Hibbett, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a leading athletic-inspired fashion retailer with 1,069 Hibbett Sports and City Gear specialty stores, located in 35 states nationwide. Hibbett has a rich history of serving customers for more than 75 years with convenient locations, personalized service and access to coveted footwear, apparel and equipment from top brands like Nike, Jordan, and adidas. Over the years, one of the reasons Hibbett has remained competitive is recognition of the importance of a complete omnichannel solution.

With more than 1,000 stores nationwide and two distribution centers, Hibbett was looking to expand to an online presence and invest in a robust omnichannel program including store fulfillment, payment solutions, and customer care. Hibbett wanted a partner who could see the bigger picture as they did, help them to scale their operations, and bring their customer experience together seamlessly.

In 2017, Hibbett joined the Radial family, using order management, payment solutions as well as customer care on day one. By maximizing their store inventory, adding customer care, and incorporating fraud protection, they got their online business off to a fast start.

Hibbett didn’t stop there; a year later, Hibbett implemented Buy Online, Pick-up In-Store (BOPIS) and Reserve Online Pick-up In-Store (ROPIS) as well as a Mobile app with omnichannel functionality.

Hibbett knew from the start they wanted to build their eCommerce operations by leveraging brick and mortar for a true omnichannel experience. Within 3 years, Hibbett built a $200M+ annual online business and was one of the fastest growing top 500 online businesses.

In 2018, Hibbett provided other avenues by which customers could get their items: BOPIS/ROPIS & a Mobile App. This offered more foot traffic with potential for additional sales from those picking up eCommerce orders. Hibbett and Radial continue to nurture their relationship by enhancing their omnichannel programs, collecting and reporting on new data that identifies process improvements, and working together to build a superior customer experience.

Hibbett takes advantage of Radial’s Customer Care solution, using designated live agents who field inquiries through phone, email, chat, and SMS. In addition, Hibbett’s desire to empower their customers has led them to offer more self-service options like AI-powered Chatbot as well as Visual IVR (Interactive Voice Response), a mobile and desktop-friendly platform that allows customers to find answers to their questions without speaking to a live agent.

The combination of dedicated live agents and self-service options gives customers the power to resolve their issues as they see fit, enhancing the customer experience. With Radial’s customer analytics, they’re also able to identify trends and customer patterns before they become bigger issues, and put a plan in place.

Not surprisingly, eCommerce orders tend to see more fraudulent activity than in-store purchases. With COVID-19 closing many storefronts, eCommerce orders spiked, leaving retailers with increases in chargebacks, disapproved orders, and manual reviews.

Fortunately, Hibbett was prepared, and has used Radial Payment Solutions since 2017. With better order approval rates, less chargebacks and less manual review due to Radial’s machine learning capabilities, Hibbett places the focus on their customers while being assured that the brands they sell are being protected from fraudsters. They’ve also recently added Radial’s Brand Protection solution to their arsenal which allows their loyal customers to receive their product while preventing resellers from buying popular items.

Already having omnichannel programs in place enabled Hibbett to adapt with the onset of COVID-19. While customers were not able to enter some of their storefronts, Hibbett still fulfilled through the stores to accommodate increased eCommerce sales. During 2020, Hibbett added Curbside and Ship-to-Store fulfillment options. Now, nearly 70% of their eCommerce orders are fulfilled through their storefronts.

Since launching in 2017, Hibbett and Radial have continued to push the boundaries of what makes the ideal customer experience. Using Radial Order Management (ROM), Hibbett has full enterprise visibility into their inventory, order management workflows, as well as customer care data. The use of ROM brings together their Radial solutions, whereby they have the flexibility and visibility to utilize their data, identify gaps and create solutions for the long-term.

Hibbett also uses Radial’s Dropship Manager to help expand their product assortment and reduce inventory costs. They also use the Dropship extension program which allows them to send orders to vendors when they run out of product at their stores and DC’s. This helps avoid loss of sales and create a greater customer experience with an”endless inventory”.