesforce Commerce Cloud and more than thirty third party integrations, including Datacash, Booking Bug, Amplience and TrustPilot amongst others. The Astound team also provided consultancy services advising on best practices in line with other leading retail and service providers who have best of breed eCommerce capabilities.
Emma Mead, digital director, Halfords said: “Our in-house digital team worked closely with Astound during the discovery phase to ensure a clear vision for the digital transformation. Once we completed discovery, we rolled into a build cadence where we got a constant view of progress and valuable consultancy and input to support other elements of the project.”
“This project has been such a one team effort and Astound have been an incredible partner throughout. We are so grateful for the hard work, commitment and tenacity and are very excited to have launched. This project is a huge milestone for Halfords.”
Terry Hunter, MD of Astound Commerce, said: “Halfords is an iconic British retailer and they wanted an eCommerce platform that was future-proof, giving them a unified strong brand presence beyond bricks and mortar and that is what Astound have delivered. We are proud to have helped pave the way for Halfords to become a leading omnichannel brand.”
Astound Commerce will manage support and upgrades for Halfords online platform making this a long-term, strategic partnership.
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