It’s July and that can mean only one thing - hang up your stockings, Christmas is coming.
If you’re not already planning your Christmas strategy, I hope this serves as a timely reminder.
Here’s a brief story about a dog.
Last Christmas, I was surprised to receive a free Christmas turkey dinner in the post.
This wasn’t part of a high productivity hack to keep me working over the Christmas break. It was a free gift, included in Cleo’s (dog) food delivery from Butternut Box | B Corp.
Needless to say, Cleo was absolutely delighted… at least for the 15 seconds it took her to finish it. She later conveniently forgot she had eaten it in the first place.
But 7 months on, and I still remember the feeling of excitement of giving her her food on Christmas day. It meant that Cleo could be part of our family tradition and enjoy her special meal with us.
Now, Cleo’s typical box comes at £66.57, containing 14 days worth of food, at £4.76 per day. The free meal included in her box would have cost around £3.17, or the equivalent of just 5% off her normal box - far from a good discount for that time of year.
What Butternut Box | B Corp had achieved was create an engaging and memorable customer experience, without having to discount their product offering. They went beyond the immediate needs of their customers (feed the dog) and showed a deeper understanding of why customers shop their products in the first place (the dog is part of the family).
Deals and promotions can be a great tool to attract new customers, but they do not connect on an emotional level. Creating unexpected, positive experiences in your customer journey is a much more effective tactic when it comes to delighting customers and can come as a significant boost to your retention and loyalty metrics.
Experienced anything similar? Share in the comments.
#christmasinjuly #customerexperience #customerloyalty #customerretention