To come closer to the customer, the Austrian sports retailer Hervis Sports is supplementing its omnichannel service offering with a personal video consultation, especially in product areas that require a lot of advice, like skis and bikes. Working together with SPAR ICS, the IT subsidiary of its parent company, SPAR, Hervis proposes to book an appointment for video consultation through Microsoft Bookings. Customers pick the desired time on an online calendar, select their contact person and are approached via the desired channel. Limited store opening options due to Covid-19 in recent months already led Hervis to implement other pragmatic solutions a few months ago, such as a consultation hotline for ski touring, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing, which was set up a few months ago. Last year, e-commerce revenues more than doubled at Hervis in comparison to 2019. As reported, the chain’s revenues declined by 7.3 percent to €470 million in 2020. It had reached a peak of €520 million in 2017.
