How Loop and CB/I Digital Helps Hammitt Retain Over Half a Million Dollars On Returns

The Challenge: More sales brought higher returns costs

When Hammitt ventured into the world of ecommerce, they leveraged Shopify and CB/I, their high-achieving digital advertising agency, to begin selling their luxurious and highly sought-after bags online. CB/I Digital began working with Hammitt in early 2021, consistently growing revenue by over 10% a month and doubling their sales in a year (from $11M to over $20M). As Hammitt’s ecommerce revenue scaled, returns and exchanges also scaled, which became a huge cost issue for Hammitt.

Before partnering with Loop, Hammitt processed all their returns manually, which was slow and tedious for both Hammitt’s team and their shoppers. Because Hammitt’s return policy wasn’t user-friendly or automated, Hammitt was also losing revenue retention opportunities and chances to upsell at the point of return.

“Loop has helped us to extend a truly elevated experience to every customer, allowing them to navigate returns or exchanges with little friction and plenty of options,” says Gulick.

Shop Now generates additional revenue through exchanges and upsells

Shop Now allows customers to exchange products that they no longer want for any product in the store. By making returns fun, Loop’s Shop Now feature allows Hammitt the ability to retain more revenue and encourage greater upsell opportunities on exchanges and returns.

With CB/I Digital’s help, Hammitt’s upsell value this year surpassed $37,000, which is well over benchmark for the accessories industry. These upsell and revenue retention opportunities help CB/I Digital hit their sales goals on the back end by enabling Hammitt to keep more of their money—or even generate further profits—during returns.

“As a growth agency working with so many fashion brands, we know that returns can be 15%-25% of sales, so we’re always on the lookout for a tool that can improve the return-process efficiency, as well as the customer experience,” said Le. “We’re really happy working with Loop and their team, and have seen great results that have enhanced brand loyalty, and reduced the cost of returns and exchanges.”

Shop now & Later

Make returns feel like shopping

Bonus Credit grants customers incentives during a return

Loop’s Bonus Credit feature helps Hammitt treat their very loyal customer base with the care they deserve—by providing them with a little extra spending money.

Because Hammitt’s reputation is so strong among its fans, shoppers are delighted when they hear that making an exchange for a product that wasn’t quite what they expected can actually garner them an extra discount on an additional item.

“I think it’s really helpful because we have so many different sizes. If somebody buys a Daniel Medium, but they think it’s just a little too small for them, that extra incentive is just amazing to go toward the large size,” says EmmaLee Nixon, Concierge Lead at Hammitt. “They already have that thought in their brain, so [with Bonus Credit] they’re like, ‘Oh, great, now I get an extra 15%? Maybe I’ll get a wallet, too.’”

Bonus Credit

Treat your best customers even better with exchange incentives like Bonus Credit

Loop lessens Hammitt’s customer support workload

While Hammitt’s customer support team still handles tricky returns for their customers as a way to offer a premium shopper experience, Loop’s automated features greatly reduce the customer support workload on Hammitt’s end. One of the ways that Loop saved Hammitt over $16,000 in customer support work hours this year was through its seamless integration with Shopify.

“Loop is really well integrated with Shopify,” says Eliza Gray, Customer Concierge Lead at Hammitt. “You can see the entire order history, transaction history, and exchange if an item was exchanged. We can see customer behavior on Loop, which not every software does, so I really appreciate that.”

Save time & money

Loop’s automation tools revolutionize manual returns processes

The Outcome: Profits during purchase, and after

With CB/I Digital and Hammitt placing a greater focus on maintaining profitability in 2022 and beyond, Hammitt partnered with Loop to automate their returns processes so that CB/I Digital could help the brand capture more revenue and retain customers during the post-purchase experience.

“Hammitt is an amazing luxury handbag brand, from the product all the way to the people we get to work with on a daily basis,” says Mike Le, COO and Co-Founder at CB/I Digital. “Part of what makes the Hammitt team so special is that they are incredibly customer-centric and very sophisticated and open when it comes to adopting new technologies. Loop is a perfect example of technology that allows us a performance marketing agency to continue to acquire new customers, with the confidence that Loop can help manage the rest.”

With Loop and CB/I Digital on their side, Hammitt makes money—on the front-end, and during their returns process. Win-win.