Whilst consumers are in the lucky position of being spoilt for choice in the retail and FMCG environment, the always connected, ever busy and locked down customer can be left feeling a little overwhelmed when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Whilst consumers are going to engage with the brands that are relevant to them at that moment and those that demonstrate a rich understanding of them, they are also in search of ways to make their lives easier. For independent brands, being considered useful in the eyes of the consumer can be hugely beneficial to growing a successful relationship. In fact according to research by the DMA and Pure360 36% consumers prefer brands that demonstrate usefulness.

The next two automated campaigns not only customer centric, as they are useful and helpful to the consumer, but also help drive business revenue for the consumer goods or retail brand.

Back in stock emails

COVID-19 is a temporary crisis that will have lasting effects. The pandemic has had a big impact on the FMCG sector, with significant rises in demand and challenges facing the supply chain. This has meant the products for most consumer goods have disappeared off shelves the minute they are stocked or selling out within minutes online. Ensuring stock levels are kept up to date online and as accurate as possible is essential to retaining relationships with consumers.

This has been identified as being important to consumers, even before being faced with lockdown. According to additional research we undertook, 63% consumers want to be notified when an out of stock product becomes available again. This is a time when consumers need their lives to be made as easy as possible. Whether it is stock levels in store, or availability online, keeping these updated will avoid frustrating customer. It may also mean your most loyal customers will wait until the product is back in stock instead of purchasing from your competitor.

Holland & Barrett

During the pandemic Holland & Barrett have found themselves running out of stock on many hygiene and immune support products as soon as products are back in their warehouses. We love this service as it ensures those that love shopping at this store are able to pick up returning stock immediately. We do feel they have missed an opportunity to grow their database by not having an opt-in to newsletter tick box – but understand why they would focus just on the objective in mind – which is to remind consumers when the product is in stock.

 

Wiggle

Wiggle have an email when in stock service on all their out of stock products, again an extremely valuable service especially to those that are loyal to the wiggle store

Wiggle Back in Stock

Vitabiotics

What we love about this out of stock service is that it also asks if you want to sign up to their full newsletters – this is a great way to grow the database as well as providing a useful service to the consumer.

Replenishment emails

In the same research we also found that over 73% consumers would like to receive emails to remind them about subscription models or replenishment of products at the end of their lifecycle. In fact over 30% went on to say they see themselves purchasing more via subscribe and save models.

Amid COVID-19, subscription services and replenishment emails are set to rise, due to the convenience of either order and forget or triggered reminder messages. Not only are these campaigns hugely useful  for the consumer, it also has advantages from a business perspective. Brands can significantly reduce the cost of unnecessary re-marketing ad spend, whilst also being able to predict customer repeat orders and generate a consistent revenue stream. To read more about how you can set up a subscription service download the guide “How to launch your subscription service”

Purina

This example from Purina is super useful for the consumer whilst ensuring the consumer purchased the product direct from the brand. We love that it gives you plenty of notice that the product is due to finish soon. The personalisation of the pet’s name makes this email even more special!

 

Vitabiotics

Vitabiotics offer a subscribe and save option on certain products. This service which triggers reminders just before the next order is going to be shipped ensures that the consumer is never without the product and delivers a guaranteed revenue stream for the brand.

These are two automated triggers we will see more of as the year goes on and will be a trigger that consumers will want to receive due to the useful nature. They are two of the many triggers an FMCG or retail brand can implement to increase marketing ROI.

To find out how Pure360 can help with your marketing strategy and deliver awesome multichannel campaigns click here to speak to one of our team.