A shift to fundraising guides communication method for Double Good

Double Good disguises itself as a popcorn firm, but it surely’s actually all about fundraising.

It began in 1998 and pops 15,000 kilos of popcorn daily. It started providing fundraising alternatives for youths in 2003, altering the corporate’s trajectory. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the corporate’s transformation from a popcorn retailer to a primarily digital fundraising firm. Now, most of its income comes from its digital fundraising, mentioned Anton German, chief know-how officer and chief product officer. It nearly solely sells popcorn via these means, he mentioned. 

Greater than one million retailers use Shopify as a commerce platform, however Double Good advantages from creating its personal platform. Double Good’s philosophy is to personal the end-to-end buyer expertise, German mentioned, so the platform was custom-built.

“Now we have extra management between e-mail communication, textual content communication, the receipt web page, the pre-checkout,” German mentioned. “So we at all times guarantee there isn’t any inconsistency.”

He mentioned Double Good built-in parcelLab, although, to leverage its utility programming interface (API) and present real-time info. ParcelLab is an operations expertise administration firm that helps retailers monitor shipments. 

Solely 1 / 4 of shops maintain clients of their ecosystem for order monitoring, in keeping with parcelLab. And 75% don’t embrace personalization in buyer contact factors throughout success, delivery, supply and returns. Double Good’s personalized interface permits it to personalize its communication whereas sustaining its branding.

How Double Good works

“The identify Double Good comes from that you simply’re getting one thing good — you’re getting high-quality gourmand popcorn,” German mentioned. “But in addition, you’re doing one thing good as a result of 50% of each greenback goes to assist a trigger.”

The corporate focuses on youth sports activities and actions, German mentioned. Organizations and sports activities groups fundraising with it desire a fast strategy to increase funds with out the standard fundraiser’s overhead. 

The platform has organizers, like coaches or others who paved the way in fundraising. And it has sellers, like those that share the net pop-up ecommerce retailer pages with family and friends, who can then buy the popcorn. The corporate at the moment sells 12 flavors, all made to order. Whereas a typical popcorn firm’s main buyer is the one consuming the popcorn, German mentioned that’s not the case for Double Good. Although it processes thousands and thousands of orders for popcorn, German mentioned, its main buyer is the particular person organizing the fundraiser.

“With our fundraiser, you don’t actually have to the touch the product,” German mentioned. “We ship every part direct. You don’t must do any accounting; you don’t have to the touch money. The whole lot is 100% performed through a cellular app.”

The net, to-order enterprise mannequin makes reaching the supply date troublesome, German mentioned. That’s one space the place German mentioned parcelLab information helped, because it consolidates information from completely different carriers. Double Good used to offer a broader vary for supply date. Integrating parcelLab information helped scale back supply time and supply monitoring info via Double Good’s receipt pages.

Communication channels

Double Good makes use of emails, textual content messages, and push notifications from its app to speak with clients. And the way it communicates relies upon not solely on the audience but in addition on the channel. Sellers lean extra towards push notification or textual content message communication, German mentioned. Double Good predominantly communicates with consumers through e-mail, he added.

“With e-mail, we are able to clearly talk somewhat bit extra, we are able to use a artistic,” German mentioned. “With textual content, there’s a personality restrict, and it ought to be used much more cautiously. Actually, we use behavioral e-mail triggers or metrics. Let’s say if an individual didn’t open their e-mail. We’d attempt a textual content message for transactional communication. However once more, we restrict it to particular monitoring info or supply info.”

He mentioned Double Good focuses on measuring web promoter rating, so it really works on figuring out causes clients may not have an amazing expertise. It then assessments to determine if e-mail can resolve the issue. E mail is not going to have as excessive of an open fee as textual content, German mentioned. That’s as a result of textual content messages are extra private than e-mail for lots of shoppers, so they’re extra prone to open them. He mentioned some communication is so necessary that if clients are going to see it and that may result in a optimistic NPS rating, Double Good will prioritize texting. The shopper expertise finally drives the communication methodology, he mentioned.

How Double Good approaches post-purchase communication

“Maximizing personalization and with the ability to ship the precise message on the proper time is admittedly priceless for us. For a time, we have been restricted once we may ship, for instance, a supply survey to a buyer,” German mentioned. “We didn’t know when the order arrived at their doorstep. Now we do, so we are able to ship it.”

Supply standing, which parcelLab helps present, is effective to Double Good. As soon as it will get a package-delivery affirmation, it adjustments the way it communicates to raised have interaction its clients. Feelings run excessive even after a purchase order, parcelLab discovered. 63% of U.S. shoppers it surveyed reported feeling deeply invested within the post-purchase journey. That features delivery, supply and returns. Of the shoppers who acknowledged they’ve robust emotional responses to on-line buying, 38% have been for food and drinks. That was second to 47% for clothes/attire purchases.

“Our clients are very affected person as a result of they perceive they’re doing this for a fundraiser,” German mentioned. “The popcorn just isn’t sitting on cabinets. It’s coming freshly made only for them. They are often affected person, however the secret’s matching these expectations and being constant. When that doesn’t occur, who cares if they’ve to attend three days or two weeks? They wish to know the bundle goes to reach once we informed them it’s going to reach, or they’ll learn with a notification.”

He mentioned Double Good tries to not dilute that info with advertising and marketing. Though it’s a standard observe to cross-promote in affirmation emails, Double Good stays true to the character of transactional emails. That’s what it discovered is extra useful from a consumer expertise, German mentioned. 

“If consumers aren’t getting that nice expertise, that’s going to have an effect on the delight an organizer — let’s say it’s a soccer coach — goes to get,” German mentioned.