Hobbycraft retools customer service

Hobbycraft, the U.K.’s leading arts and crafts retailer, is dedicated to supporting creative enthusiasts from hobbyists to pros, with a vast range of products, ideas, and advice. Known for an in-store experience where customers can interact with products and receive guidance from knowledgeable experts, Hobbycraft prioritizes a hands-on, personalized approach.

“Our colleagues are not just selling a product—they’re artists and crafters who understand the materials we offer and can recommend their best use,” says Simon Birch, Hobbycraft’s customer service manager.

However, as customer interactions migrated online during the pandemic, Hobbycraft needed a way to replicate its high standard of service in the digital realm. While the company’s previous system was effective, it became clear that a more advanced solution would be necessary to manage the increasing volume and complexity of inquiries and continue delivering the exceptional customer experience Hobbycraft is known for. The shared inbox was proving insufficient for the nearly 250,000 inquiries coming in.

To maintain and enhance its outstanding service, Hobbycraft sought out a solution that could support all of its customers’ preferred channels while enabling agents to deliver the same high-touch service they offered in-store. Freshworks’ AI-powered omnichannel solution resulted in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction, as well as quicker response times and more engaged employees.

The company

Founded in 1995, Hobbycraft is the U.K.’s leading retailer of arts and craft supplies with more than 2,000 employees and over 120 stores across the country.

The challenge

Hobbycraft is a rapidly growing business, and with around seven new stores opening each year, the need to maintain high standards of customer service is mission-critical. Hobbycraft’s reputation for friendly, knowledgeable service was a key differentiator, but the pandemic accelerated a shift to online interactions. While the existing infrastructure was solid, increased demands of digital customer service highlighted the need for a more integrated and scalable solution to sustain the company’s service excellence.

“If you visit one of our stores face-to-face, invariably you are speaking to somebody who is truly passionate about craft,” says Birch. “Bringing that into the digital realm is more challenging.”

One of Hobbycraft’s biggest issues was its existing customer service infrastructure: Agents shared a single Outlook email inbox, there was no integration with the phone system, and the company’s social profiles were managed on different platforms. Agents had to work across different channels without a consolidated view of the customer, hindering their ability to deliver timely and accurate responses. “The data was everywhere,” says Birch. “There was no one single source of information for our customers.”

As the inquiries rolled in, agents were stuck searching for tracking information and answering routine questions about deliveries and stock levels, which left less time for agents to put their crafting knowledge to use.

The solution

For customers to benefit from Hobbycraft agents’ expertise, Birch believed the business would need a single, unified platform to communicate with them. Several factors made Freshworks stand out: “Freshworks doesn’t complicate things, and offered a very reasonable price for what was delivered,” says Birch. “I found the company representatives to be very honest and transparent—if their product didn't do something, they noted it and worked on how they could help you find the solution.” 

Starting in 2020, Hobbycraft switched to Freshworks’ AI-powered omnichannel solution, using a staggered approach to ensure agents loved the new platform at every step. First, Freshworks was implemented for social channels like Facebook and Twitter, so that agents could get comfortable with the solution. Then it was rolled out to email and a web contact form, replacing the slow, centralized inbox. 

After everything went smoothly, Hobbycraft adopted Freshworks’ voice support. Additionally, AI chatbots from Freddy AI Agent were a huge success—Hobbycraft easily created and deployed chatbots, freeing up agent time to answer important crafting questions.

Freshworks’ solutions were so effective that when Freddy AI Copilot came on the market, Hobbycraft jumped at the chance to add AI for agents to boost productivity. Freddy’s Summarize feature has helped the company upskill employees and speed up onboarding. “It was truly a game-changer for the team,” says Birch.

Plus, Freddy AI Copilot’s Solution Article Generator made it easier than ever for agents to find information relevant to common customer questions. With just a few clicks, agents can read up on crafts they aren’t familiar with or see how-to guides for common products.

Impact

With Freshworks solutions, built on Neo Platform and powered by AWS, Hobbycraft has extended its signature in-store expertise to online channels, ensuring customers receive timely, accurate responses no matter how they choose to connect. Crafters can ask questions about products or techniques from anywhere and get answers faster than ever. 

That’s translated to happier customers—customer satisfaction has improved by 25% since implementing Freshworks. The new system is faster and more efficient, too, with a 30% reduction in response times across channels.

Freddy AI chatbots now answer up to 30% of questions, helping Hobbycraft free up agents to spend more time sharing their crafting knowledge. Agents are more empowered to answer customer questions—in fact, 82% of tickets are resolved at first contact.

Agents are also feeling the benefits. After implementing Freshworks for customer service, Hobbycraft was able to switch to a hybrid work model, which increased employee engagement scores to around 90. That’s a lot of happy helpers.