Reinventing the STIHL Retail Experience

184%

Increase in Email Captures

166%

Increase in In-Store Product Registration

Background

You will not find STIHL in big box stores. You can only find STIHL at authorized local STIHL Dealers. With thousands of STIHL Dealers across the country, customers know they can depend on the quality of STIHL products and the services provided. However, the in-store shopping experience differed among the various retailers.

Their Challenge

STIHL needed to attract younger, more suburban customers who expect a streamlined purchasing experience. With thousands of independent dealers nationwide, creating a consistent and compelling store experience was no small task. Since every STIHL Dealer is a “store within a store,” even consistency in the store layouts needed to be modular and flexible.

Service

Audience Identification, Audience Segmentation, Creative Strategy, Visual Media, Messaging

Our Action

Strategy

Using research and product registrations, we developed distinct customer personas to help determine how to lead customers from store entry to the cash register: The Efficient, The Passionate, The Expert, and The Pro. We collaborated with our client and a merchandising consultant to develop the STIHL Consumer Optimized Retail Experience, aka SCORE, which redesigned how dealers communicated with prospective customers.

Creative

Our design team helped develop a new point-of-purchase system to guide customers to their product solutions. Marketing materials were separated into three areas based on proximity. At 30 feet, shoppers identify the STIHL brand through large and inviting visuals. Closer, at ten feet, materials engage the shopper with digital displays and prominent calls to action. At three feet, the materials become more detailed and informative. Finally, at zero feet, the shopper is converted into a paying customer.

Performance

The sequential presentation of graphics in this staggard approach allowed time for the customer to build STIHL awareness and purchasing confidence. The streamlined retail experience led to a 7.6% growth in dealer satisfaction. Sales also increased with a 13.9% growth in gas-powered products and a 21.1% growth in battery-powered products.