CASE: Data-driven sales and a rising trend of online conversions

“Columbia Road quickly jumped on a moving train and managed to launch mobile apps for Anttila very rapidly. Analytics and quick A/B testing methods enabled data-driven business decision making for us. Sales in Anttila’s digital channels took on a steady growth rate, and the last months were great for Anttila’s ecommerce.” Pasi Ilola, Director of Digital, Anttila/4K Invest

Last spring we set out to help Anttila, a chain of department stores in Finland, battle against what seemed to be an inevitable demise. Anttila was a true pioneer in ecommerce, opening up an online retail store already in 1999, but was now facing insurmountable challenges. We were hired to scale digital sales and make Anttila's sales process run on data.

We took on the challenge to grow and scale Anttila’s digital sales and increase the number of conversions in digital channels. The client wanted to see more users in their mobile platforms and turn those platforms into an optimized sales channel. The bottom line was to make Anttila’s sales more data-driven with the increase in conversions as the key objective.

"A rising trend of online conversions, a fantastic last two months for Anttila’s digital sales."

We decided on a quick data-driven approach with constant iterations and A/B testing. One of the cornerstones of our approach was to focus on UX design and the functionality of the mobile channels. We focused on automated testing, faster development cycles and quick go-to-productions. It was pivotal for our approach to build native mobile applications which then enabled a set of functional mobile channels.

We were able to jump on top the situation without any prior insight. Iterating on work done previously, our team finalized native mobile applications for iOS and Android in six weeks and made Anttila the first retail store in Finland to enable buying straight from an app. The sales results of the last two months were fantastic for Anttila’s digital business. While Anttila’s digital business was successful, it played a minor role in the company's financial situation. Unfortunately, Anttila’s problems were ultimately too deep for the company to recover.