78 MH.CO.ZA/ August 2019
Like many start-up starters, David and Chris
had a limited amount of seed capital to launch
their business. They used what they had to
buy the necessary equipment – fridge, freezer,
vacuum sealing machine – and their first
round of ingredients. Operating from Chris’
mom’s garage in Cape Town, the team packed
their first round of boxes themselves. “We
taught ourselves everything – all the way from
the online sales process and delivering, to the
after-sales service.”
And they taught themselves well. Thebusiness now prides itself on offering an
exceptional service; and this is one reason
they have a high customer-loyalty rate. “In
addition to being honest and transparent as
a business, it’s about giving the consumer
a unique and curated experience, one they
can’t find with any other competitor in the
market,” explains Chris.
HERE ARE SOME OTHER LESSONS
THEY’VE LEARNT:
Unconventional Marketing
Is Still Marketing
Having spent their seed capital on
equipment, the pair were left with barely
any budget for marketing. Instead, they
relied on novelty and word of mouth.
Thanks to their commitment to providingthe very best service, their reviews were
hugely positive. Customers raved about
their fresh produce, world class recipes and
incredible service delivery. And as the word
spread, their customer base grew.
Because their concept was such a novelone in South Africa at the time, David and
Chris also received a considerable amount
of media coverage. “That’s kind of just how
we grew up, until such time as we could
actually access a bigger marketing budget.”
When they could afford it, they startedusing digital marketing. “Digital marketing
is really all just formula based. So the more
you spend, the more people are seeing your
product,” says Chris. “Without that, you’re
very limited and it’s hard to compete with
competitors that have bigger budgets.”
Another tool the business used was topartner with other local brands to increase
customer awareness. They have two
criteria for selecting a partner. “Firstly,
we look for customer alignment – do we
address the same audience? And secondly,
whether we’re aligned in terms of values,”
says David.
The same applies to the chefs and
farms they partner with. Committed to
sustainability, they take every measure
to ensure their produce is sourced from
local small-batch farmers and community
farming projects.
“We’re often approached by big brands,
and we have to turn them down, as their
product doesn’t align with UCOOK’s,
” says Chris. Partnering with the right
brands allows them to give customers
more value and unique experiences by
including premium products inside boxes.
It’s just one of the ways in which they keep
customers engaged.Customers Know
What They Want
Chris and David managed to grow their
database to over 400 000 users in a very short
time. But while they had no issue with finding
new customers, making sure the ones they
had came back required more work.
As with most subscription services, people
bought into it in the beginning; but then
customer fatigue started setting in. It’s at times
like these that businesses are forced to find
ways to adapt and keep things interesting.
To address the issue of customer fatigue,
UCOOK have made advancements to
their service – based, in part, on customer
feedback. Customers can provide feedback
on every aspect of the business – from theWEALTHRecipes are tested out
beforehand to ensure
the box contains the
correct amounts of
ingredients.