El Corte Inglés Portugal use iPaper to reach shoppers anywhere, anytime, on any device
El Corte Inglés are one of the biggest department store groups in Europe. They offer products and services ranging from groceries and clothing to restaurants, travel support and much more.
The printed catalog has for long been a key driver for all El Corte Inglés marketing campaigns. Because, according to David, shoppers gravitate toward the feeling of reading a book or a magazine. And a catalog has the same ability to captivate shoppers' attention.
However, with El Corte Inglés' ambitious sustainability goals, the need for a digital alternative became obvious.
This is why part of El Corte Inglés’ digital transformation has been to adopt iPaper’s Flipbook solution to bring their printed catalogs online.
“El Corte Inglés are based on the values of quality and tradition, and catalogs can bring that kind of experience. So, there was a need to put catalogs online. To bring tradition into the future,” says David.
With the rise in the number of digital channels available, the complexity of reaching shoppers at the right time and place is one of the biggest challenges facing retailers.
For El Corte Inglés, omnichannel – and specifically getting all channels to work together in a beneficial way to reduce friction in shopper experience – is a main priority.
As part of addressing that, the El Corte Inglés mobile app was developed, with the goal of being a central digital place to provide services to shoppers. Whether they are interested in parking, buying online, hands-free shopping or booking a restaurant, the app is the place to go.
El Corte Inglés use iPaper digital catalogs in the app, which are fully integrated and shoppable. And the success of this omnichannel approach shows: 78% of the views on the inspirational campaign digital catalogs are on mobile and tablet.
But, as David says, “the app is only the beginning.”
El Corte Inglés’ vision is to integrate online, physical and social in the overall customer journey and how they are viewed as a company.
In the end, it’s about service and trust in our values as a brand and in the physical and online store.”
To increase reach and maximize the value of a digital catalog, it should be promoted and integrated in other channels.
El Corte Inglés promote the inspirational campaign digital catalogs on social media, radio, Google Ads and with QR codes on TV ads. In the end, the goal is to bring as many eyes as possible to the catalog and create traffic to physical and ecommerce stores.
Digital catalogs enrich the relationship with shoppers outside the big cities in Portugal, who can’t go to a store, but still admire the El Corte Inglés brand. With digital catalogs, shoppers can browse the catalog anywhere, anytime.”
David Gurita, E-commerce Digital & UX Design Lead, El Corte Inglés Portugal
For El Corte Inglés, inspiration is one of the main drivers to motivate shoppers to go to stores or buy products via links in the digital catalog.
Therefore, the number of views and time spent in the digital catalogs are important metrics.
Higher number of viewers equates to an increased reach, while the longer time spent and average number of pages seen in the catalog increases the possibility of inspiring shoppers to purchase.
Of course, if shoppers click in the catalog – for example a product link – and buy on the website or in app, then that is just the icing on the cake.
For the inspirational campaign digital catalogs, El Corte Inglés have utilized iPaper’s Flipbooks to achieve…
2.39 minutes average time spent
31.39 average pages seen per session
0.79 average clicks per session
Just don’t expect a static PDF to give those kinds of numbers. Instead, retailers need to follow El Corte Inglés´ example and create the digital catalog as an interactive, inspiring experience for shoppers.
“You can’t just upload a plain PDF, that would not work. But with iPaper, it’s not just a catalog. You can enrich the catalog with everything you want: Promotions, videos, other services, shop buttons, do SEO, customize backgrounds and add pop-ups.” David Gurita, E-commerce Digital & UX Design Lead, El Corte Inglés Portugal
It’s a toolbox for creating interactive and inspiring shoppable experiences, designed to catch the client’s attention, says David.
If this page is interesting, then I’ll see the next and the next and the next. The shopper should be curious and think, ’what will I see next?’”
On top, he mentions the iPaper support team, the ease of use and an intuitive platform as the reasons for choosing iPaper.
The iPaper support team never let us down. One time, you worked all day to fix an urgent issue. You didn’t stop. You’re unstoppable!”
For years, iPaper have been and will continue to be part of El Corte Inglés’ journey to provide more value to shoppers by enabling them to create inspiring, interactive digital catalogs.
