Key stats:
- 1200+ stores implemented Zipline
- 100% satisfaction from field leaders
- 97% reported improved communication
- 96% said it helped with day-to-day work
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) has been a leading, global specialty retailer for more than 40 years. With strong omnichannel capabilities centered around successful store organization, they needed to:
- Streamline and tighten up communications from HQ to American Eagle and Aerie stores
- Effectively package communications for field leadership
- Provide stores, corporate teams, and field management a clear, single source of truth to work from
- Give field leaders a reliable mobile app to quickly and easily communicate with stores when on the road
If you know, you know (retail)
The AEO store communication team felt an instant click with Zipline CEO and Co-Founder, Melissa Wong, since she’d been in their shoes before as a professional communicator in the retail industry.
That feeling continued as they worked with the Zipline team. The time dedicated to understanding AEO’s culture, processes, and people showed they intrinsically understood the nuances of retail—and the impact improving communications could have for the company’s nearly 70,000 store associates.
An alignment that’s grown even stronger since adoption. “Communicating effectively and efficiently internally to create positive, meaningful experiences for the customer is basically the foundation of what our team does,” VP of Associate Experience and Customer Care Marc Lambo told Melissa in an interview at NRF 2024. “We needed to work with a team of people that could see that vision and impact positive change.”
Piloting a smooth takeoff
Gaining buy-in was a collaborative process with the AEO store communication team. After showing the benefits of Zipline and partnering with AEO’s tech team to cover implementation, everyone was on board and feeling confident about the switch.
It started with a pilot across 150 stores. Soon, requests were coming in from other store leaders to use the platform. A few months later, the test group had doubled to 300 stores. Did we mention this was during the busy holiday season? The excitement was palpable and spoke volumes about the value teams were already seeing.
Since then, Zipline’s been able to help scale AEO’s communications with their explosive growth. “It’s about scalability and flexibility,” Mark told us. “To truly achieve the growth to meet that global scale…we need to have a consistent feedback loop in place. Then we can prioritize and understand the level of urgency to communicate.”
Strong communication, connected teams, agile execution
The time redirected to helping customers was clear in itself. And when AEO surveyed field leaders about their experience using Zipline, the pilot’s success was undeniable.
100% of pilot stores agreed Zipline was better than their previous solution. 97% reported an improvement in the way they received and processed home office communication. 96% said it helped day-to-day work by making it easier to find communications and information.
Now Zipline is fully implemented—and AEO teams are substantially more agile. Even when the pandemic threw retail into uncharted waters, they were able to mobilize quickly to communicate safety guidelines and prioritize the health of associates and customers.
With Zipline, AEO has the opportunity to innovate and maintain strong communication and store execution. From being able to replace printed binders and paper checklists to ensuring field teams have the information they need to do their jobs more efficiently, Zipline has changed how AEO works for the better.
Learn how Zipline can keep your day on track
Book a demo to talk about your needs, our solutions, and get a chance at a free copy of our co-founders’ bestselling book, Stores Don’t Suck: The 5 Principles of Amazing Retail Execution.
