Williams-Sonoma obtains full view of customers across banners

Williams-Sonoma Inc. is obtaining a more complete understanding of shopper preferences and engagement.

The home products and furnishings retailer, which operates under the banners of Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, West Elm, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, Williams Sonoma Home, Mark and Graham, GreenRow, and Rejuvenation, is connecting in-house-developed solutions with Salesforce technology to holistically understand its customers, including those who shop multiple banners.

With a more complete view of customer, Williams-Sonoma hopes to better anticipate customers’ needs and deliver personalized experiences tailored to their specific shopping need (such as a wedding registry or moving into a new home), as well as to seasonal events like Black Friday.

Following is a look at how Williams-Sonoma is using Salesforce solutions in key parts of its business:

• Using Data Cloud and Marketing Cloud, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is able to create a unified view of customers across all of its brands and improve customer engagement. Soon, the retailer will deploy Salesforce Einstein’s generative AI capabilities to efficiently deliver more personalized communications at scale.
• Partnering with Salesforce Professional Services, Williams-Sonoma deployed Data Cloud and Marketing Cloud to develop personalized emails at large scale. 
• Williams-Sonoma utilizes Slack in an effort to streamline collaboration across in-house technology teams

In another technology innovation Williams-Sonoma has launched in 2023, mobile apps from Pottery Barn Kids and Pottery Barn Teen include features such as 3-D augmented reality (AR) shopping. The children’s and teen furniture and accessories banners of home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc. are launching new native shopping apps for iPhone users.

“AI is changing everything – customer experiences, company operations, and work itself,” said Brian Millham, president and COO, Salesforce. “The Williams-Sonoma, Inc. team is at the forefront of the industry, using data in a way that builds trust, understanding, and elevates the entire customer experience.”

“We put our customers at the center of everything we do and are constantly focused on finding new ways to better serve them,” said Laura Alber, CEO, Williams-Sonoma Inc. “We have always had a history of in-house innovation. However, bringing in Salesforce as a partner to help us augment that innovation and continually improve the connection to our customers, made sense. They are not afraid to grow with us and help us scale our marketing email program, while sharing a core value of trust.”

Based in San Francisco, Williams-Sonoma Inc. ended the year with 547 stores, operating under the banners of Pottery Barn (189 stores), Williams Sonoma, West Elm (122), Pottery Barn Kids (52) and Rejuvenation (9).