FABRIC TOKYO leverages Zendesk proactive messaging to improve their customer experience

Custom wear for all—this is the vision that drives FABRIC TOKYO to ensure everyone has access to outfits that are functional, and make life enjoyable. The company’s service allows customers to easily order and purchase custom-made business attire online, which was previously inconvenient to do. With its strong attention to customers, FABRIC TOKYO has become a popular brand among those in the business world.

Putting Customers First in the Pursuit of Excellence

The company implemented Zendesk Support in 2017, which marked a pivotal moment of technology transformation. The goal was to eliminate the practice of responding to customer inquiries via free email accounts because it relied a lot on agent availability and had the potential for errors, which could decrease customer satisfaction. Another goal was to enhance the quality of customer support, operational efficiency, and the collection and use of customer data. Yuichiro Mori, President and Representative Director, says, “If customers continue using our services for 10 or 20 years, we need to support them throughout their lifestyles and lives. Therefore, strengthening touchpoints is extremely important. Our customers purchase ‘products’ and user experience’, and the Customer Success team is the department that holds the key to user experience by understanding what customers are thinking.”

Building the Right Foundation for Success

As FABRIC TOKYO saw increased growth and rapid sales, the company started to realize it needed a better customer care system. Driving the transformation for change was Ms. Tomoko Sasaki, Customer Success Team Manager at FABRIC TOKYO. “I felt that we were not able to make major improvements or increase efficiency because we were too busy responding to inquiries.

She adds, “The department responsible for customer support is called the ‘Customer Success Team.’ It means that our primary focus was not only to assist our customers, but also to enhance their experience based on their feedback. By implementing Zendesk, we’ve been able to centrally manage inquiries and significantly improve the quality of our responses. So when I became manager of the Customer Success team, I took another look at Zendesk’s features and found the Bot Builder.”

In 2023, FABRIC TOKYO implemented Bot Builder into its operations, allowing the Customer Success Team to create and automate customer conversation flows and encourage self-help through the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

Ms. Tomoko Sasaki, Customer Success Team Manager at FABRIC TOKYO

Customizing Personal Guidance through Bot Builder

Previously, FABRIC TOKYO’s e-commerce site had both a FAQ and Contact Us section. The company had assumed that customers would first check the FAQs section to find a solution before making an inquiry. In reality, however, many customers would make inquiries without ever referring to the FAQs, resulting in more tickets being generated than necessary.

“Of course, we want to answer all inquiries well. But it would be more efficient for customers to find a solution in the FAQs themselves,” says Ms.Sasaki. “We even considered making the inquiry form less noticeable and highlighting the FAQs section. But then we implemented Bot Builder to create a communication flow that naturally leads the customers to the FAQs by offering options from the menu. If the inquiries still cannot be resolved, the customers can be directed to a chat box. The Bot Builder was extremely effective in creating a system that allowed us to respond to customers in a more personalized manner.”

Delivering Essential Information with Proactive Messaging

To further improve the customer experience when shopping online, Ms. Sasaki also began using Proactive Messaging, one of the default features included in Zendesk.

She adds, “For example, even if we want customers to check a certain part of our e-commerce site or product description, there will always be areas that we cannot control. And if we were to change the page structure or appearance of the pages, it would be costly and time-consuming. With Proactive Messaging, however, we can add the descriptions and text with a single click, while maintaining the current page structure. What’s more, since it is a feature originally included in Zendesk, there is no extra cost.”

The changes have not only improved customer satisfaction, but also increased operational efficiency. For example, the initial response time to inquiries received during business hours has been reduced from more than three hours to less than two hours, a reduction of more than 60 minutes. On average, the processing time per inquiry is lowered by approximately 25%, from over 40 minutes to about 30 minutes.

What is even more remarkable is the improvement in the self-resolution rate. Previously, the number of inquiry tickets generated as a result of customers not referring firstly to FAQs accounted for 31% of all inquiries. This has been reduced to 20% (based on data dating from last year).

Continue Bringing Smiles to the Customers

FABRIC TOKYO remains steadfast in its vision of providing ‘Custom wear for all’, leveraging Zendesk as the foundation of its customer support framework.
“Offering made-to-order outfits is challenging. Those who usually buy ready-to-wear clothing often don’t consider the steps involved in production like selecting fabrics and customizing designs. However, these are the people whom we really want to use our services, and we don’t want to leave the order process entirely up to the customers,” says Ms. Sasaki, “Zendesk has become an indispensable part of our business. It allows us to deliver quality service online, just as customers would experience in-store. That way, they can always shop with us without worries.”
With a user-friendly e-commerce site, FABRIC TOKYO is committed to consistently providing both the best business attire and customer experience. The unwavering dedication of the staff sustains this effort. Moving forward, FABRIC TOKYO wants to continue putting customers at its core. “When I used to work in fitting at other stores on-site, I saw how customers reacted with such radiant smiles when we offered something that fit their body and image perfectly. I can never forget the feeling of that moment,” says Ms. Sasaki. “Using Zendesk, I want to see more customers’ smiles in the future, because that moment is an important, irreplaceable joy for our employees.”