Buying gifts for children can be daunting. The amount of choice is often overwhelming and finding a present the child will really love is a tough task!

In a recent survey, 84% of respondents did gift research online, but over a quarter said this was just as stressful as going into the shops.

For LEGO, this daunting purchasing decision is a problem. From shop.LEGO.com through to their retail partners (e.g. Amazon), customers are met with an enormous selection of LEGO sets that can leave them feeling confused and unable to make a purchase.

LEGO wanted a solution that would assist customers in navigating this confusing landscape, helping them find the perfect gift that the child would actually love. They needed an interactive solution that would help LEGO discover who the customer was buying for and provide relevant suggestions based on their likes and interests.

LEGO’s review of gifting across the peak period discovered that customers were overloaded with choice, and feared failing to give a gift that the child liked. We needed a solution that helped address both issues and was as individual as the customers.

We wanted to target parents and gift givers who were looking to buy presents. We identified multiple mindsets that would help us divide this audience and create custom journeys to ensure routes were relevant.

Facebook was the most relevant platform for the parents and gift givers that we wanted to reach.

We recognized that not every customer would want the same journey within our chatbot. Some would like to get a gift suggestion as quickly as possible, whilst others preferred a deeper dive into the LEGO world. We started with our audience mindsets and created multiple entry points and versions of Ralph which would address the customer’s requirements.

LEGO Gift Bot's success depended on the Chat Bot's Digital Design. The look, feel and tone of the bot needed to emanate the LEGO's brand feeling, whilst delivering a premium digital service which was actually helpful to consumers in their purchasing, rather than a mere novelty.

To make every gift suggestion perfect, we developed questions around price range, age, personality and interests. This meant the mammoth task of recategorizing LEGO sets, assigning them to new categories that were specifically designed around our interests and personalities. These categories provided relevant suggestions that suited customer’s price point, child’s age, interests, and personalities.

A custom API that provided real time, localized stock updates from store.LEGO.com, and gave customers a unique free shipping code and gift. A single tap completed the purchase through store.LEGO.com.

Development = three weeks

Targeted Facebook promotion to customers with relevant direct messaging

UK, US, Canada, Germany, France and Poland