Global natural health and footwear brand VIVOBAREFOOT has partnered with Arvato CRM Solutions to deliver customer experience for its consumers and to support its growth in the UK and overseas.
The three-year partnership – which has the option for a two-year extension – will see Arvato support both VIVOBAREFOOT’s core retail business and its ReVivo service, which refurbishes, reconditions and recycles worn VIVOBAREFOOT shoes.
Through the partnership, Arvato will use digital technologies and intelligent automation to help deliver multichannel customer service solutions that can scale with the brand as it continues to grow, and continue to deliver fast, effective support for customer queries.
London-based VIVOBAREFOOT aims to bring people closer to nature and their natural potential through healthy connections, by designing footwear that reflects the natural barefoot state as closely as possible. Since its launch in 2012, it has expanded to operate in over 140 countries worldwide, selling more than 1m pairs of shoes each year.
In 2020, it was certified as a ‘B Corp’ in recognition of its social and environmental responsibility, transparency and strength of corporate governance.
Arvato will provide multilingual inbound and outbound customer communications across voice, webchat, email and social media, to customers in VIVOBAREFOOT’s current US, UK and continental European markets.
The service will be delivered through an initial team of 40 agents, working through a blend of home-working and from a central customer support hub at Arvato’s head office in Slough.
Paul Walker, Chief Commercial Officer, VIVOBAREFOOT said: “Arvato’s track record for digital transformation and customer service made it a clear partner of choice. There is also a strong alignment between the cultural, operational and sustainability values of our businesses – something that’s hugely important to us in selecting who we work with.
“Arvato’s experience, insight and technological capabilities will mean we can continue to deliver the excellent customer support we always strive for as we expand, while implementing new, innovative processes that will make it easier than ever for customers to access support on queries or questions about our products.”
Debra Maxwell, CEO, Arvato CRM Solutions, said: “VIVOBAREFOOT is an emerging brand that is fundamentally changing how we think about footwear, and driving towards a healthier, more sustainable and more community-minded future.
“A major focus for us will be driving continuous improvement through technology and transformation consultancy. Applying innovative digital CX solutions will mean that VIVOBAREFOOT’s customers continue to receive the high quality of service they expect from such a disruptive brand as it grows.
“As a first step in this process, we’ll be designing and delivering a new system to automatically manage queries about order fulfilment. This will help VIVOBAREFOOT’s customers quickly pinpoint where their order is in the distribution chain, without requiring them to speak to a human support agent.
“We’re excited to be joining the brand on its growth journey in UK and overseas, and to be expanding our roster of retail clients with another innovative, fast-expanding business – an element in our own growth strategy.”
The contract with VIVOBAREFOOT builds on Arvato’s experience of helping major global retail brands deliver exceptional customer experience and drive digital transformation.
This includes providing multilingual, multichannel contact centre services to a leading global fast fashion brand – handling over 1.2 million customer contacts every year across telephone, email, web chat, Whatsapp and social media, and introducing process efficiencies that reduced agent handling times by 25%.