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At Smartbox, the European leader in experience gift boxes, innovation is at the heart of its strategy. With over 6 million gift boxes sold across 14 countries and a team of 800 employees, CEO Fanny Ponce, alongside Chloé Darmon (Chief of Staff to the CEO) and Mourad Meraou (Operations Director), shared their journey of digital transformation through AI integration.
We spoke with them to understand why they chose Phacet and the results they achieved.
Why did Smartbox choose to integrate AI solutions?
"We’ve been in business for over 20 years. Our goal was twofold: to bring a modern edge to our often very manual processes and to meet the growing demands of processing our large volumes of data. With tens of thousands of partners across Europe and hundreds of thousands of customers, we needed a solution to alleviate our teams and optimize their work."
For Smartbox, adopting AI is not just about staying competitive but also about freeing employees from repetitive tasks. This human-centered view of technology is central to their approach.
Why did you choose Phacet as a partner?
"We chose Phacet for three main reasons: their tailored support, their speed of execution, and their operational excellence. Phacet isn’t just a service provider; they operate as an extension of our teams with exemplary responsiveness. We’ve never felt like just another client."
Mourad Meraou also emphasized the importance of mutual trust:
"In a rapidly evolving field like AI, we needed a partner who could clearly communicate what they could and couldn’t do. Phacet’s honesty and transparency are invaluable."
How has AI transformed your processes?
Phacet has implemented several applications at Smartbox, each yielding significant results:
Automating Financial Matching
"We implemented an application to match payments and invoices in our finance department—previously a very manual task. The result? A fourfold increase in productivity."
Streamlining several operations around the Catalog management
"With tens of thousands of partners and up to 15,000 updates monthly—often in multiple languages—AI has increased productivity on this process by six to seven times."
These gains extend beyond productivity. The tool’s ease of use has also been praised by teams:
"We didn’t need extensive training. The tool is intuitive, and its integration didn’t require complex modifications to our existing systems."
What are Phacet’s key strengths?
Fanny Ponce, CEO, highlighted three key strengths:
- Precise Needs Mapping: "Phacet identified where AI could have the greatest impact on our organization."
- ROI-Focused Approach: "Their approach is centered on maximizing financial and operational returns."
- Employee Satisfaction: "AI isn’t seen as a threat but as a tool that helps our teams. That makes all the difference."
What benefits do you see for the future?
"AI offers opportunities in three areas: productivity, improving working conditions for employees, and better addressing customer needs."
The speed of project execution is also a key success factor:
"At Smartbox, every use case addressed with Phacet was operational within six weeks. Results are visible quickly, which motivates the teams."
Through its collaboration with Phacet, Smartbox has deeply transformed its operations. AI integration has gone beyond productivity gains, strengthening employee satisfaction and the company’s ability to meet customer expectations.
For Fanny Ponce, this transformation showcases how AI can be used to serve humanity, blending cutting-edge technology with a human-centered approach. It’s a successful partnership that highlights the endless possibilities AI offers in e-commerce and beyond.
