- The Branded Moment
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- Chewy: Experience Over Efficiency
Brand: Chewy
Moment: Customer Experience
Read time: 3 minutes
💬 Overview 💬
In September of 2011, Ryan Cohen and Michael Day decided to drop out of college to start an online pet food & toy retailer, Chewy.
When they tried to raise capital, they were met with extreme resistance from investors.
Have you heard of this company called Amazon? They heard time and time again.
A short 5 years later, Chewy took on the internet giant and became the biggest online pet food retailer in the United States.
💙 The Branded Moment 💙
How did they do it?
Chewy’s toys weren’t that much better than Amazon’s, nor were they any cheaper.
Chewy did one thing truly above and beyond the rest:
Customer Service
Chewy welcomes every new pet on the platform with a handwritten card.
They will occasionally surprise and delight their customers with special gifts and treats.
Most people know that Chewy has amazing customer service, but did you know they have dozens of people on staff to create FREE pet portraits?
And when pets pass away, they don’t make it impossible for them to cancel. They instead send flowers and another handwritten note.
Chewy embodies the LOVE people have for their pets, and they know that buying pet food should be fun.
Plus, their website experience is ALSO amazing, which makes it so easy and fun to use.
Chewy CX is the full package.
💡 Results 💡
People spend THOUSANDS of dollars on pet food and toys in their lifetime.
Knowing that retention is just as important as acquisition, Chewy does everything they can to keep customers happy, excited, and engaged.
In 2019, the brand was acquired by PetSmart, and today, Chewy’s market cap is a whopping $11.1B!!!
To this day, their investor decks still mention customer service as their leading differentiator.
To me, this proves you don’t need crazy innovation to be better than your competitors. Sometimes, experience alone can be the deciding factor between you and another brand.
🎬 Take Action 🎬
How often do you think about customer service?
In my experience, it’s usually considered a back-office role, but maybe, like Chewy, it should fall under a front of house responsibility?
As a brand marketer, how can you reimagine customer service for your products to be the most customer friendly brand in your category?
What’s New This Week
One new product I tried this week 👉 Saint James Iced Tea. Great amount of flavor for how low cal it is. I’d get it again.
One new campaign I’m loving 👉 Obviously have to shout out Rhode’s Pocket Blush. Keep it coming, Hailey.
One new account I’m following 👉 Fishwife! I love their mix of content, and they have amazing ideas for how to use their products in recipes.
Brandkeeping
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it on to 3 marketers you know!
And if you have a brand or campaign you want to spotlight, please reply directly to this newsletter.
Let’s chat!
See ya!
Ali
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