Charles Clinkard taps Pulse AI review intelligence platform to enhance retailer's CX and online reputation

British footwear retailer, Charles Clinkard, has partnered with Pulse, an AI powered review intelligence platform.

Founded in 1924, it has over 30 retail locations and an e-commerce site powered by Visualsoft.

The aforementioned platform provides sentiment analysis, instant notifications and allows its stores to reply to reviews quickly and centrally. The retailer will also use one of Pulse's most popular tools to calculate the exact number of five star reviews needed to increase a business' Google rating.

The platform also manages location data like opening hours, ensuring Charles Clinkard’s listing is accurate and up-to-date.

Rachel Clinkard, E-commerce Director at Charles Clinkard, says: “We’ve always taken customer feedback seriously and partnering with Pulse is a natural next step for us. Their technology lets us understand and respond to reviews faster and more intelligently than ever before. It also gives us the ability to track performance across all our stores, which is key for maintaining our high service standards.”

Using AI and machine learning, Pulse brings together all of a company’s Google Reviews across multiple stores into one platform. It benchmarks performance across locations or against others in the industry. One of its key features is the Pulse Score, a unique, which consolidates review activity into a single score for each store and the overall business.

Clinkard adds: “We also know how important authentic reviews are for customers, so maximising the potential of the ones we have and encouraging stores to capture more was really important. Pulse also aligns with our wider strategy of increasing AI adoption across the business, helping us respond in ways that are both efficient and relevant.”

“And importantly, we’ve seen that replying to reviews with the right keywords can help our search visibility, so Pulse is supporting us there too. Pulse supports our values and gives us a clearer view of what our customers think.”

“Working with a company like Charles Clinkard is a big moment for us,” said Kiya Phillips, Founder and CEO at Pulse. “They care deeply about customer service and reputation, which aligns perfectly with what Pulse delivers. It’s exciting to support a business that’s been trusted for over 100 years and now trusts us to help power their future.”

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January.