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Average revenue per customer is flat. Marketing costs increasing. Average repurchase rate seems to be flat. Yikes. Also this: > [W]e anticipate adding additio

Average revenue per customer is flat. Marketing costs increasing. Average repurchase rate seems to be flat. Yikes. Also this: > [W]e anticipate adding additional products and increasing the portion of our marketing expenses focused on brand awareness and customer retention in order to drive increased customer engagement and growth in our net revenue from existing customers When marketing is for "brand awareness" and "customer retention" that reads "we don't know how to acquire new customers profitably so the problem must be our brand". And brand awareness marketing is _very_ expensive.

tedmiston 9y ago
Honestly repurchase rate being flat is kind of surprising as they make it extremely difficult to cancel and even shadily dodge requests to cancel by deferring you for a long period of time instead until a surprise shipment you didn't ask for shows up. The reality check is a good thing for a business that thinks it's okay to treat their customers like that.
- ghaff 9y ago
  I didn't have any trouble canceling after one order but the subscription aspect is definitely something I don't like about most of these services. To the degree I use them at all it's going to be on an occasional basis when it fits with my mood and my schedule. Trust me. If I want to send you $60 for some pre-kitted meals, you'll be the first to know. I absolutely do not want to have to remember to opt-out of some subscription service.
shostack 9y ago
Sorry, but I strongly disagree. As a company grows it may indeed find diminishing returns from scaling direct response channels that previously performed well. However spending to build brand awareness is what helps you reduce costs long term. If your brand is synonymous with the category, you win. It gets you more direct, referral and organic traffic, gets the press writing about you, gets review sites comparing you, etc. It is most definitely expensive, but can be critical to the long term success of a company once they reach a certain size. This is also doubly important in commoditized markets since brand is really the only thing that distinguishes you.

tedmiston 9y ago

Honestly repurchase rate being flat is kind of surprising as they make it extremely difficult to cancel and even shadily dodge requests to cancel by deferring you for a long period of time instead until a surprise shipment you didn't ask for shows up. The reality check is a good thing for a business that thinks it's okay to treat their customers like that.

ghaff 9y ago
I didn't have any trouble canceling after one order but the subscription aspect is definitely something I don't like about most of these services. To the degree I use them at all it's going to be on an occasional basis when it fits with my mood and my schedule. Trust me. If I want to send you $60 for some pre-kitted meals, you'll be the first to know. I absolutely do not want to have to remember to opt-out of some subscription service.

shostack 9y ago

Sorry, but I strongly disagree. As a company grows it may indeed find diminishing returns from scaling direct response channels that previously performed well. However spending to build brand awareness is what helps you reduce costs long term. If your brand is synonymous with the category, you win. It gets you more direct, referral and organic traffic, gets the press writing about you, gets review sites comparing you, etc. It is most definitely expensive, but can be critical to the long term success of a company once they reach a certain size. This is also doubly important in commoditized markets since brand is really the only thing that distinguishes you.