Omnichannel Solution for Family Farm & Home
About the Client
Family Farm & Home, a family-owned and operated retailer founded in 2002 by Al Fansler, his son Tim Fansler, and son-in-law Bob Tarrant, is dedicated to providing exceptional customer service and community engagement. Headquartered in Muskegon, Michigan, the company has significantly grown from its initial three stores to 65 locations spread across five midwestern states.
Driven by the philosophy of treating customers like family, Family Farm & Home offers high-quality products and practical advice to help customers accomplish their tasks efficiently and cost-effectively. Core product categories include pet, horse, and livestock feed and supplies, farming essentials, home heating, lawn and garden care, hardware, automotive goods, workwear, footwear, and more.
The company’s mission is clear: to cultivate a community committed to exceptional service, outstanding products, and competitive prices—helping customers to "Live, Work & Grow" as they do.
The Challenge
Recognizing the rapid evolution of customer expectations, Family Farm & Home identified a critical need for an enhanced omnichannel experience. Early in 2020, the marketing and digital teams prioritized website improvement to better meet customer demands. However, the urgency escalated dramatically with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the necessity for robust online services, particularly curbside pickup.
Project objectives included:
Enhancing the overall digital customer experience, notably with Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store (BOPIS) capabilities.
Enabling future fulfillment options such as economical and manageable ship-to-home services suitable for mid-sized retail operations.
Streamlining in-store fulfillment processes to maintain exceptional service levels.
Integrating and synchronizing inventory and pricing information across digital channels with the Epicor Eagle ERP and POS systems.
Executing a strategically phased digital transformation, ensuring continuous improvement without overwhelming existing operations.
The Solution
Family Farm & Home selected Adobe Commerce Cloud (formerly Magento Commerce Cloud), implemented by Adobe solution partner Creatuity, to modernize and scale their operations. Amid the pandemic, Creatuity swiftly introduced an interim curbside pickup service in April 2020, ensuring continuous service while development continued on the broader digital transformation initiative.
In September 2020, Family Farm & Home began a phased rollout of the comprehensive new system. This approach allowed stores to adapt efficiently to the new fulfillment processes, enabled thorough testing of the customer experience, and facilitated the collection of critical customer feedback.
Today, associates at all 65 stores benefit from intuitive, user-friendly dashboards provided by the bespoke omnichannel order management system Creatuity built into Adobe commerce, significantly simplifying item selection and order management for customer pickups. Store staff quickly mastered the new system, enhancing their productivity and customer satisfaction levels. Customers now receive automated email notifications to keep them informed at each step of the pickup process. The online inventory has expanded to include over ten thousand items, with ongoing plans for further additions. Additionally, the platform enables customer service representatives to deliver more streamlined support.
The new system also successfully introduced physical gift cards during the holiday season, providing customers with the convenient option to send gifts directly to recipients.
Client Testimonial
“Our BOPIS project was ambitious from the start and became even more critical due to the global pandemic. Creatuity demonstrated exceptional flexibility and innovation, swiftly implementing a much-needed curbside pickup solution alongside our main initiative. We're thrilled to have found a partner who truly understands the importance of customer service, especially during challenging times.”
— Jaime Shafer, E-Commerce Content Specialist, Family Farm & Home
