GNC Holdings – the specialty health-and-wellness retailer – is bouncing back from last year’s bankruptcy filing and store closure plan and making big digital strides to strengthen its overall customer experience, leveraging digital personalization AI solutions and E-commerce investments.
Content-Driven Online Experiences
The vitamins and supplements retailer will utilize First Spirit DXP, an e-Spirit SaaS-based solution with AI-powered personalization, predictive analytics, and deep integration to Salesforce Commerce Cloud. This business decision will allow GNC to “compete in today’s crowded e-commerce market and stand out with a seamless engaging customer experience across web, mobile and other channels that increase customer loyalty,” said Daniel Frattaroli, GNC’s director of e-commerce.
e-Spirit’s “hybrid headless CMS” addresses three key areas to serve the increasing business needs:
- Agility: 75% faster deployment using the FirstSpriti Experience Accelerator and our API-first, cloud-based CMS architecture.
- Empowerment: FirstSpirit is a SaaS-based solution that is easy to use for both non-technical and technical employees, meaning that content can be created and shared quickly and easily.
- Intelligence: AI-powered personalization and predictive analytics deliver unique content that is tarted to specific customer needs with help reduce time-to-revenue.
Based on a Gartner 2021 Magic Quadrant Report for Digital Experience Platforms, e-Spirit received an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5.0 and 83% of customer reviews stated they would recommend FirstSpirit DXP. Find the complete report and more on e-Sprit here.
Nutrition On-Demand
Additionally, GNC and Shipt recently announced a new partnership, bringing same-day delivery of GNC health and wellness products to consumers across the country, as Shipt is available to 80% of households in more than 5,000 U.S. cities.
At GNC, efficient delivery of high-quality health products has been an ongoing priority since August of 2019 when they deployed ProShip, a multi-carrier shipping software to advance online shipping functionality.
The projections for e-commerce continue to grow as the global pandemic has impacted how consumers shop. According to Hamburg, Germany-based Statista, “In the United States alone, e-commerce sales are expected to surpass $740 billion by 2023.
Due to the quarantine, delivery services transformed from a luxury service to an essential service. On-demand delivery services offer convenience and accessibility to a broad range of customers- from people who are immunocompromised to seniors to everyday families.
“The pandemic has really done a number on our bodies – both physically and mentally,” said Josh Burris, President, GNC Holdings, LLC. “This year in particular many are finding it difficult to stick to their resolutions. By tapping into the infrastructure Shipt has in place, we can help people re-set their goals and offer our customers same-day delivery as they continue on their wellness journey.” Now, Shipt customers can select and order GNC vitamins, supplements, beauty, skincare, or fitness products directly from the Shipt app and website.
This partnership with GNC melds with Shipt’s business goals, as it follows the new collaboration with WellCare to provide grocery delivery to Medicare Advantage members and local partnerships providing free Shipt memberships to seniors.
Strategic Business Decisions Meets Market Relevancy
According to a Forrester report, 70% of US adults report forming new behaviors to protect or enhance their well-being; 30% report taking new supplements or vitamins in efforts to stay healthy. Global Market Insights reports that the protein powder market is expected to cross USD 30.5 billion by 2021, registering over 7% CAGR between 2021 and 2027.
GNC’s investments couldn’t be more timely as COVID-19 has raised consumers’ health consciousness and consequentially, their consumer behavior.
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