The Internet Marketing Monitor is no stranger to success stories and case studies dealing with the merging of offline and online services.  I've talked about it on numerous occasions and highlighted several different ways that other companies have been able to bring their off- and online services together for an even better experience.  And I've got one more now.

MarketingSherpa is running a great story on the success David's Bridal had creating online services that complement and add to offline sales at the company's stores.

David's Bridal wanted to find ways to expand its online offerings without taking sales away from the company's brick and mortar stores that generate the majority of its profits.  The company decided to forge strategic partnerships with other companies in the industry that offered services outside the scope of David's Bridal.  For example, a deal with 1-800-Flowers provided David's Bridal customers with complementary meetings with professional wedding floral designers.  Other deals created online portal sights that offered the newly engaged a single place from which to plan, shop, and organize everything from photography to dresses and honeymoon packages.

By merging these various wedding services, David's Bridal was able to pitch itself as a one-stop solution for all things bridal.  And since a David's Bridal customer was likely to have visited the store other dresses well before their wedding day, the company wanted to use that one-stop image to bolster its brand image.  To further that cause, David's Bridal hired in-store reps and equipped them with laptops to take into the field.  These traveling reps, who in essence became wedding planners, used the partnerships and portals created by David's Bridal to augment the company's in-store offerings.  And by taking their services to the customer, these computer-wielding reps made the David's Bridal experience much more personal and memorable for customers.

The company says it's online services and online presence "exploded" in 2006 due to their initiatives.  They also added hundreds of local partners to keep the momentum going after the bride left their website.  Using a strict set of guidelines, David's Bridal enlisted the help of local florists, photographers, djs, and other wedding services providers to extend beyond the online.  Through the partnerships, David's Bridal was able to suggest and refer brides to nearly every service they could ever need.

Overall, the company is very happy with the changes it made in 2006.  The in-store sales rep program, which was only rolled out in select stores during 2006, was successful enough to warrant expansion in 2007.  And according to the MarketingSherpa report, the company feels it has created the optimal mix of on and offline services to meet its customer's needs.

And that's really what it's all about.