How Krispy Kreme Used Omnichannel Strategies to Sweeten the Customer Experience

Krispy Kreme, a beloved global donut brand, was founded in the U.S. in 1937. It has been delighting customers with its iconic Original Glazed donuts for over 20 years in Australia and nearly a decade in New Zealand. They have a mature omnichannel presence. They have their own retail stores, and a mature DFD (delivered fresh daily) business. Krispy Kreme donuts are found in 7-Eleven, Coles, and Woolies (Woolworth Australian supermarkets).  With this strong presence in retail locations, convenience stores, and markets, Krispy Kreme has established itself as a leader in the quick-service restaurant space. The company has recently focused on enhancing its digital footprint to unify its omnichannel presence and share joy at every touchpoint, whether in-store or online.

As Krispy Kreme turned its attention to digital expansion, its existing tools limited its ability to scale effectively. The company needed a solution that could support its mature omnichannel strategy, streamline its customer engagement, and provide personalized experiences across various platforms. A critical requirement was ensuring a unified customer journey that bridged their e-commerce and retail operations, capturing valuable insights without disrupting the in-store experience. Additionally, the team faced resource constraints and needed a platform that was both intuitive and scalable.

Krispy Kreme partnered with SAP Emarsys to overcome these challenges and lay the foundation for future growth. The platform’s comprehensive automation capabilities, out-of-the-box integrations, and robust strategic support proved invaluable.

Unified the Shopping Experience

Krispy Kreme operated in a fragmented market, with customers engaging through multiple channels—retail stores, online platforms, and the Delivered Fresh Daily (DFD) program – that supplied products to external partners like supermarkets and gas stations. While these channels were successful in reaching broad audiences, the lack of integration meant that customer data remained siloed. This fragmentation made it difficult to create a cohesive shopping experience or understand customer preferences across touchpoints.

To address this challenge, Krispy Kreme sought a solution that could centralize customer data and enable a more unified approach to engagement. SAP Emarsys provided the tools to bridge these gaps by integrating data from various sources into a single platform. With a comprehensive view of their customers, Krispy Kreme ANZ could analyze behaviors and preferences holistically, allowing them to tailor their communications to reflect each customer’s journey, whether they were buying in-store, ordering online, or picking up a box at a grocery store. SAP Emarsys enabled Krispy Kreme to implement six automation programs, starting with a highly successful Welcome Program that seamlessly onboarded new users while bridging online and offline touchpoints.

This unified approach transformed how Krispy Kreme interacted with its audience. By breaking down silos and creating consistent messaging across channels, the brand was able to provide a more seamless and personalized shopping experience. Customers now felt recognized and valued no matter how they chose to interact with the brand, leading to increased loyalty and satisfaction.

Created Insightful, Personalized Customer Interactions

Before implementing SAP Emarsys, Krispy Kreme ANZ struggled with a lack of personalization in their customer interactions. Their marketing efforts were largely generic, failing to reflect the unique preferences and behaviors of their audience. This one-size-fits-all approach left untapped potential for building deeper relationships with customers, particularly in a competitive market where personalization has become a key differentiator. Without actionable insights, the team faced challenges in identifying high-value customers or tailoring communications to individual needs.

With SAP Emarsys, Krispy Kreme gained access to advanced analytics and segmentation tools, enabling them to deliver more relevant and personalized experiences. The platform provided a centralized view of customer data, highlighting patterns such as purchasing frequency, favorite products, and engagement across channels. Armed with these insights, the team could craft targeted campaigns, such as personalized emails that recommended products or offered exclusive rewards based on individual buying habits. This shift allowed the brand to move away from generic messaging and towards a data-driven strategy.

The results were transformative. Customers began receiving communications that felt meaningful and aligned with their preferences, increasing engagement rates and fostering brand loyalty. By leveraging data to drive personalization, Krispy Kreme ANZ not only improved the customer experience but also gained valuable insights that informed broader marketing strategies. These capabilities positioned the brand as a leader in customer-centric marketing within the highly competitive quick-service food industry.

Built a Customer Engagement Strategy that Scales

Krispy Kreme faced resource constraints that hampered its ability to execute marketing campaigns effectively. Limited staff resources meant the team was stretched thin, making it difficult to manage the complexity of running multiple campaigns across various channels. The lack of automation in their previous marketing setup compounded the issue, requiring time-intensive manual work that diverted focus from strategic initiatives. As a result, campaign frequency and innovation were often sacrificed due to these operational challenges.

SAP Emarsys’ onboarding support and ongoing strategic guidance helped Krispy Kreme address these constraints by introducing automation and streamlining processes, enabling their small team to do more with less. The platform’s pre-built workflows allowed them to set up and execute complex campaigns with minimal manual input. Automated triggers, such as emails sent for abandoned carts or special promotions, reduced the workload while ensuring timely and consistent communication with customers. This automation empowered the team to focus on strategic growth and creative campaign development rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

The results of these changes were immediate and impactful. With SAP Emarsys, the marketing team could run a higher volume of campaigns with greater efficiency, scaling their operations without the need for additional resources. This shift not only optimized their resource utilization but also enhanced the customer experience through more frequent and relevant interactions. By alleviating the pressures of resource limitations, the Krispy Kreme team could redirect its energy towards building innovative marketing strategies that aligned with their brand goals.

The partnership between Krispy Kreme and SAP Emarsys redefined the brand’s digital marketing success, delivering transformative results across key performance metrics. By harnessing the power of automation and data-driven insights, Krispy Kreme achieved a remarkable 53% increase in lead generation through streamlined automated programs. These automated workflows enabled consistent, personalized engagement with customers, ensuring that every interaction felt meaningful and timely.

Website engagement also soared, with 70% YOY growth in website clicks. This surge reflected not only an increase in customer interest but also the effectiveness of SAP Emarsys’ tailored campaigns in driving traffic to key digital touchpoints. As customers engaged more deeply with the brand online, Krispy Kreme saw a 19% YOY growth in revenue attributed directly to digital marketing efforts, showcasing the tangible impact of their revitalized marketing strategy on the bottom line.

A renewed focus on first-party data collection and database optimization further solidified Krispy Kreme’s competitive edge. Leveraging SAP Emarsys’ tools, the brand expanded its database while engaging customers more effectively through automation. Insights gained from A/B testing and customer behavior analysis continuously refined campaign strategies, ensuring Krispy Kreme stayed responsive to consumer preferences. This data-driven approach not only enhanced customer experiences but also positioned the brand to sustain growth and adaptability in an evolving market.