How HP Delivers a Local Experience with Adobe Commerce Cloud

It can be difficult to create localized experiences across multiple geographies when you’re a huge, multinational technology company. Take HP Inc. for example. As one of the leading global manufacturers of personal computers and print devices, HP Inc. boasts a booming eCommerce business that touches almost every country on the planet. Their Asia-Pacific division alone plays host to over 3,000 employees from more than 35 countries, who work in a futuristic 450,000 square-foot campus. There, HP Inc. manufactures 3D printers that can even print their own replacement parts. But for all their blue sky thinking, HP Inc. needed a down-to-earth sales initiative. To achieve rapid online growth, they needed to launch an “online-to-offline” sales effort to increase foot traffic in their bricks-and-mortar stores.

“It was important to deliver initial wins across Asia, showcasing full control over the customer experience,” said Herriot Stobo, Director of Omnichannel Innovation & Solutions for HP Asia-Pacific. “We needed agility across multiple segments of the platform, and a sustainable cost structure that would pave the way for our global deployment plan.” More precisely, HP Asia-Pacific needed to launch five different regional stores, in India, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Hong Kong, on just one platform. They also wanted to offer a ‘Click & Buy’ feature to allow their customers to purchase a printer or PC online and collect it in-store, while offering in-store customers an ‘endless aisle’ assortment online.

One platform

HP Asia-Pacific had deployed their first Magento (part of Adobe Commerce Cloud) web stores in Thailand and Indonesia in 2013, using Magento Commerce 1. When they launched a store in China, they decided to make the leap to Magento Commerce 2. With customers ranging from individual shoppers looking for the perfect home printer, to small businesses, HP Asia-Pacific needed an agile eCommerce solution that could get them to market quickly in multiple geographies and customer touchpoints, while allowing them to test and iterate at a fast pace.

Using one Adobe Commerce Cloud instance to support multiple stores across different regions allowed each store to offer a uniquely local experience, and appeal to customers from different eCommerce cultures. HP Asia-Pacific designed a three-tiered structure based on an Adobe Commerce Cloud core, delivering common site navigation, page templates, dashboards, and security to customers across different regions. On top of the structure sits the “HP Universe,” comprising omni channel functionality, project management, content strategies, and customer 360 integration. Their regional hubs then deliver local requirements including payments, fulfillment logistics, language, and order management capabilities. This flexible structure allows HP to control the overall eCommerce elements, while empowering regions and countries to meet the individual, local market needs of their customers. In other words, Adobe Commerce Cloud empowers HP to make their global commerce experience feel totally local.

Go local

The project team, managed from the Singapore campus by Stobo, piloted HP Click & Collect in 23 stores in India, to great success. They will soon roll out the solution across 700 stores. After a four-month pilot in New Delhi, 26 percent of consumer PC customers preferred to pick up their new PC in a local store versus delivery, increasing valuable foot traffic and saving on shipping costs. Developing this proof of concept pilot was a breeze with Adobe Commerce Cloud, and the HP team enjoyed compelling results in a matter of months.

HP’s launch in Hong Kong marked the company’s fifth Adobe Commerce Cloud deployment in the Asia-Pacific region. The launch included consumer, small business, and employee purchase programs. The new Hong Kong platform boasts an integration of retail point-of-sale systems and allows customers to visit the website to book in-store demos. These two features were both key enablers of their “online-to-offline” omnichannel strategy: Customers can now buy online and collect in a store. It’s easy, efficient, reliable, and customers are more likely to find the accessories they need in-store. And vice versa, customers shopping in-store can take advantage of endless aisle, and shop the entire HP product range, whether it’s in stock or not.

With Adobe Commerce Cloud, HP can further optimize their customer experience and launch new capabilities faster than ever, helping them to achieve their commerce vision. In fact, in the first 18 months post launch, they applied agile methodology to deliver over 600 new features and enhancements in 130 releases. Following their success in Asia-Pacific, HP is replicating this proven approach to easily spin up web stores in other regions of the world, most recently launching eCommerce in Mexico. Stobo and the project teams in Singapore, Barcelona, and throughout the US are now focused on rolling out Adobe Commerce Cloud across 27 markets worldwide.

HP Asia-Pacific is using Adobe Commerce Cloud, part of the Adobe Experience Cloud, to become a true Customer Experience Management company. Learn more here.