"Salesforce and Vicasso delivered more than I expected" - Bill Ulmer, President, Retail Logistics LLC

Transformation of a Legacy Portal to Salesforce Communities

Retail Logistics launched a customer portal in 2001 to provide customers with web-based self-service access to their order's status, inventory levels, and more. The goal was to provide customers with better access to up-to-date information while reducing demand on the customer service team.

The portal was a huge success and adoption exceeded expectations. Customer service staff were free to focus on special requests without the distraction of routine inquiries. Retail Logistics grew rapidly and customer satisfaction actually increased at the same time.

Fast forward to 2013, where even the smallest organizations have customer self-service offerings. Simply having a web portal is unremarkable by today's standards. Organizations need a great web presence that creates community and feels human, while providing the efficiencies of traditional portals.

In May 2013 we set out to re-imagine the Retail Logistics customer experience. Just a few months later in September, existing information became easier to access and we added even more of what customers wanted. Customers are excited by the continuous and rapid innovation possible only on the Salesforce1 platform.

With Salesforce Communities and a highly tailored implementation, Retail Logistics has transformed the way they connect with customers and partners.

Challenges

• Rapidly evolving customer needs created an imperative for agility.
• 'Technical debt' had accumulated making even simple improvements difficult with the archaic legacy Microsoft ASP code-base.
• Evangelize every customer contact by creating an extraordinary self-service experience.

Solutions

• Sales Cloud (Unlimited Edition) and Customer Communities.
• Dell Boomi for two-way integration with external back-office systems.
• Email to Case Premium and Case Flags for managing cases.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) for high volume data warehousing.

Results

• Increased consumption of self-service resources reduced demand on customer service.
• A strong competitive advantage through operational excellence.
• Recognition of Retail Logistics' value at all levels of customer management.

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