The partnership between Clarks and Ventrica has created a next-generation customer service model
Ventrica helped Clarks modernise global CX, cut costs by 50%, and transform service delivery through intelligent automation, multilingual support, and strategic innovation.
- Case studies
In an increasingly competitive and challenging retail landscape, Clarks – a renowned 200-year-old heritage UK brand – faced significant operational complexities in delivering exceptional customer service across multiple territories. The traditional customer contact centre model was proving inadequate for the brand’s global ambitions, struggling to provide consistent, efficient, and insightful customer interactions.
The primary challenges included:
- Limited ability to service customers across different global territories
- Lack of insights into customer intent, behaviour, and sentiment
- Inefficient routing mechanisms that did not optimise geographical and channel-specific interactions
- Increasing pressure to manage operational costs while maintaining high-quality customer experiences
- Complex linguistic barriers in handling customer interactions across different European markets
- The need to modernise customer service approaches while preserving the brand’s reputation
Clarks were operating from two separate locations in the UK and South Africa, but with their previous outsourcing partner the teams were disconnected and unable to deliver a joined-up customer experience, and were not operating as one team.
Moreover, Clarks was operating in a retail environment that demanded continuous evolution. The brand needed a strategic partner who could help them transform their customer service model, reduce operational dependencies, and create more efficient, technology-driven customer interactions. The solution had to be scalable, cost-effective, and capable of delivering a seamless experience across multiple channels and languages.
Our solution
We developed a comprehensive, technology-driven solution that transformed Clarks’ customer service approach through a phased, strategic implementation. The first phase focused on establishing stability and continuity by introducing a sophisticated digital contact centre platform that enabled a full multi-channel solution integrated with Clarks’ order management system, supported by a FAQ hosting mechanism on the website to direct customer contacts to the most appropriate advisor, and geographic and channel-specific routing capabilities to optimise customer interactions. The inhouse development team in Ventrica who are accredited in the design and build of Zendesk, plus through the application of other supporting technologies, meant that this was achieved rapidly in line with the urgency due to the previous BPO and technology partner entering administration.
The solution leveraged advanced technological tools to address Clarks’ complex requirements, with AI and automation deployed across messaging and chat channels to reduce exposure to low-volume non-English customer contacts. Agent assist tools were introduced to increase first contact resolution and reduce handling times.
Further to the technical transformation we completed the transition of the entire team to South Africa, enabling Clarks to achieve remarkable outcomes:
- 50% reduction in operational costs on a year-on-year basis
- Enhanced ability to expand customer service capabilities without corresponding linear cost increases
- Increased self-service options that reduce customer effort
- Refined, targeted training using venture equality to improve agent performance
By applying advanced technological solutions and strategic people management, the partnership between Clarks and Ventrica has created a next-generation customer service model. This approach ensures that only high-complexity interactions require direct human intervention, allowing agents to focus on delivering empathetic, value-added customer experiences.
The continuous evolution of this partnership combined with our unique position as the only BPO strategic partner with Zendesk in EMEA means that we ride on the wave of innovation from Zendesk, but in the application of this technology to provide continuous evolution and commercial benefit in the delivery of the CX solution to Clarks as they navigate the challenging retail landscape with agility, technological sophistication, and a customer-centric approach.