Your Wellness Business Can Do What Staples Does
It's rare that I see a really clever marketing idea that's also great from a customer perspective. Today, my fellow Americans, that day has arrived.
We use color ink jet printers in our offices. It's a constant hassle to keep an inventory of the right colors...and as you know, this stuff is expensive, so we always want to find a great price.
Staples has introduced a really clever idea called the "Inkdrop" program. In a nutshell, when you run out of a particular inkjet color, you send the empty cartridge to them and they automatically ship you an identical replacement. They pay the shipping in both directions. Don't want a replacement and just want to recycle the empty cartridge? They'll pay the shipping on that one too. There's no fee to enroll and as far as I can tell no nasty surprises. And the prices are very reasonable for the Staples-brand inkjet cartridges we use. They suggest that you order two cartridges of each color when you sign up, so that you'll always have one in reserve while you're waiting for the replacement. So they get a nice little bounce of revenues when people sign up, too.
Before, our office staff used to comparison-shop for the best price at several stores - we didn't have any loyalty to a particular store. But now....we don't even have a reason to go to those other stores.
Now, this approach could work equally well for many of our clients. Just think about products that are consumable and lightweight enough that the shipping won't break the bank or force you to charge unattractively high prices.
A few quick examples to get you started: energy bars and protein bars, many supplements, bound exercise journals, and lots of spa-related products. Before you have a kneejerk reaction against free shipping, just remember that you've essentially converted a periodic buying decision by your customer into an automatic refill program. And you've virtually eliminated the likelihood that they'll shop at a competitor for reasons of convenience.
I call this a virtuous - rather than vicious - cycle. It's good for the business AND it's good for the customer.