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Overview: Hughes enhance their decisioning processes to improve credit quality
Learn how Hughes empowered staff, and customers, through data-led performance monitored decisions
Hughes are the 4th largest specialist electrical retailer and the largest provider of home entertainment and kitchen appliance rentals. Founded in 1921, 100 years later they wanted to continue to expand their business and drive further opportunity through adding digital into their customer journey. Whether that be in-store, or through their online rental platform.
Challenge overview
Until last year, Hughes were held to a lengthy and manual process of processing applicants who wanted or rent their products. In order for a customer to receive credit, they needed to manually provide the financials – for the store assistant to then manually reshare them with a group of underwriters on the phone. The underwriter would manually assess each case by using the applicants credit file to make a judgement-based decision of risk and suitability.
3 in 5 business decisions across Financial Services are judgement based. With nearly every business planning to improve customer centricity, and certainty through cloud-hosted automation, in the next 3-years.
Hughes had a clear ambition to continue to grow their business and streamline the application process for both their operations and risk teams, but also for their customers. To grow (and retain) their business they wanted to develop, and launch, a new online rental platform. To relieve operational constraints, they wanted to both strengthen the in-store credit application, as well as create a journey that was suitable for digital trade.
While not automated, personalised decisions were already a key part of Hughes credit decisioning processes. If a customer wasn’t suited to the purchase they asked for – then Hughes would proactively offer an alternative, for example a refurbed option which was of lesser asset value, but also a more suitable, affordable, payment for the customer. Retaining this was key for Hughes.
Challenges
- Lengthy manual application and decision process
- Ambition to continue to grow and streamline business processes
- Looking to strengthen the in-store credit application and create a digital trade journey
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Company Bio:
Hughes are the 4th largest specialist electrical retailer and the largest provider of home entertainment and kitchen appliance rentals. Founded in 1921, they remain a family firm 100 years later.
| |
|---|---|
| Founded: | 1921 |
| Industry: | Retail |
| Products: | Electrical goods |
At Hughes, we wanted to retain our heritage but modernise our engagement mechanism. While this was predicated off the launch of our rental website, being able to improve the instore experience simultaneously, was a significant part of our strategy too.
Solution overview
Hughes embarked on a journey to bring data, and automation (decisioning) into their business and operating model, both on, and offline.
By working with Experian, Hughes were set up with PowerCurve Customer Acquisition. PowerCurve Customer Acquisition is a templated SaaS solution that offered rapid deployment. While a templated option, it was pre-integrated with data services and workflows, that provided a single solution for all the requirements Hughes had to manage risk and acquire the right customers, at speed – in-store, or online.
As such, Hughes were not only able to continue to trade when stores were forced to close throughout 2020 but do so at rapid pace. With the new decisioning software enabled within a month, Hughes were able to trade digitally – while benefiting from enhanced risk processes and a slick, modern customer journey too.
Within a month of contracting PowerCurve Customer Acquisition, Hughes were live and had started to see significant improvement in credit performance of their new customers too.
Discover PowerCurve Customer Acquisition
Results
- The online platform allowed Hughes to organically reach and attract new customers
- Reduced credit risk, through significantly improved credit quality - leading to reduced losses
- Staff and customers empowered with a more discrete, transparent and slick application expereince
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