This session features Aramark’s B2B case study and highlights how the organization used Adobe Commerce to modernize its commerce experience. Listen to the entire session here.

Session Speakers:

• Diane Pancoski, VP Marketing Strategy and Innovation, Aramark
• Peter Czimback, VP Digital Innovation, Aramark
• Emily Wilhoit, CMO, Infosys x Blue Acorn iCi

In today's digital landscape, creating exceptional experiences isn't only about technology; it's about truly understanding the consumer. Czimback began the session by pointing out that in both the B2B and B2C space, organizations should think about how they can make their customers' lives even easier.

In regards to Aramark’s commerce experience under its Refreshments business unit that serves workplaces and office spaces, both Czimback and Pancoski added insights into how their teams began transforming the workplace environment of their customers.

By reimagining every interaction, whether picking, packing, or delivering, Aramark decided to partner with Blue Acorn iCi and Adobe to build a seamless, consumer-first experience that drove real impact.

What Wasn’t Working With Aramark’s Existing B2B Experience?

While Aramark’s website was performing well and the team was hitting its numbers, leaders at the organization like Czimback and Pancoski recognized improvements could be made.

“It was clunky, it didn’t have that personalization, it was hard to navigate, and the user experience was not where it needed to be,” Pancoski shared.

Czimback explained the importance of customer service and how that can only get companies so far. He emphasized the importance of bringing the physical and digital customer experiences together instead of focusing solely on one or the other.

He continued, “You shop at home; it shouldn’t be different when you shop at work.”

The speakers explained that while it was a struggle to convince the organization to move to Adobe Commerce because they had a site that was performing “good enough,” focusing and framing metrics around their customers is what helped Aramark get leadership buy-in to create this new digital experience.

The New Experience

Aramark's hospitality-driven and client-centric experience improved the average order value for existing customers. Now, the team can focus on its customers' emotional needs, solve problems, and curate an experience tailored to the individual.

Building the new commerce experience on Adobe Commerce simplified Aramark's backend, and the organization’s marketing team now has an easier time executing strategy, releasing new promotions, and analyzing data to improve customer experiences further.

Marketing isn't the only happy internal customer; the sales organization loves that they can efficiently work together with marketing while utilizing the same platform. The improved website SEO and qualified leads have led to higher conversion rates and, in turn, helped Aramark retain its salespeople and keep them engaged.

Thanks to AI technology, Aramark can work smarter with data and make better decisions around inventory. As the team looks toward the future to improve customer value, Aramark can now develop curated product recommendations for customers when items are out of stock based on inventory and what they might like.

As Aramark continues to build a better mobile experience, the team recognizes that customer behavior is changing, and shoppers are placing fewer orders over the phone and adopting the new mobile experience.

Lessons Learned

Many departments within Aramark faced challenges in breaking old habits and reimagining digital experiences. While the organization’s existing processes were effective, Czimback and Pancoski saw an opportunity to elevate customer experiences and foster interactions that would drive Aramark’s growth in the market.

Implementing Adobe Commerce was a success, but both speakers agreed that dedicating more time to overcommunicating, educating, and training internal and external customers would have made the transition even smoother.

As the team evaluates their learnings and looks toward the future, they will ask questions like:

• How do we incentivize customers to self-order and utilize the new digital experience?
• How can we communicate more effectively with our customers about the new system?
• How do we convert the customers who like talking over the phone to move over to the self-service side?

What’s Next?

Czimback and Pancoski elaborated on the future of AI, expanding to new regions, adopting new languages, and how these areas of emphasis will impact Aramark’s business. In the next 16-18 months, its customers should expect more AI experiences as the team learns more about agentic AI and develops a strategy for the business to execute.

Czimback commented that more customers will want to communicate over text rather than by calling a company in the future.

“The idea that agentic AI is going to rapidly accelerate as cost continues to go down, people will use it more,” he remarked.

Overall, Aramark’s continued focus is to increase customer loyalty and keep customers engaged as the user experience evolves.

“We never want to lose that hospitality piece of what we do with making sure technology enhances the experience and they work together. That’s always the challenge with us on the B2B and B2C side. We’re always trying to take that digital and physical and making sure it enhances the experience,” Pancoski stated.

To learn more about digital transformation, read our ebook or contact Infosys x Blue Acorn iCi. As a Platinum Adobe Partner, our team of experts has implemented the latest Adobe technology for various companies across industries.