Martin Schierer – MYTOYS GROUP

The MYTOYS GROUP is the leading online retailer for family shopping in Germany. The family of brands, which in total generated a turnover of 894 million Euros in the fiscal year 2020/21, includes shopping offers from myToys, limango, mirapodo and yomonda. Since 1999 the MYTOYS GROUP operates with its brand myToys the no. 1 online shop for toys and child-related products in Germany, as well as 18 stores under the same name. It is one of the leading multi-channel providers for children’s products in the German-speaking countries. Martin Schierer is the CEO of the MYTOYS GROUP since June 2020 and oversees, among other things, the following areas: platform management, procurement, affiliate program, marketing, stationary sales, and customer service.

Customer experience is pivotal

As a leading online retailer for family shopping, myToys does not only focus on creating brand awareness among the target group, but strives to create the best possible shopping experience for its customers. To make this measurable, myToys uses various KPIs, Martin Schierer explains: “We monitor three things, first it’s about the perspective for the target group. Here we look at the brand awareness and the brand funnel, from aided and unaided brand awareness to first choice. Next to that we look at the people within the target group who are familiar with the brand, whereby the focus lies on the essential aspects of brand perception. And last but not least, the customer satisfaction index (CSI) was created internally to evaluate the customer experience. The CSI is based on various surveys and clearly shows customer satisfaction along the entire customer journey. The index shows how the market perceives us as a brand. But also, how our services are perceived by our customers, as the customer experience is equally important to the brand. Sometimes we also work with open-ended questions. This is interesting, as our customers can exactly share what defines their brand experience. These types of surveys are carried out continuously and are evaluated on a monthly basis. So that in line with our customer centricity, we can continuously generate added value for our customers by further improving our offers and services.”

Data-driven decision making is part of the nucleus at MYTOYS

As an e-commerce company, the MYTOYS GROUP is relatively far ahead when it comes to data, says Martin Schierer: ”Mail-order companies have always worked much more with data than other businesses and it will become even more relevant, as new hardware and technologies generate more and more data by being connected to the Internet. Next to that, we now have a seemingly unlimited amount of information online that is accessible anywhere at any time. As a result, consumer behaviour has also changed significantly in recent years. It is all the more important for retailers to provide their customers with the relevant content at the right time – on the channel that customers prefer, be it in the web shop or in the app. Enabled by fully automated, data-controlled processes which not only offer added value to customers, but – thanks to the precise tailored display – also to partners and suppliers.”

Companies must decide for themselves how to use data

For Martin Schierer, this is also one of the greatest challenges. Simplifying and automating processes is a highly complex process: “Which processes can be automated and with what aim? Do we have the necessary database for this? What software and hardware do I need, if any, to achieve my goal? All of these are questions need to be asked and answered during the process.”

By now there are countless possibilities when it comes to data usage and every company will have to decide for itself how and to what extent it can and wants to use data: ”This decision depends on a wide variety of factors – starting with the existing database and the type of processes, all the way to the type of content and offers as well as the target group.”

“It’s important to make sure the data-driven business has a soul.”

According to Martin Schierer, data-driven decisions and automated processes are key success factors for companies nowadays, but they are not the only ones. It’s important to make sure the data-driven business has a soul. After all, people still need personal contact and want to be spoken to and feel understood, instead of just having the right products and services displayed to them, which also ties into consultancy and inspiration. In addition to good user experience in the shop and in the app, MYTOYS GROUP finds it especially important to provide comprehensive content, service offers and direct customer contact, via social media, live shopping events or customer service.