THE BLIND LAUNCH INTO SPACE
When we first launched the website one of the biggest points of feedback was that our customers didn’t know what to buy. In fact, they didn’t even know where to start to buy. Ultimately, a lot were overwhelmed with the choice and didn’t buy! There was a lot of information and without having tried any of the beans, they didn’t want to make a bad decision. Little did they know they couldn’t make a bad decision, but regardless, we started brainstorming ways to assist our customers in making a decision.
First we came up with and idea to make a short quiz to establish how people drink their coffee which we could then match to the best suited coffees. We started off with a simple calculation: Coffee machine type, coffee style (black or milk based), grinder or no grinder, and how much coffee do they consume.
THE QUIZ
This quiz strategy was good but we didn’t want it to be “just good”, it needed to be fun and engaging as well. In it’s current state it felt like it didn’t have any personality.
That’s when we thought about peoples personalities playing a part in the results. What if you could get a coffee that suited your own personality? If you were an adventurous person, you might want to try something new everytime. Then, the Blindfold sampler would be perfect for you because you don’t know what you are getting until you open your delivery – and it might be the last time you sample those particular beans before the harvest runs out. For the conservative who doesn’t like surprises, nothing could be worse than not knowing what you’re getting. You just want a safe option that you can rely on time and time again.
AND
what if each combination of answers resulted in a unique and crazy made-up pop culture coffee suggestion – one that you HAD to share with others? This is how the idea of the coffee personalities was born!
MEET OUR PERSONALITIES
We went beyond the actual function to create something that engages with our customers, provides some light entertainment and is still somewhat scientific. There are currently 16 different personalities and we have a lot more in the making, but what exactly has it done for our business?
METRICS
The immediate change was the increase in social media interactions. We have people sharing the personalities all over the place now. Specifically, since we launched the quiz we saw a massive 353% increase in interactions with the website through Facebook and Twitter. A 58% increase in conversions through social media and an increase of 19% to all visitors to the website.
There has also been an overall conversion rate increase of 47% but it’s impossible to claim that this is entirely due to the quiz, as other factors need to be taken into account such as natural growth of the business, etc. However, there are a few other interesting points that we can confidently assume are a direct result of the quiz:
- The All Rounder Sampler pack was responsible for 46% of all sales prior to the quiz launch. Since then it has dropped to 21%.
- The Guatemalan Single origin coffee beans had a 129% increase to make up 12% of all coffee sales. This is most likely due to the fact that it is our first recommendation for people who own Espresso Machines, drink coffee with milk and chose “I Know What I Like” as the personality. These were the most common combination of choices on the site so there is a clear correlation.
- Il Caramello sales also went up by a massive 720% (from 1.94% -> 11.98%) and is responsible for a third of the total sales.
- 500g bag sales were almost non-existent prior to the launch of the quiz and now they are responsible for over half of the sales. This is because when you select your household coffee consumption as 1-2, it automatically populates the 3 coffee recommendations with 500g bags.
IN SUMMARY
Listen to your customers and find a solution that gives them exactly what they want when they need it. When you are starting out a business you don’t exactly know what your customers needs are. You can make a few educated assumptions but ultimately, your customers will correct you once you go live and that’s when it’s especially important to listen to them. Don’t expect to build your website and not have to keep improving it all the time. You have to give things a try, and then try something else if it doesn’t work.
If you haven’t tried the quiz, check it out now!
