Registria

Shinola Detroit Case Study Summary

Shinola Detroit, a design brand known for timeless products and craftsmanship, partnered with Registria in 2021 to increase product registration rates from below 15% by implementing an improved digital registration system called Photoregister SM, enhancing owner onboarding with a clear value proposition around their limited lifetime warranty, and creating a universal in-product call to action to boost customer engagement, data accessibility across teams, and personalized service.

Initial Goals and About the Brand

Founded in Detroit in 2011, Shinola is a design brand with an unwavering commitment to crafting lasting products, from watches to leather goods and beyond. They celebrate timeless design and thoughtful craftsmanship with products and stories that inspire people to live well and be confident in a style that is uniquely their own.

When Shinola first partnered with Registria in 2021, their top focus was increasing product registration rates to identify more owners and create personalized email journeys for existing customers. The company’s card-based product registration process had low engagement with a registration rate below 15% and little emphasis on identifying what was important to their guests (product owners). Only the customer service team had access to the minimal registration data collected, so the brand also wanted to enable cross-functional access to the actionable data collected and the ability to easily use that data to improve the service and resources they provide their guests.

Goals:

  1. 1.Increase product registrations and engagement
  2. 2.Identify guests and their needs
  3. 3.Increase cross-functional access to data

Phase 1 Solution: Establish In-Product CTA Best Practices

Shinola recognized the importance of rounding out their luxury products and limited lifetime warranty with a top-tier Ownership Experience. Registria helped the Shinola team improve their owner onboarding experience by implementing Photoregister SM, an award-winning digital product registration method that allows customers to register their products online or via a mobile device.

Shinola also updated their value proposition to owners to highlight the benefits of their industry-leading limited lifetime warranty and product care resources. Additionally, a universal call to action was designed to fit in all watch packaging. This in-product CTA was placed on top of watches so that it would be the first thing guests would interact with when opening the box.

"Our partnership with Registria has allowed us to more than double registration percentages within our first six months of partnership and our registration rates have only continued to climb."
— John Hurl Ahe (Sr. Brand Experience Manager)

Phase 2 Solution: Reinforce Product Registration Value Through Sales Team

When guests purchase a watch at a Shinola store, there is a lot of valuable information that can be shared about care and maintenance. But Shinola knew it was overwhelming for guests to remember all that information. So, they directed their salespeople to reinforce the benefit of registering their new watch so that personalized care and maintenance resources could be accessed by guests whenever they needed it. Guests are now able to fully enjoy the thrill of wearing their new luxury watch when leaving Shinola, knowing that all the resources and information they may need can easily be accessed later.

Phase 3 Solution: Create Personalized Owner Journeys

Shinola understands the power of first-party data to help brands create a personalized Ownership Experience that enhances the product experience. After identifying key owner data, including guest information, product information, and stage of ownership, Shinola took advantage of the API integrations offered by Registria’s OXM Platform to ensure cross-functional access to and use of that valuable data across their organization.

In addition to reducing resolution time for customer service calls, Shinola is using the data to create personalized journeys for their guests that focus on product care, updates, and maintenance – and to remind them that their watches are built to be lived in, worn out, and well loved!

Results

This success story demonstrates the importance of a modern owner onboarding process to improve the Ownership Experience.

  • Since implementing Photoregister SM, Shinola has identified more guests with their registration rate increasing from under 15% to above 35%.
  • Registration data is available sooner after purchase with 48% of Photoregister registrations occurring within the first two days, 67% within the first week.
  • Shinola has also increased its communication opt-in rate by requesting opt-ins during onboarding. This, along with a more personalized approach supported by data collected during registration, has resulted in an average open rate over 78% and an average click to open rate over 20% for email journeys.
  • The brand has noted a reduced workload on sales and customer service teams as a result of having access to more accurate, comprehensive data across the board.
  • Overall, Shinola has raised the level of their Ownership Experience to match the brand’s high standards and continue to meet the expectations of their guests.