Hybrid Work: How OfficeMate Supports Its Customers to ‘WorkAnywhere’

The nature of work has changed. COVID-19 forced companies across Asia to move to remote work. Now, some of those same companies are adopting hybrid work models. That means many employees are engaging in a mix of remote and office based work.

This is a reality OfficeMate understands. The Thailand-based office supplies provider knows its customers’ needs have changed. OfficeMate is changing with them. 

“Our business is not limited to office spaces,” explains Apipoj Piasak, Head of Data and Digital Platform at OfficeMate. “Cafés, restaurants, hotels, homes, and beaches have all become workplaces.”

Mr Apipoj says OfficeMate is using digital transformation to provide a more customer-centric service journey. It’s a concept the company calls ‘WorkAnywhere’. 

He explains the company’s new service model has been built and tailored to support all businesses, workers, and lifestyles.

“Our aim is to deliver a hygienic, rejuvenated, and digitised work environment that unlocks the human ability to deliver the best performance from anywhere.”

For OfficeMate, that means giving customers access to more than 100,000 products and services across a wide range of business needs. Products like masks, air purifiers, and sanitation items help customers maintain hygiene workplaces. Equipment like laptops and WiFi routers enable remote work.

Growing with digital transformation

OfficeMate has been one of Thailand’s best-known retailers for more than 26 years. It began as a product catalogue and call centre business. Today, the company operates a vast network of more than 100 stores across the country. 

The company’s digital transformation journey began six years ago with Service Cloud. After evaluating multiple vendors, OfficeMate chose Salesforce to implement an end-to-end solution to support its business growth. 

This included implementing internal workflows, and using Service Cloud dashboards and reporting to track customer service cases. The company also analysed data to improve customer service and satisfaction. 

This helped the company become more than a standard office supplies provider. It enabled OfficeMate to partner with businesses of all sizes and types. It also supported the company’s more recent shift towards a customer-centric service model. 

Connecting with customers

As the company continued to grow, OfficeMate executives implemented Sales Cloud, Digital Engagement, Communities, and Salesforce Knowledge solutions to deliver new customer-centric service channels. It also empowered employees with the Salesforce Mobile App to manage all interactions on the go. 

Customers are able to connect with OfficeMate in several ways. For example, new ‘Call & Shop’ and ‘Chat & Shop’ innovations are blurring the lines between physical and virtual stores. The aim is to make shopping as easy and convenient as possible for all customers.

‘Call & Shop’ connects customers with a shopping assistant who guides the customer experience via a phone call. ‘Chat & Shop’ enables customers to text queries to customer service staff via the real-time LINE chat app. 

“Now, instead of simply selling products to our customers, we listen to their needs and try to understand what they are looking for,” Mr Apipoj explains. “OfficeMate has become our customers’ personal shopper to source all the products they need for their businesses with only a few clicks.”

Stepping into a digital future

The results of OfficeMate’s customer-centric transformation have been strong. The company has improved service times, created more cross- and up-sell opportunities, and is closing sales faster. OfficeMate’s Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) has also improved. 

As OfficeMate continues to step into its digital future, Mr Apipoj says customer data will help the company propose the right offer or service at the right time. 

The company also plans to introduce Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further personalise shopping experiences with a chatbot.

Along with advanced warehouse automation, Mr Apipoj says this will help to connect all online and offline channels. 

“Part of our goal is to build a seamless digital customer journey that delivers the best customer experience,” he concludes. “We believe this will give us the power to meet all future challenges.”