Company: TouchCommerce, Agoura Hills, CA
Company Description: Founded in 1999, TouchCommerce delivers results for market-leading brands with award-winning, innovative omni-channel engagement solutions that enhance customer experience, increase revenue and reduce support costs while using real time customer data analytics. For more information, please visit www.touchcommerce.com. Connect with TouchCommerce on Twitter (@touchcommerce) and LinkedIn.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: TouchCommerce - Omni-channel Customer Engagement

Tell the story about what this nominated organization has achieved since January 1 2014 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms.

In 2014, a key focus for TouchCommerce was its mobile engagement strategy and offerings for today’s omni-channel environment. In April, TouchCommerce launched its enhanced mobile live chat solution with customer Total Gym Fitness. The updated mobile chat solution uses patented TouchCommerce technology and award-winning customer analytics to deliver a unique user experience for mobile shoppers landing on eCommerce sites. The updated solution has a number of differentiating usability features that are significantly more modern and intuitive than what today's smartphone users typically see from other mobile live chat solutions. These modern mobile elements include: (1) transparent chat window design, which enables chatters to see the website in the background, maximizing efficiency on the small screen as well as keeping shoppers mentally connected to the brand’s website; (2) scrolling marquee that displays the most recent agent message and an incremental message indicator that shows the number of unread agent messages; (3) fully minimizable chat window and has user tracking that allows the chatter to navigate throughout the brand site without losing the chat. Total Gym Fitness had a 2.5x increase in smartphone conversions when switching from its basic mobile live chat design to the updated new mobile chat experience with TouchCommerce.

TouchCommerce and Total Gym also collaborated on another innovative mobile strategy starting in mid-2014. The teams worked closely together to customize self-service automated engagement solution, TouchGuides, for the smartphone. TouchGuides enable shoppers to take a short survey and receive product recommendations, and its adaptation for the smartphone has proven to be highly effective in capturing the attention of shoppers who may not be ready for live chat. Smartphone shoppers were 5x more likely to engage with the mobile guides than click-to-chat in early website navigation, according to tests conducted on the Total Gym site.

Another key area of innovation for TouchCommerce has been in the omni-channel customer experience realm. The company leveraged its latest mobile chat solution (described above) to launch a brand new offering in August 2014, called TouchStore -- a solution for brands with retail locations seeking to enhance the omni-channel shopping experience for in-store customers via personalized online assistance through mobile devices. With TouchStore, in-store shoppers simply use their smartphones to scan a QR code or send an SMS to a number near a product display. This action opens an online engagement session on the shopper’s smartphone, which includes the option to chat with a live agent. TouchStore represents true innovation in the omni-channel world – connecting online and offline environments into one seamless consumer experience. Many companies are working on optimizing the online channel, and many are optimizing the in-store experience, but TouchCommerce is the only one to connect the two worlds together with its TouchStore solution in order to convert browsing shoppers into buyers and optimize customer care while shopping in-store. TouchStore was recently named Best New Product of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group.

Another 2014 TouchCommerce achievement in the area of omni-channel customer experience was the company's launch TouchConnect - a collaboration tool that leads call center customers off the traditional call channels via online engagement. TouchConnect provides call centers with a rich combination of features, including co-browse, transfer-to-chat, and ability to offer rich media content and special deals to customers who call via the traditional voice channel.

TouchCommerce works with market-leading brands, such as Comcast, T-Mobile, DIRECTV, Virgin Media, and many others. The company's dedicated account strategists and ongoing data analysis leads to continuous improvements on client sites -- an important element that differentiates TouchCommerce from the competitors who typically just license technology. TouchCommerce expertise has yielded speaking invitations at key industry events, such as NRF’s Shop.org Summit and the Gilbane Conference. Additionally, TouchCommerce customers T-Mobile and Total Gym Fitness were recognized as winners in the last two Gartner 1to1 Media Awards competitions in the Customer Analytics and Customer Acquisition categories (respectively).

In bullet-list form, briefly summarize up to ten (10) of the chief accomplishments of this organization since the beginning of 2014 (up to 150 words).

- Launched enhanced mobile live chat solution and user experience, which improved conversion by 2.5x for client in initial roll-out (see essay for details)
- Launched automated product guides for smartphone shoppers, leading to 5x increase in engagement in early site navigation for client in roll-out (see essay for details)
- Launched TouchStore omni-channel retailing solution
- Launched TouchConnect omni-channel experience for contact centers
- Earned Gartner / 1to1 Media award with client T-Mobile for Customer Analytics work (2014), along with several other recognitions throughout the year
- Raised company profile significantly as compared to previous year with wide range of media coverage in publications such as: NRF’s STORES Magazine, Internet Retailer, Shopper Marketing Magazine, Mobile Marketer, MarketingProfs, Retail TouchPoints, Retail Online Integration
- Executives spoke at top industry conferences, such as Shop.org and Gilbane Conference
- Won "Digital Power Player" honor from Website Magazine for accomplishments in 2014
- Earned Gartner / 1to1 Media award with client Total Gym Fitness for innovation in Customer Acquisition (2015)

Of the following types of innovation, which ONE do you want the judges to most appreciate about your organization's story of achievement since the beginning of 2014?

Customer Service Innovation