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Strategic drivers for sustainable growth Continuing the Group’s digital transformation

The Building Distribution brands and trade names are seeking to increase customer engagement by providing appropriate services at every stage of their experience. In France, for instance, POINT.P Matériaux de Construction and step by step, all the Distribution Sector brands, are providing its trade customers with a number of innovative services that are unique in the marketplace: Solu+, a worksite configurator to examine and compare solutions including prices evaluations, or Cap Renov+, a simulator that provides the option of immediate energy efficiency evaluation and calculation of the tax incentives for which the end customer may be eligible. Beyond this, there is even assistance for accounting and day-to-day management, following the acquisition of start-up company Tolteck. In parallel, the development of Homly You, launched in 2016, is progressing well, with the aim of becoming the leading site for private individuals looking for a professional for their building work. The move to digital has also benefited industrial companies which offer their own services to attract, inform, and experiment, and then to sell to and foster loyalty among tradesmen, installers, roofers, façade engineers, specifiers, architects, etc. ATTRACT: in 2017, Saint-Gobain raised its visibility on the „ various social networking sites, particularly Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. On Facebook in particular, the Group’s different activities manage a hundred or so pages with over two million followers, a sharp increase on 2016. In particular, the pages for gypsum in India and for mortars in Latin America have several thousand hundreds followers. They make a significant contribution to traffic on the relevant websites, and therefore to the generation of sales contacts; INFORM AND EXPERIMENT: digital design and „ construction are a major trend in the building industry. Driven by the legislative framework in many countries, building professionals are making arrangements to reduce their costs, improve quality and shorten timelines, working collaboratively with a unique digital model that not only embeds the building plans, but also all the information on each of the components, including their properties and performance, enabling previews and forecasts that have not previously been available: building performance, „ durability of the building, „ detection of design errors, etc. „ The challenge is to significantly reduce the total cost of the building, with improved quality and lower costs throughout the life cycle. To achieve this, building designers, architects, general contractors, etc., have to download virtual objects containing Saint-Gobain products, to incorporate them into their “BIM” (Building Information Model). Saint-Gobain has developed a project with strategic impact to create a comprehensive object library and offer a variety of services to building professionals who need them. The initial version has been online since November 2017;

SELL AND FOSTER LOYALTY: in 2017, Abrasives launched „ an e-shop, a single site for taking orders from its customers around the world. The tool can be used by all distributors to order their abrasives, at their prices and on their terms. It considerably improves the effectiveness of sales departments by allowing teams to focus on prospecting and selling; above all, it provides a smooth customer experience by allowing them to place an order at any time, under any circumstances. Apart from this example, the number of online tools for customer interaction is growing, offering them a host of services from viewing available stock to tracking orders. The Group has therefore stepped up the development of its digital technology-based products and services. The Group’s different Activities are introducing specialist websites, e-commerce or augmented reality applications, marketplaces, training for customers and distributors, cost estimation applications, solutions and services using BIM, etc.: a range of omnichannel solutions to fulfill customers’ expectations and improve the quality of their experience, to help them choose the most appropriate products. The more channels involved in interacting with the customer – websites, social networking pages, emails, forums, online chat, etc. – the more complex the customer’s experience. Techniques for targeting and fostering loyalty among a client base are becoming more diverse. Saint-Gobain’s omnichannel approach therefore aims to ensure a seamless and consistent customer experience across physical and digital touch points, along the entire customer experience. In a certain number of Activities, the use of a unique and continuous Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool allows to monitor customers’ various interactions with the Group and provide them with flawless service. Structuring the omnichannel 2.1.2 approach

THE OMNICHANNEL APPROACH

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