CASE STUDY

Online retailer bucks global trend and enjoys a 46% increase in online sales during the 2008 holiday season, thanks in large part to LivePerson Contact Center

Canvas on Demand is an award-winning company that transforms its customers' prized photographs into canvas works of art. Customers upload treasured photographs to canvasondemand.com and select their desired rendering (PhotoRealistic or PixelPainting) and finishing (stretched or Gallery Wrapped). Within days the customer receives a finished product. Serving individual consumers as well as professional photographers, Canvas on Demand has enjoyed stellar growth, and currently ranks 283 on Inc. Magazine's list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the United States. Television promotions on "The View," QVC, Home Shopping Network, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "The Today Show" have helped propel the company's success.

The Challenge

One of the company's biggest challenges was to provide a customer service experience that matched the emotional level of its customers. "People have a strong, emotional connection to this moment of time," explained Joe Schmidt, co-owner of Canvas on Demand. "We're taking our customers favorite images; images they have strong emotional attachments to, and turning them into spectacular works of art. As a result, twenty percent of our customers cry upon receiving their canvases. In such cases, calling into a customer service center and navigating an IVR won't cut it. We needed to provide them with the ability to connect with a live representative of our company ASAP."

Another challenge: Knowing who – if anyone – was in their store. "As an online retailer, it was all a big mystery and we found that to be very scary. How many people are on our site? Ten? Five hundred? We had no idea," Mr. Schmidt explained. Moreover, they had no way of knowing whether customers were having problems using their website. "Our product requires visitors to upload a photo and choose a format. We couldn't help visitors who were confused or needed help selecting an option unless they located our 800 number and gave us a call." Mr. Schmidt and his co-founder and partner, Tom Lotrecchiano, needed a way to monitor their online store in real time, and to provide hands-own support to visitors who needed help.

Finally, the partners wanted a better way to manage incoming email. With 150 messages arriving each day, responding in a timely manner was a challenge. The company needed a solution that enabled them to respond to their customer emails quickly and accurately.

LivePerson Solution

Canvas on Demand implemented LivePerson Contact Center, an award-winning multi-channel solution. Using live chat, Canvas on Demand specialists are available to interact with customers, many of whom who have just received their canvases and simply want to say thanks. They also help customers make rendering and finishing selections, troubleshoot issues relating to the submission of their digital photos, and answer customer-service related issues, such as status and shipping updates. Today, the eight specialists at Canvas on Demand handle some 30 to 50 chats per day in addition to their other duties. "Nearly all of our chat interactions involve helping a customer complete a purchase. Without LivePerson, our sales wouldn't be as good as they are," said Mr. Schmidt.

Despite its huge impact on sales conversion, live chat is not the co-founders' favorite feature. That honor goes to the real-time monitoring tools available through the Agent Console. These tools provide Canvas on Demand with insight into who's in their store, how they arrived there and what they're doing. It also enables them to identify potential problems with Web-processes. "LivePerson turned our retail site into a real, organic retail experience. We can sit in our store all day, and see what goes on," Mr. Schmidt said. "It provides us with a much deeper connection to our store."

When they first installed the software, Mr. Schmidt admits that he and his partner were shocked. They realized that they didn't have enough people in the store, and that meant they needed to convert nearly every visitor in order to survive. The two of them immediately began taking chats. "We chatted all day at the office, and all night at home. I put a wireless card in my computer and kept it next to my bed. If a chat came in during the middle of the night, I'd get up to answer it. I had to; the impact that chat had on conversions was profound."

Soon, the partners decided to purchase licenses for their customer service representatives and turn the responsibility of handling chats over to them. At the same time, they implemented the Email Management System that comes with LivePerson Contact Center. The system automatically creates a ticket and assigns a unique ID number for every incoming message, enabling fast and efficient tracking and resolution. All follow-up correspondence is stored with that recording, ensuring that any specialist who responds to a customer has the complete history at his or her fingertips. "This as one the best customer response management systems I've ever seen. We couldn't believe it came with Contact Center," said Mr. Schmidt.

Results

Mr. Schmidt and the Canvas on Demand credit LivePerson with enabling much of their success, from knowing who is on their site, to providing personalized assistance when necessary. "We sell an emotional product, and our customers want to know if we're real. LivePerson helps us prove to them that we are. In fact, a lot of times that's all a customer will want to know. They'll ask "Are your real?" and I'll respond, "I sure hope so." And the conversation ends there. They just wanted to know that a live person was going to take care of their favorite image."

In the three years since implementing LivePerson Contact Center, Canvas on Demand has enjoyed a 1000 percent increase in sales. And despite the widespread economic downturn and dismal 2008 holiday season, Canvas on Demand enjoyed tremendous success: a 46% increase in sales over last holiday season.