RHIEM prints personalized package inserts based on customer data. To do so, Rhiem relies on the „target packaging“ system from the Munich-based start-up Adnymics. This unique form of advertising not only addresses and retains customers, it also boosts sales.

Long-lasting customer relationships in the online retail business are built not so much on placing orders as unpacking the merchandise. It is for this reason that the RHIEM Group, in cooperation with Adnymics, has recently started printing personalized package inserts for its e-commerce customers to draw their attention to further offers and encourage them to keep using the online shop.

„The moment of unpacking is the best time to do our own advertising. A wish is fulfilled, customers try products out and they often need more as a result,“ explains Stefan Rhiem, managing director of the printing and e-commerce service provider from Voerde. „It is absolutely essential for online retailers to capitalize on this moment. Inserts effectively turn a package into an advertising vehicle for a shop.“

When it comes to personalized package inserts of several pages, the RHIEM Group integrates the software and hardware solution of the Munich-based start-up Adnymics into its fulfillment and shop systems.

The Adnymics software analyzes customers‘ surfing habits in the shop, combines this data with further purchasing information and, once all transactions are complete, automatically generates a brochure of several pages, which is eventually printed out on the digital printers provided by Adnymics.

The brochure shows and describes what the customer has viewed and what else matches the order. „The package advertising is personalized and tailored just-in-time to customer requirements,“ explains Dominik Romer, co-founder and managing director of Adnymics.

Repurchase rate rises by up to 10 per cent

E-commerce on the internet has long relied on targeting or overlay ads aimed at specific target groups. RHIEM and Adnymics are now using personalized package inserts, or so-called target packaging, to extend this effective form of advertising to the offline world: There is evidence that customers keep returning to the shop thanks to the high-quality personalized brochures, which normally consist of eight to 16 pages.

An impression of competence and genuine interest is conveyed by addressing them in person and presenting merchandise that they have already considered.

The experience of Adnymics shows that three or four per cent of consumers addressed in this way will return to the online shop and buy something. At the same time, they view three times as many items as they did the first time and buy more.

What’s more, the value of the shopping basket increases by up to 15 per cent. The repurchase rate can even grow by ten per cent in the case of children’s fashion and lifestyle products.

„The nice thing is that customers get hold of a personal catalogue whose contents interest them or deal with personal matters such as interests and special occasions,“ comments Stefan Rhiem on the advantages. „If online retailers offer a wide range of products, they can effectively push cross-selling and upselling with inserts.“

Complementary offers from partners can also be included in the package brochure – in this way an additional source of revenue and finance opens up for retailers.