November 2017 - Sendle scorecard, NZ Express returns, False economy of free shipping

Date Posted:1 November 2017 

MyCuppa Newsletter - November 2017

“Creative without strategy is called 'art'. Creative with strategy is called 'advertising'.” — Jef I. Richards

 

strategic shift
 

For us it seemed like such 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 8 months we put up more than 3 tons of coffee for 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 8 manic months, the allotments would sell out within 24hrs and often customers would complain of missing out. Each time we put up more kilos only to see it also 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 style of marketing - yes, it's exciting and incredibly challenging processing that many orders in a short time, but we are looking for something more sustainable and enduring.

Our focus on incentive-based programs is shifting with the introduction of 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 that have traditionally shopped for their beans in the supermarket aisle, but with some important key points of difference - our coffees have superior 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 take another look at what's eating Australian retailers - customer sentiment and expectations are being blamed for all sort of challenges.

Apparently, 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. It seems 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.

Read it here.
 

NZ Express is back

We have enabled freight services to New Zealand after a couple of months of re-contracting agreements with the freight supplier - a process that took much longer than expected.

Happy to report we back at full speed with NZ and we appreciated all the patience and kind words of support from our many NZ customers as they waited for resumption of shipping.

Whilst the new contract rates are higher (no surprises there.......it is after all freight), from now until the end of 2017, we have discounted our express freight to NZ by 15% - this price reduction has already been applied to the express rates for NZ.

Sendle Scorecard

It's been almost 3 months since we switched on Sendle and the scorecard shows mixed results.

On one hand we have plenty of happy customers claiming super-fast delivery timeframes and cheaper freight, yet on the other we have a few challenges with some remote destinations experiencing slower delivery timeframes.

Overall, it's fair to say the price for interstate customers, particularly the 2kg bundle is pretty damn good value for money.

Dealing with Sendle has also been a lot easier for us compared to the AusPost support centre - Sendle support is fast, accurate and reasonable in their endeavours whereas AusPost have ridiculous rules, bureaucracy, limitations on information, long delays and often solutions that are not focused on a successful outcome for recipients or senders.

There is one aspect to the Sendle service we are keeping a very close eye upon - the transit performance for regional areas.

We have reason to 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 are reporting this kind of sub-standard performance to Sendle as it's important that Sendle manage their delivery partners professionally and remove this dodgy practice.

Sendle maintains around 23% of our shipping volume by parcel whilst AusPost 65% and TNT business the remainder. I'd like to see Sendle closer to the AusPost volume so that we have some real competition in freight service delivery, but of course this will only be achieved when service performance is superior.