SAMSØE SAMSØE

Key stats

• 5.5% higher conversion rate for men’s sales within the first quarter of flagship store opening
• 3.3% growth in men’s sales for all retail locations
• 65 retail locations across Europe and growing

Overview

 
What makes the perfect shopping experience? Is it the quality of the customer service? The temperature of the space? The selection of the clothing and sizes?

In a world where online shopping often wins, brick-and-mortar retail is feeling the pressure to answer yes to not just a few but all of these questions to incentivize shoppers to walk through their doors and make a purchase.

Danish retail chain SAMSØE SAMSØE, known for its high-quality clothing, is also quickly becoming known for checking off the expectations and needs of an exceptional shopping experience.

With 60+ store locations, alongside an ample online presence, they are modernizing the shopping experience through innovative uses of technology, both behind the scenes and in the store. By incorporating AI insights with smart cameras to understand customer behavior, demographics, and preferences, and using MT sensors to maintain an optimal in-store environment, SAMSØE SAMSØE ensures that each aspect of the physical retail experience is curated to perfection with the help of Meraki network, security, and IoT solutions.

Challenge

It goes without saying that the retail shopping environment plays a pivotal role in customer engagement and sales. It also goes hand in hand that a brand must truly understand their target audience to curate the most appealing experience and drive sales to that customer.

SAMSØE SAMSØE was noticing a discrepancy in their sales conversion rates—there was no problem with foot traffic but the total number of sales based on the number of potential customers was not matching up. With a substantial amount of their business being in-store, it was essential that they start learning more about the customers who were coming through their doors each day. They needed to find a reliable, secure way to collect customer data in their physical locations without increasing bandwidth.

The challenge was multifaceted; not only did SAMSØE SAMSØE need to understand who was entering their stores in terms of demographic data, such as age, gender, and even mood, but they also needed to understand how the in-store environment, like temperature, was affecting customer behavior. Were customers leaving because the store was too hot or too cold, affecting their willingness to browse and try on clothes? Were they not finding the right style or selection on the store floor? How could the store environment be optimized to encourage more sales?

One of the challenges we had was that our sale conversion rates didn’t match. There were multiple reasons for that, from the hardware that we’ve chosen in the past to the infrastructure behind it and the lack of partnership with our previous vendors—then enter Cisco Meraki.

Simeon Solarsky

Head of Information Technology Operations & Infrastructure, SAMSØE SAMSØE

Solution

To address these challenges, SAMSØE SAMSØE had to look beyond traditional retail metrics and harness innovative technologies that could provide deeper insights and facilitate a more nuanced understanding of their customers, while also providing a stable network to maintain it all.

“In order to be able to run a successful retail business your network and your infrastructure is your key,” says Simeon Solarsky, Head of Information Technology Operations & Infrastructure at SAMSØE SAMSØE. “Everything these days is network connected in one way or another, be it warehouse scanners, POS solutions, phones, iPads, and everything else. The network for us is at the center. If there isn’t a solid, reliable network, then we don’t have business.”

Having previously worked with Cisco solutions, Simeon was confident that the Meraki network would provide the foundational backbone for their brand’s connection. But he needed to explore beyond just a network solution to gain customer insights and actionable data, while also making sure the new data was secure.

Simeon and his team chose a comprehensive Meraki suite, including Meraki MV smart cameras and MT sensors paired with MX security and SD-WAN solutions. To harness powerful customer analytics, they brought in EVERYANGLE, an ecosystem partner offering seamless integration with the cameras.

The MV smart cameras serve a dual purpose for SAMSØE SAMSØE. Not only do they work with EVERYANGLE to provide the needed customer analytics and data, but they also ensure the physical security of the store. This allowed for a consolidation of vendors and streamlining of operations, as all the solutions could be managed through the single Meraki dashboard.

The integration of Meraki MX security and SD-WAN ensures the stability and bandwidth needed for the Meraki MV cameras and MT sensors as well as the secure data transmission across the network, which was crucial for maintaining customer privacy and trust. This advanced network solution empowered SAMSØE SAMSØE to leverage the full potential of their smart devices and analytics, leading to the impressive insights and results they achieved in their flagship store and beyond.

Our board and C-suite were really blown away by the Meraki smart cameras and EVERYANGLE solutions. They were like, ‘When did we do that? What system is that? When can we have it in more stores?’

Simeon Solarsky

Head of Information Technology Operations & Infrastructure, SAMSØE SAMSØE

Results

Leveraging the capabilities of MV smart cameras and the AI technology from EVERYANGLE, SAMSØE SAMSØE was able to collect valuable data on customer demographics and behavior without adding strain to their network bandwidth. This data was not only about who was visiting their stores but also how they interacted with the space itself.

The integration of MV cameras and EVERYANGLE led to significant improvements in SAMSØE SAMSØE’s retail operations. Notably, there was a surprising discovery. When opening their flagship Munich store, it attracted a 50/50 split between male and female customers, contrary to their typical 80% female and 20% male expectation. This insight drove them to adjust their merchandising strategy accordingly, resulting in a 5.5% higher conversion rate for men’s sales within the first quarter. The clarity provided by the data also generated excitement and approval from C-suite executives, who recognized the technology as the missing piece of their retail puzzle and expressed excitement about deploying the technologies in other locations.

The deployment of MT indoor air quality sensors further enhanced the shopping environment by maintaining an ideal temperature of 22°C, known to foster optimal customer engagement. These sensors, using MV cameras as a gateway, allowed for the precise monitoring and adjustment of the store climate, creating a more inviting atmosphere that encouraged customers to stay longer and interact more with the merchandise.

Central to their success was the Meraki dashboard, which presented a cloud-managed solution enabling SAMSØE SAMSØE to act quickly and remotely. Store managers can now make immediate adjustments based on real-time data, and the leadership team could view historical trends to plan for seasonal changes or marketing strategies. The Meraki dashboard is the glue that brings the data of the network and devices together in one central cloud dashboard, providing a proactive, simplified approach to retail management.

Through a seamless blend of ambience, personalization, and data-driven strategy, SAMSØE SAMSØE is not just surviving the retail evolution—they are thriving in it through digital innovation. They are proving that the perfect shopping experience is about harmonizing the tangible with the technological, the aesthetic with the analytical, and the traditional with the transformative.