In 2019, when IBM announced the divestiture of WebSphere Commerce to HCL, IBM Watson Commerce Insights was also sunset, leaving J.Jill with a search for a replacement for a visual merchandising tool.
J.Jill turned to HCL Commerce for a recommendation as their own search came up empty. After assessing J.Jill’s needs, the HCL team recommended Zobrist Smart Merchandiser, as it is the only solution.
After a quick demo, J.Jill was thrilled with the tool’s ease of use and flexibility. Smart Merchandiser was the perfect solution. Once the software was up and running, J.Jill’s revenue forecast began to improve almost immediately.
J.Jill: Better eCommerce with Smart Merchandiser
Key Smart Merchandiser features such as the drag-and-drop interface, analytics overlay, color management, social analytics, visual inventory and business rules management make it a perfect fit for clients like J.Jill.
J.Jill’s marketing executives have a firmer grip on the company’s product status thanks to the tool’s inventory management utilities. Smart Merchandiser allows J.Jill to view inventory count for each garnment by color and by size (which is so critical in apparel). The color management feature is a particular boon for online apparel retailers like J.Jill who want to organize product faster. The “Leading Color” feature allows J.Jill to feature the same dress in a different color in a different category without any code change. Additionally, the color swatches—just like the products themselves—are unfixed and their positions easily updated using Smart Merchandiser’s drag-and-drop features.
Another incentive is the merchandising tool’s analytics overlay function, which provides the sort of intuitive analytics solutions J.Jill needs. Smart Merchandiser’s Analytics Overlay visualizes clients’ revenue conversion rates, product views, abandonment rates, and other insights needed to better merchandise and market an eCommerce site. The tool is also collaboratively compatible with other analytics solutions, such as Omniture and Google Analytics—a helpful resource for the transitioning company.
Ratings and reviews are so important to inspire confidence in shoppers, and Smart Merchandiser makes it easy for J.Jill to manage this critical aspect of recommendation. Ratings and reviews are fetched in real time and displayed on each product thumbnail, allowing J.Jill to visually review the product assortment, ensuring there are no ratings of 3 stars or lower above the fold on a product listing page.
J.Jill is also very happy to find that the Smart Merchandiser badge assignment solution is an effective replacement for another solution they had purchased, which translates to even more money saved. With Smart Merchandiser, J.Jill can just point and click to assign a badge to a product. It makes it super easy to add badges such as “Online Exclusive” or “30% off.”
Zobrist Strives to Create Long-Term Relationships
So far J.Jill and Zobrist’s relationship is off to a great start. It’s been beneficial in both directions as well, notes CEO Teresa Zobrist. “We are very impressed with the sophistication that J.Jill merchandisers exhibit while testing Smart Merchandiser,” she says. “They are the most thorough merchandisers on earth! We love working with J.Jill!”
J.Jill has benefited immeasurably from Smart Merchandiser’s easy-to-use interface, allowing them to retain and maintain control of their merchandise, and Zobrist has had the pleasure of working with a passionate staff of consummate professionals. Zobrist is ecstatic to welcome J.Jill as a new partner.
