Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How a Pet Food Brand Uses QR Codes to Drive Repeat Purchases
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this pet food brand — Fetch & Feast — and they noticed something strange in their data. A lot of their customers were buying one bag of food, then disappearing for three or four months, and then coming back. Which sounds like a win, right? They come back. But the cycle was way too long. Luna: Right, because with pet food, the ideal reorder window is what, six to eight weeks? Depending on the dog's size and how much you feed. Lucas: Exactly. If you've got a medium-sized dog, a 20-pound bag should last about six weeks. But their average customer was stretching it to twelve or fourteen weeks. So the brand figured they were either underfeeding — which is bad for the dog — or buying from a competitor in between. Either way, they were losing the repeat purchase habit. Lucas: So they decided to do something physical. They printed a QR code on the back of every bag. Not buried in fine print — it's right there near the feeding instructions, about the size of a business card. And that QR code takes you to a landing page that's personalized based on which product you bought. If you bought the chicken and brown rice formula for adult dogs, that's the landing page you get. Luna: So they're basically using the bag itself as a capture mechanism. I love that. Most brands put a QR code on packaging and it goes to a generic 'learn more' page. This is way more specific. Lucas: And the landing page does two things. First, it asks you to enter your email in exchange for a 15 percent discount on your next order. Not a subscription — just one order, with free shipping. Second, it shows you the exact feeding schedule for your dog's weight and activity level, calculated based on the bag size you just bought. Luna: So the value prop isn't just 'save money'. It's 'feed your dog better'. That's a much stronger hook for a pet owner than a generic coupon. Lucas: That's the key insight. They tracked it over about six months. Of the people who scanned the QR code — which was about 12 percent of all buyers — roughly 40 percent entered their email. And of those, 25 percent made a repeat purchase within the optimal six-week window. That's a 25 percent repeat rate from a physical touchpoint that cost them basically zero incremental production cost. Luna: Wait, so 12 percent scan rate? That's actually pretty good for packaging. I've seen stats where QR scan rates on products are usually like two to five percent. Lucas: It is high. I think a couple of things drove it. One, the placement — it's right where you look to figure out how much to feed your dog, so it's contextual. Two, the call to action on the bag says 'Scan to get your personalized feeding plan and save 15%'. That's two benefits, clear and immediate. And three, they actually tested a version without the discount and the scan rate dropped to 6 percent. So the discount matters. Luna: So the discount is the fuel, but the feeding plan is the engine. Once they're in your email system, what happens next? Because if you just send a coupon and then go silent, you're back to the same problem. Lucas: Exactly. So they built a three-email post-scan sequence. Email one goes out immediately after signup. It thanks them, confirms their discount code, and asks them to set a reminder for when they'll run out of food. They actually have a calculator where you enter your dog's weight and feeding amount, and it estimates the exact date you'll need to reorder. Twenty percent of people who set that reminder actually came back on that date. Luna: That's smart. It's like a subscription without the commitment. You're letting the customer decide the timing, but you're giving them a nudge. Lucas: Email two goes out two weeks before the estimated reorder date. It's educational — tips on rotating proteins, how to transition your dog to a new flavor, that sort of thing. And it includes a link back to the landing page which now shows a recommended next product based on their previous purchase. If they bought chicken, it suggests beef. If they bought grain-free, it suggests the grain-inclusive version. It's a gentle upsell. Luna: And email three? That's the urgency play, I assume. Lucas: Yep. Email three goes out on the estimated reorder date. Subject line: 'Your dog might be hungry today.' That's it. Inside, it says 'If you haven't reordered yet, your current bag should be empty about now. Here's a 20 percent off code if you order in the next 48 hours.' That code is one-time, expiring. And they found that 60 percent of people who received email three and hadn't already ordered used that code. Luna: So the full funnel: scan, sign up, set a reminder, get two nudges, then a time-sensitive offer. And the result is a repeat purchase rate of 25 percent from scanned users. But what about the people who didn't scan? Did they see any behavior change? Lucas: That's the interesting part. They also looked at the overall customer base before and after the QR launch. Among customers who never scanned — so they just bought the bag and didn't engage — the repeat purchase rate stayed flat at about 18 percent within eight weeks. But among the 'scanned and signed up' group, the repeat rate was 40 percent over the same period. And the churn rate — defined as no purchase in 16 weeks — dropped by 30 percent for that group. Luna: So the QR code essentially becomes a loyalty program enrollment mechanism. It's not a points program, it's a data-capture and education engine. And the packaging is the billboard. Lucas: Exactly. And the cost per acquisition through that channel is essentially zero. The only cost is the printing of the QR code, which is negligible. So the ROI is off the charts compared to paid ads or even email capture through their website. Because the website capture rate was about 3 percent of visitors, and the QR capture rate was 40 percent of scanners. So it's a much more efficient funnel. Lucas: Speaking of efficient funnels, there's something I want to mention here. We keep this podcast ad-free, and that's a deliberate choice. We don't run ads, we don't have sponsors, and we don't ask you to subscribe to anything. The only reason we can do that is because some listeners choose to support us directly. If you find value in these conversations, the link to support is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's that simple. Luna: Yeah, I think that's a big part of why we can go deep on specifics like this QR code case. No pressure to plug a sponsor. Just the actual numbers and strategy. So if you're getting something out of it, that link is there. Lucas: Alright, back to Fetch & Feast. One other thing they did that I think is worth noting: they A/B tested the call to action on the bag. Version A said 'Scan to save 15%'. Version B said 'Scan to get your personalized feeding plan'. Version C combined both. The combined version had the highest scan rate at 12 percent. The 'save only' version was 9 percent. The 'feeding plan only' version was 8 percent. So the combo was the clear winner. Luna: That's a good reminder. People want both a tangible benefit and an emotional or educational one. The discount closes the deal, but the feeding plan builds trust. And trust is what drives long-term loyalty. Lucas: Exactly. And they also found that customers who came through the QR code had a 15 percent higher average order value on their second purchase compared to customers who came through other channels. The theory is that because they engaged with the educational content, they were more likely to add a second product — like a supplement or a treat — because they understood their dog's needs better. Luna: So the QR code isn't just a retention tool, it's also a value expansion tool. That's a double win. I'm surprised more brands don't do this with their packaging. Lucas: I think the barrier is that it requires a cross-functional team. You need product, marketing, and operations to align on the QR placement, the landing page, the email sequence, and the data tracking. It's not just 'print a QR code'. But the results speak for themselves. Fetch & Feast saw a 25 percent repeat purchase rate from a physical touchpoint that costs pennies. That's the kind of retention metric that every brand should be chasing. Luna: And it's scalable too. If you're a brand with physical packaging, you can start tomorrow. Just print a QR code, build a simple landing page, and set up a three-email sequence. The hard part is making the offer compelling enough that people scan. Lucas: Right. And that's where the specific angle matters. Fetch & Feast happened to have a natural hook — feeding your dog correctly. But any brand can find their equivalent. A coffee brand could offer a 'brew guide' personalized to your roast preference. A skincare brand could offer a 'routine builder' based on your skin type. The common thread is that the QR code is the bridge between the product and a personalized digital experience. Luna: And once you've got that email address, you own the relationship. You're not dependent on the customer remembering to come back to your site. You can proactively nudge them with relevant content and offers. Lucas: Exactly. Fetch & Feast's story is a great example of turning a one-time purchase into a loyal relationship through smart packaging and a simple digital follow-up. And the best part is that it's not a huge tech investment. It's just good marketing fundamentals applied to a physical touchpoint. Luna: And the dog gets fed properly. So everybody wins.