Aecus European Innovation Awards 2015

Transcription

1 Aecus European Innovation Awards 2015 Name of Innovation Case: Boots Flagship App Name of Supplier Organisation(s): UST Global Private Limited Name of Client Organisation(s): Boots UK

2 Background What was the business challenge / opportunity? Until the launch of the Flagship app, Boots UK lacked a dedicated mobile app, instead utilising its mobile web presence. Whilst this had met customer needs to a point, it was felt that a bespoke mobile app should be developed and implemented in order to take the brand s mobile proposition forward. This presented a fantastic opportunity to build, from the ground up, a new mobile platform, encompassing a MBaaS component, deeply integrated into its existing estate, alongside a cross platform client application. It was crucial that the app was able to offer a range of capabilities, and was able to add new functionality easily. Its architecture had to support the diversity of consumer devices in use by the core demographic of Boots UK and perform well across all of them. Approach What was the innovation that was delivered? In what way was it innovative? The project delivered in four key areas of innovation, as follows: The Mobile Server Framework This was a brand new piece of reusable software that solved a number of key challenges often met when building mobile applications, typically referred to as an MBaaS platform. This component helped integrate into the Boots UK backend estate, but also solved key challenges such as push integration, authentication and authorisation, caching, logging, batch processing and more. All of the capabilities were exposed via a set of RESTful services that were integrated into the client application. Typically, mobile applications are built against a set of coarse-grained, enterprise services and have to embed much of the applications behaviour in the client code. Using the MBaaS approach allowed the client to be kept as simple as possible, whilst still delivering a rich set of functionality. It also ensured that the coupling between the legacy systems of record and the mobile application were kept to a minimum. Modular client app Cross platform in nature, and able to run across both ios and Android, the client app forms the customer facing part of the application. Its innovative architecture enables Boots UK to enable or disable pieces of functionality via configuration. Enabling them to release updates, add or remove functionality in near real time, without the need to release a new version of the application via the app store.

3 Each functional unit is considered as a mini-app, inside a larger parent app. This architecture allows for high degrees of re-use, across different geographical regions, and eases the addition of new functionality when required. Digital offers Digital offers, one of the previously mentioned mini-apps, is one of the most highly utilised for Boots UK, providing the delivery of highly personalised offers, directly to the user s device. Offers, selected based on the customer s previous purchasing behaviour, can be activated via the mobile app. Once activated, the customer simply has to make the relevant purchase in store, using their Boots Advantage Card to trigger the offer and make them the saving. Because this is such a personalised experience, this has really resonated with customers. At launch, this part of the app drove over 30,000 offer views in one day. Over a third of customers have told Boots UK that they regularly forget to put paper coupons in their purse and can miss out on the best offers for them. The Boots App makes that a thing of the past, ensuring its customers always have access to the offers they want the most, when they need them. Photo App The fourth area worth noting is the photo app. This enables customer to take their favourite images stored on their devices, in their Instagram or Facebook accounts and create personalised greetings cards and collages to share with their friends, family and loved ones. After selecting their images and arranging them as desired, the customer can then select their nearest Boots UK photo printing store, and have the image printed in store, ready for collection, in an agreed promise time. This has transformed the process of printing images from a mobile device for Boots UK, which typically required the customer use a self-service kiosk in store. Now this process can happen anywhere and the printed photo is waiting for the customer as soon as they walk into store. Impact What was the value delivered? The mobile app has now been downloaded over a million times and is used regularly by a significant number of that population. It has enabled customers to have a richer, more streamlined experience when shopping with Boots UK. Customers feel better aware of the offers that are available to them and get a real sense of having their own experience, thanks to the personalised offers. As a result, Boots UK has seen offer redemption and customer satisfaction increase.

4 Furthermore, it has provided Boots UK with a key foundation upon which it can base its future mobile strategy both in the UK and beyond and providing a flexible framework ready for the challenges of the coming months and years. Tools, techniques and technologies Which of the following was important for this case? Innovative use of Important Details /N? Analytics Integrated into the strategic analytics platform, providing deep insight into the application s usage. Digitisation Digital offers was a key step in digitising the offer personalisation. Mobility A fundamentally mobile project, this was the main focus of the project. Key technologies in play, Apache Cordova, Spring MVC, Sencha. Multi-channel engagement It was essential that the mobile channel be presented as a cohesive part of the overall brand. The app is integrated into several core backend systems share across the Boots UK web and store channels. Platform The new MBaaS platform is a key component of the overall solution. Measuring the impact Which of the following was important / quantified? Measure Revenue growth Differentiation Ease of use Convenience Important /N? Quantified? (% change, / generated, ROI) Client Comments UST helped to drive the design and delivery of a world class mobile app for Boots UK. The project successfully delivered unique functionality, in both the loyalty/offer personalisation and photo gifting and printing in-store. This required a complex technical solution with extensive systems integration that UST developed and continue to support. UST were instrumental in helping Boots UK design and develop the required complex architecture and their expertise and dedication ensured the project delivered to schedule. The app was number one in the Apple App store on launch day. From launch, there has only been a small number of minor technical issues, highlighting both the quality of development and the support operation delivered by UST.

5 The UST team demonstrated exceptional teamwork working with Boots UK and this has been highlighted by senior leaders as an exemplar in cross-functional working (across Boots UK and suppliers). The combined Boots UK and UST team have been nominated as team of the year because it demonstrated great teamwork, working to deliver an app that customers and colleagues love and supports the multi-channel strategic ambitions of Boots UK.