Makro Kerstpakketten Leveling-up the CX of employee appreciation

Backend development Brand building CX design Digital transformation Frontend development Retail

In the rat race for good staff and a productive organization, it is more important than ever that employees feel valued. Therefore, companies seek to express their appreciation every December with Christmas gifts. However, without individual attention it can miss its effect easily. As the undisputed market leader in this category, MAKRO Kerstpakketten wanted to change that, by improving the complete CX of Christmas appreciation.

It's the thought that counts

Every year, a quarter of Dutch employers rely on Makro KP (part of METRO AG) to help thank their employees for their hard work. However, as the importance of employee appreciation grows, so do the expectation. The traditional concept of the "Christmas box," despite its purpose, can be perceived as a routine gesture rather than a meaningful one. Recognizing this, Makro KP set out to transform the experience.

The key to making employees feel appreciated is ensuring the gift reflects genuine effort and consideration from the employer. We found that what truly matters is not the gift but the thought behind it. However, when you are a large organization with thousands of employees, this can be a challenge. That’s why we wanted to focus on turning this moment of appreciation into a more memorable experience—one with a story with personal elements that employees can share with their colleagues. We developed an interactive commerce platform as an extension to the traditional giftbox called Beleefkado.

Personal, branded & scalable

The base of the CX is a renewed e-commerce environment streamlining the gifting process. The design concept communicates a warm and festive feeling with a strong holiday theme brought to life through cheerful, story-driven illustrative elements woven throughout the user journey. A versatile design system is created to accommodate any client’s branding—using a wide range of colors while maintaining accessibility. This ensures employees are always guided in a branded manner when choosing their perfect gift. To enhance the experience further, an extra layer of personalization is added on multiple levels – for example, through a component for personalized thank you messages or videos to better convey appreciation beyond just the gift itself.

The Art of Giving

What could be more enjoyable than wrapping this new shopping experience in a delightful, storytelling journey that allows colleagues to count down to the holidays together in a surprising way. BeleefKado offers just that— an immersive experience where employees navigate a mystery that leads to a personalized gift recommendation. The choices that the employee makes propel the story forward and actively involving them reinforces the idea that the thought behind the gift matters most. Ensuring the gift reflects genuine effort and consideration by the employer.

Various user groups with very different needs (add users)

Balancing the combination of specific needs for the Makro sales team was a challenge: on the one hand, a fast way to set up and duplicate shops, products and settings was a must, but on the other hand, almost every detail should have the option to be customised to their client's specific wishes. This required an in-depth analysis of all exact requirements, user flows, exceptions, fields and options that should be able to be managed. After analysing all flows and requirements, we created a functional design according to the system requirements and UI elements of Salesforce B2B commerce together with our sister company Penfield Digital.

An essential final step involved ensuring seamless integration with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central (ERP), encompassing a range of data sources such as products, pricing, inventory management, and connections with fulfillment partners. Through close collaboration with Nominow, we successfully achieved a streamlined and efficient alignment of this data integration! Together, this comprehensive approach demonstrates how The Valley Group delivers end-to-end solutions to drive customer success.

Bringing appreciation to the next level

The concept of BeleefKado is the first result of the partnership between MAKRO KP and The Valley. It aims to contribute to the structural improvement of the relationship between employer and employee. The platform allows for various customizable options and future themes that align with company vision of clients and team's preferences. The introduction of BeleefKado is a completely new customer experience in the category, bringing employee appreciation to a whole new level.

Are you ready to develop a complete digital CX, the journey starts here!

Job Legdeur

Head of Partnerships

Contact Job