Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the AI Search Company, and Häagen-Dazs have today announced the results of their collaboration, which saw it integrate Yext's Answers Platform to help manage online reviews and listings.
Given its significant presence of over 900 locations worldwide, Häagen-Dazs was focused on building a search strategy that would allow it to significantly increase its organic presence across search endpoints, maximising revenue from specific demographics and adapting to new audiences and digital channels.
With the majority of Häagen-Dazs's shops across Europe and Latin America being a franchise, it was extremely difficult and time consuming for the business to make even one update across multiple platforms or reply to a review.
To help solve this problem, Häagen-Dazs chose Yext to manage its business listings, and efficiently respond and monitor reviews over approximately 200 search endpoints. Using Yext Intelligent Review Response Häagen-Dazs franchisees can now quickly respond to reviews, as well as receive an instant notification for reviews with 3 stars or less.
Since enabling the franchisees with Yext technology, the volume of reviews has gone up 40% and the brand now has over 200 individual users leveraging the platform with bespoke training.
"The pandemic has transformed the way that businesses communicate with customers," said Jon Buss, Managing Director of Yext EMEA. "And so, ensuring that customers are regularly updated on shop closures, safety protocols and changing opening hours is essential. This is even more important for companies such as Häagen-Dazs that have a huge number of shops across different locations with ever changing Covid restrictions. Having access to a platform which easily collates and shares this information, allows you to focus on creating an exceptional customer experience for all." Jon continues.
As well as optimising its listings and reviews, Häagen-Dazs also invested in Yext Pages – allowing the business to create structured and discoverable pages that would provide customers with the right information at their fingertips. Since implementing Yext Pages, Häagen-Dazs has seen a 25% increase in foot traffic and 45% increase in website clicks during peak season for locations with Pages.
Not only this, but with the ability to display shop-specific menus and host a large amount of content on each page, Häagen-Dazs was able to deliver the same great experience online that customers receive in stores, resulting in a huge increase in website clicks, which were up 75% year on year. Häagen-Dazs also saw 236% less phone calls than expected during peak season, showing consumers were able to find the information they needed without resorting to a costly support call.
"Yext has allowed us to provide not only our franchisees with greater control over their shops across the web but also provide a wider, more holistic regional view and level of monitoring for our internal teams," said Aurélie Lory, Managing Director EUAU-LATAM Häagen-Dazs shops at General Mills (parent company of Häagen-Dazs). "At the beginning of the pandemic we were able to update our customers efficiently and at scale on changing opening hours or closures and inform them of our safety protocols."
By leveraging the Yext Answers Platform, Häagen-Dazs was able to get the information in the hands of the consumer faster, with less phone support inefficiencies, meaning more customers coming through the door and more extraordinary moments.
Read more about Häagen-Dazs's success with Yext here.