Williams-Sonoma’s Recipe For Payments Success

Retailers are realizing that to stay relevant in today’s hyper-competitive environment, they’ve got to set themselves apart by tailoring their retail experience and tapping into whatever drew the customer to the retailer in the first place.

For Williams-Sonoma, the upscale high-end cookware chain that offers kitchen accessories and gourmet goods, they’ve realized the true value may lie in its mobile app — the site where the retailer offers a recipe of the day. While Williams-Sonoma started drawing in customers with cookbooks and cooking tips listed in its old-school catalogs, it’s now seeing those products transform through its app. Now, the retailer is expanding its initial iPad app into an iPhone option through a subscription-based offer.

Retail experts say this method could be a way to both draw in more customers and help better retain those customers.

“From a business standpoint, subscription models can offer retailers more precise insights into their customers’ purchasing preferences that one-time downloads and purchases simply cannot,” said Nish Modi, senior vice president of product and innovation at SecureNet, in an interview with Mobile Commerce Daily. “In the long-term, this could prove to be a much more strategic approach to customer engagement.”

The app is free, but to access the recipes, customers must purchase a subscription option. A new recipe is offered every day, and customers can also tap into a database of past recipes to search for specific items. There are also options like a customer shopping list that can be created directly from the app.

So how does this retailer turn an app into revenue in order to monetize its mobile strategy? What Williams-Sonoma is attempting to do is use its subscription-based model to create a new form of customer loyalty — keeping them connected to a brand by offering a specific customer-centric product. And through its subscription-based app, the retailer may also be able to drive up its in-app purchases, helping give its overall revenue model a boost.

“Recent data suggests more and more mobile users are warming up to the subscription model of service, and retailers looking for new ways to supplement revenue from in-app advertising or in-app purchases could consider subscription models if the content is there,” Modi said.

Besides driving in-app purchases, the mobile option may also help drive customers into its stores to buy some of those high-end kitchen gadgets and gourmet goods to help make the recipes from the app. The retailer could look to the app to drive its omnichannel offerings and connect more mobile users to its physical store or online site. That’s a win-win for anyone in retail.