THE CHALLENGE
Leaving so soon?
The product team were tasked to improve retention, specifically at 13 weeks. Working closely with the Head of Product and the whole squad, we started a large discovery piece of work to find out what was causing customer churn.
PROBLEM DISCOVERY
Forgetting to choose
We did a ton of research from customer interviews & post-cancel surveys to data analysis. To quantify the qualitative data we mapped our research onto an opportunity solution tree. This alongside the quantitative data, allowed us to identify ‘forgetting to choose’ as a critical problem customers had.
Problem: Customers had recipe kits at home that they didn’t choose, so they weren't excited to use them.
PAST EXPERIENCE
Just remind them?
The solution customers asked for was a reminder email. When this was tested it caused a drop in revenue. Instead of choosing their recipes, they cancelled, because it was quicker and easier than choosing, and avoided the pain of receiving unwanted recipes.
As the old saying goes, don't just build what your customers say they want!
SOLUTION DISCOVERY
A change of direction
This time, we iterated through possible solutions. Starting with wireframes, then lo-fi designs, then higher fidelity prototypes. We ran moderated user testing with customers over Google Meet. The starting idea was a feature allowing customers to queue up recipes in advance, but we found that a small part of the design was getting the most attention - the option to “Set a default box”.
We elaborated on this idea and created new wireframes for testing. At the end of interviews I’d ask what they would call it. “Back-up box” was born - named by our customers. Back-up box allowed customers to pre-select a box of recipes that would be sent if they forgot to choose.
IMPACT
"Having a back-up box is brilliant!"
We launched to 10% of customers to catch bugs or feedback, but we just caught praise 🙌
↑4.2%
13 week retention
↓21%
Boxes chosen by us
♥17k
Back-up boxes shipped per month
Now rolled out to 100% of customers, over 13% of boxes we ship are back-up boxes and it continues to increase month on month.
Some nice words
"What an excellent idea. I once forgot to choose & the selection that was sent was unfortunately not suitable, so having a back-up box is brilliant!"
Sarah - SimplyCook customer
"Love the back-up box idea!"
Ricky - SimplyCook customer
"A good idea as I prefer to receive my favourite recipes if I forget to order. Love it."
Michelle - SimplyCook customer
