“Creative without strategy is called 'art'. Creative with strategy is called 'advertising'.” — Jef I. Richards
mycuppa November 2017 Newsletter
Strategic shift
It seemed like a long time ago, in March, when we started the 20% spot discount marketing exclusively for Newsletter subscribers.
These campaigns involved allocating around 200 - 350+ kg each month for discount redemption at the checkout. In just eight months, we put up more than 3 tons of coffee for a discount over the short few days of each monthly campaign.
We were left gob-smacked with how successful, frenzied and insane the rapid purchases occurred. In each of the eight manic months, the allotments would sell out within 24 hours, and often, customers would complain of missing out.
We put up more kilos each time only to see it taken quickly. Caps on the coupon codes were implemented to spread the time, but invariably, some customers missed out.
We have decided to change gears on that marketing style - yes, it's exciting and incredibly challenging to process that many orders quickly, but we are looking for something more sustainable and enduring.
Our focus on incentive-based programs is shifting with introducing a new coffee available at a lower price point - this represents a move against the tide of the market lifting pricing.
This new product is designed to attract coffee drinkers who typically buy beans at the supermarket but with higher quality and extreme freshness.
The new coffee will remain available in our store 24 x 7 and come with the same assurances of quality and respect we give to all coffees in our portfolio.
Try the new Revolver - a seasonal coffee offering incredible value.
Grab our latest coffee blends here.
Why retail in Australia is fast becoming another screwed-over economy
This month, we look at the challenges Australian retailers face. Many are attributing these difficulties to customer sentiment and expectations.
It's all the customer's fault (only joking).
It's not just coffee that I'm talking about here; you only need to look at long faces from small business owners on any High-Street shopping strip or the once mighty traditional department stores Myer and David Jones struggling to identify how to remain relevant to their customers.
There is a constant fight for survival and limited prospects of future growth.
Our opinion piece looks at the disconnect between expectations for "free and fast" shipping versus the reality of the inherent costs involved.
Please read it here.
NZ Express is back.
We have enabled freight services to New Zealand after two months of re-contracting agreements with the freight supplier. This process took much longer than expected.
We are happy to report we are back at full speed with NZ, and we appreciate all the patience and kind words of support from our many NZ customers as they wait for the resumption of shipping.
We have increased the rates for the new contract as expected due to the freight charges. However, we're offering a 15% discount on express freight to New Zealand till the end of 2017. Please note that this discount has already been applied to the express rates for NZ.
Sendle Scorecard
It's been almost three months since we switched on Sendle, and the scorecard shows mixed results.
On the one hand, plenty of happy customers claim super-fast delivery timeframes and cheaper freight. Yet, we have a few challenges with remote destinations experiencing slower delivery timeframes.
Overall, it's fair to say the price for interstate customers, mainly the 2kg bundle is pretty damn good value for money.
Our experience with Sendle has been much smoother than dealing with the AusPost support centre. Sendle's support team is prompt, precise, and reasonably assisting customers. At the same time, AusPost has excessive regulations, bureaucracy, limited information sharing, slow response times and solutions that are only sometimes tailored to the needs of senders and recipients.
One aspect of the Sendle service we are closely monitoring is the transit performance for regional areas.
We believe that some delivery agents in remote areas are waiting days to accumulate enough parcels to justify trips to recipient's addresses.
Please don't be alarmed or scared of using Sendle, as I'm reporting here on just a handful of instances.
When this happens, we report this kind of sub-standard performance to Sendle. Sendle must manage their delivery partners professionally and remove this dodgy practice.
Sendle maintains around 23% of our shipping volume by parcel, whilst AusPost is 65% and TNT business the remainder. I'd like to see Sendle closer to the AusPost book, so we have some real competition in freight service delivery. Service superiority is the key to achieving this goal.
