In 1979, Bill and Jean Adderley opened a market stall selling textiles in Leicester City Centre.
Since then, Dunelm has diversified into a homewares retailer, with over 184 stores nationwide and an ecommerce site.
While a powerhouse in the industry, Dunelm needed help to improve its customers’ checkout experience and streamline its processes.
Here’s how Adyen helped tackle each problem — and unlocked a way for Dunelm to give back to the community too.
The challenge: Dated checkout experiences
Between its ecommerce site and retail stores, Dunelm needed an omnichannel solution with a single view of its customers.
“With more people moving towards online shopping, we needed a solution to help us recognise shoppers across channels in order to understand their buying habits. Having limited payment experience, we looked for a partner with the credibility to move us forward,” said Thiago Palharini, Senior Product Manager at Dunelm.
Like many risk averse businesses, Dunelm needed to maintain the balance between high conversion and tight security — a common concern that’s alleviated when implementing a card authentication layer like 3D Secure.
“The question was: How do we increase conversion and provide a better experience for our customers while making sure they feel safe at the same time?”
The solution: Smoother shopper journeys and a feel-good factor
A few years ago, Dunelm switched to Adyen to support their long-term strategy.
“We chose Adyen because of its omnichannel capabilities, platform infrastructure, and because it’s at the forefront of the industry, which is where we aspire to be,” said Thiago.
Together, the companies have partnered to achieve the following:
#1: New payment methods
Thanks to Adyen’s simple integrations, new payment methods were rolled out fast.
“We now have Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Pay by Link,” explained Thiago. “That’s four new payment methods in a few years.”
The payment link functionality is especially handy as it allows Dunelm’s store staff to text or email a secure link to customers — useful for MOTO sales and follow-up orders made after delivery.
Most of this was achieved with little-to-no development work, due to Adyen’s checkout components, which combined with Dunelm’s user interface to create a semi-customisable checkout.
These speedy integrations also allow time for running tests: “More than five payment methods per customer group can look less trustworthy. With Adyen, we can add, test, and iterate to make sure we choose the right ones.”
#2: Smoother in-store shopper journeys
Dunelm’s in-store experience already had harmony between technology and human interaction.
Case in point: Their staff are equipped with tablets to help customers order products online — which is especially helpful for people who aren’t comfortable with technology.
With Adyen’s terminals and high-speed processing, Dunelm has been able to level up the customer experience. Now, whether it’s via tablets or terminals, payments run much smoother.
“It’s now easier for our customers to shop,” shared Thiago. “We have more options for how to pay and the returns process is more efficient too. It makes the entire process slicker.”
#3: Donations at checkout
Facilitating charity donations at checkout was always on Dunelm’s wish list.
When Adyen presented its Giving integration, which lets businesses prompt charity donations at checkout, it was an opportunity not to be missed.
“The initial donations function was rolled out in less than a month,” recalled Thiago. “We saw positive engagement from our customers and impressive results.”
The result: Higher conversion, improved efficiency, and a quarter of £1m to charity
The rollout of Adyen’s integrations has had a massive impact on Dunelm’s business and operations:
Increased payment flexibility: Checkout conversion rates have improved with new payment methods like Apple Pay.
Access to payment data: “Adyen brought in a lot of data that we weren't looking at, which helped us improve the frictionless journey,” said Thiago. “It also allowed us to optimise 3D Secure and explore card .”
Easier reconciliation: Everything now feeds into the same platform.
Smoother internal processes: According to Thiago, “When I'm developing something new, the cyber security team asks: ‘Is this within the Adyen integration?’ If it is, I don’t have to provide more information as they’re satisfied with the level of security. It’s sped up the process.”
Increased fundraising efforts via Adyen Giving: “Over 5% of people paying with card payments are now donating one pound to charity,” Thiago explained. “To date, we’ve raised just under £250,000.”
And of course, the partnership won’t stop there. Adyen and Dunelm continue to work together to drive the business forward:
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