Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How a Pet Brand Uses Email to Boost Repeat Sales by 50 Percent
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this direct to consumer pet food company called Farmer's Dog. You've probably seen their ads — fresh, human-grade food shipped to your door. But what's less known is how they turned a single email sequence into a fifty percent boost in repeat purchases within six months. Luna: Fifty percent — that's huge. What was the sequence? Lucas: It was three emails, and the key was timing. The first one went out the day after the first delivery. It wasn't just a thank-you — it included a personalized feeding guide based on the dog's weight and the recipe purchased. So the customer got something useful immediately. Luna: And that's where they capture attention early, before the initial excitement fades. Lucas: Exactly. The second email came two weeks later. It was a health tip tied to the specific recipe — like 'Did you know the salmon formula supports joint health?' — with a photo of the dog from the customer's profile. That drove engagement way up. Luna: So they're using purchase history to make it relevant. What about the third email? Lucas: The third was the real driver: a reorder reminder sent on day twenty-one. Based on the bag size and feeding amount, they calculated exactly when the food would run out. The email said something like 'Your dog is almost out of food — here's one click to reorder.' That single email generated thirty-five percent of all repeat revenue. Luna: That is a perfect example of using data you already have. You know the product, the portion size, the frequency — why wouldn't you automate that? Lucas: Right. And a lot of brands don't. They send generic 'we miss you' emails instead of a precise timing trigger. But Farmer's Dog built this into their onboarding flow from day one. It's not complicated tech — it's just a well-thought-out sequence in their email platform. Luna: This is exactly the kind of practical tactic we love digging into on this show. And if these conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own work, that's the whole point. We keep this podcast ad-free by design — no sponsors, no interruptions. If that model resonates, you can support it at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the show independent. And it genuinely helps us keep doing episodes like this. So — back to the sequence. What's interesting is that the reorder reminder wasn't just a reminder. It also included a simple one-click reorder link, removing all friction. Luna: That seems critical. If you have to log in and re-enter your payment info, you lose people. Lucas: Right. Farmer's Dog saved the customer's payment method and shipping address from the first order, so the reorder was literally one click. Their email platform tracked who clicked, and if they didn't reorder within three days, a follow-up email went out with a small discount — ten percent off. Luna: So they layered a gentle incentive on top of the timing. That probably captured the procrastinators. Lucas: Exactly. And they A/B tested the discount versus no discount. The discount version converted at a rate twenty percent higher, but the non-discount version had higher average order value because people ordered the same amount without the discount. So they ended up keeping both flows — discount for first-time reorder, no discount for repeat reorderers. Luna: That's smart segmentation. You train new customers to reorder with a small nudge, then remove the crutch once they're in the habit. Lucas: Yeah. And the overall result was that repeat purchase rate went from about thirty percent to forty-five percent within six months. That's a fifty percent relative increase. Not bad for a three-email sequence. Luna: Do you think this would work for any subscription brand, or does it depend on the product category? Lucas: I think it works best for products with a predictable consumption cycle — pet food, coffee, vitamins, diapers. Anything where you can calculate when the customer will run out. But even for non-consumable products, the principle applies: use purchase data to time your outreach. Luna: What about brands that don't have that level of data? A small boutique selling candles, for example. Lucas: You can still approximate. If you know the average burn time of a candle is forty hours, and you know the customer bought one, you could send a reorder reminder after, say, six weeks. It doesn't have to be perfect — it just has to be better than nothing. Luna: So the key takeaway is: start with the data you have, even if it's imperfect, and iterate. Lucas: Exactly. And test different timing windows. Farmer's Dog found that day twenty-one worked better than day fourteen or day twenty-eight. They tested it. You can't just guess. Luna: How did they measure the fifty percent lift? Was it a controlled experiment? Lucas: They compared customers who received the sequence against a control group that got no post-purchase emails at all. Both groups were new customers in the same period. The sequence group had a repeat rate of forty-five percent, the control group thirty percent. So the lift was real. Luna: That's a clean test. And it shows the power of just sending something relevant at the right time. Lucas: Right. And the cost is minimal — just the time to set up the sequence and the email sending cost. For most brands, that's negligible compared to the revenue lift. Luna: So if a listener is running a DTC brand, what's the first step to implement something like this? Lucas: First, map out the customer's consumption cycle. If you sell a product that gets used up, estimate how long it lasts. Then set up a triggered email that goes out a few days before that point. Include a one-click reorder link if possible. And start tracking repeat rates by cohort. Luna: And if they don't have a consumption cycle? Say they sell a one-time product like a piece of art. Lucas: Then you're in a different game. You'd want to focus on cross-sell or complementary products. A post-purchase email could suggest a frame for the art, or a print from the same artist. That's a different kind of repeat purchase — but still valuable. Luna: So the core idea is not just 'send more emails' but 'send the right email at the right time based on actual behavior.' Lucas: Exactly. And that's what Farmer's Dog did so well. They didn't spam. They sent three emails that each had a clear purpose, tied to the customer's journey. And they measured the impact rigorously. Luna: It's a great case study for any brand thinking about retention. One more thing — did they also use SMS for this flow? Lucas: They did. They added an SMS version of the reorder reminder, and it performed even better than email — click rates were about three times higher. But they started with email because it was easier to set up and test. Luna: So the lesson is: start simple, prove the concept, then expand to higher-engagement channels. Lucas: Yeah. And don't try to do everything at once. A single well-timed email can move the needle more than a dozen mediocre touches. Luna: Well, this is one of those episodes where I'm going to go back and look at my own email flows with fresh eyes. Lucas: Same here. And if anyone listening wants to share their own post-purchase sequence wins, we'd love to hear about them. Maybe we'll feature it in a future episode.