Small retailers are facing a singular situation right now. A global pandemic is raging: Stores are closed, customers are staying home and the future is largely unknowable. Meanwhile, their greatest asset — the thing they built the company around — is the relationship between the brand and the customers. How can they maintain, nurture and grow that relationship when the world has been turned upside down?
The best answer is to do it creatively but carefully. Establish camaraderie — make customers feel like the brand is a part of their lives, even now. But not too much a part of their current lives; otherwise, when it’s over, those brands will be like the friend who was there for them day and night during a bad breakup: a reminder of unhappiness, whom they now avoid.
We looked at how four relatively new, relatively small retailers are finding ways to stay connected with their customers in this year of unease. They’re in very different markets, and have come up with very different solutions to the same problem: How to stay part of their customers’ lives. So far, it’s working.
Life begins in bed …
Hill House Home is a New York City-based direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand that specializes in bedding, sleepwear, towels and bathmats, and baby clothes and accessories. The company’s motto is “At Hill House Home, we believe a life well-lived begins in bed.”
To help its community relieve the tedium of sheltering in place, Hill House is offering a five-page coloring book. Those interested can download the book, print one of the pages, color it, take a picture of the result, post it on Instagram and tag it with #HHHcolorbreak.
Another of Hill House Home’s reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic was an update from Diamond to the customer base, wishing them well and assuring them that the Hill House crew was all safe and working remote. The letter, which nicely captures the kind of engagement the company seeks to maintain, closes like this: “Finally, and I know this sounds weird and cheesy and silly but to be honest I just don’t care right now — we love you guys. We truly see our Hill House customers and followers as family.”
NRF is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. For updated information and guidance for retailers, check out our resource page.
And continues in the kitchen …
Great Jones, another New York City-based DTC startup, provides a selection of pots and pans: a Dutch oven, a stainless steel stock pot, a stainless sauce pot, a stainless deep sauté pan and a ceramic nonstick skillet. The Dutch oven, called The Dutchess, sells for $145 and comes in seven colors.
The basic concept, according to co-founders Sierra Tishgart and Maddy Moelis, is that traditional cookware lines like Le Creuset and Circulon offer too many options, cost a lot and aren’t up to speed with the cultural moment. (Great Jones cookware comes with illustrated care instructions.)
A couple of years ago, the company introduced Potline, a free text message service that lets people ask for recipe ideas and advice on what to do if things go wrong. It’s a natural extension of the brand, Tishgart says. “It’s great to see someone write in and say, ‘Hey, I’m cooking for my new girlfriend or boyfriend, and I need a roast chicken recipe.’” The service appears to be busier than ever as more people cook at home; Great Jones also recently hosted a virtual cookbook club that accepted donations to a food bank as a ticket price.
Send me a puppy
A different kind of help and advice is available via a new service from Summersalt, a women’s swimwear startup based in St. Louis, Mo., co-founded by Lori Coulter and Reshma Chatteram Chamberlin. By signing up for the service, customers agree to receive automated promotional and marketing text messages, such as cart reminders, from Summersalt.
In return, the free “Joycast” text message hotline allows people to reach out if they need a mood-lifter. “Just text JOYCAST to 24321 to connect with a member of our Customer Happiness Team,” says a message from the co-founders, “who will share some much-needed sunshine with you, whether it be a ten-minute meditation video, simple self-care ideas, or just a really cute puppy GIF.
“We are always here for you. And we hope, when you’re able, you will pay a little joy forward — whether that means a long FaceTime call with an old friend or checking in with your neighbors in need. After all, we’re in this together.”
When you’re really hungry
As in most cities at the moment, Los Angeles’ eat-in restaurants are closed. Guerilla Tacos, born eight years ago when a fine dining chef named Wes Avila saw the light and returned to his roots, has developed an enhanced take-out menu to help meet the needs of its taco-deprived customers.
The headline item, at $155, is the Emergency Taco Kit, which includes approximately 60 ready-to-eat tacos, five pounds of roasted chicken, five pounds of carne asada, one pint each of house red and green salsa, tortillas, onions, cilantro, rice, and beans. It also includes 30 eggs and 1 roll of toilet paper. Why does it cost $155? “In these tough times,” the company says, “our mission is to support our cooks and staff and provide health insurance. We are not making a profit.”
(Secondary FAQ: Toilet paper? Eggs? The decision to add these items came after Avila’s business partner Brittney Valles’ mom called her from Costco, where she was buying essentials, including toilet paper and eggs. “You can’t be around all those people,” Valles told her mom. Then, genius struck. “Why don’t you get them from us?”)
In addition to the basic item, Guerrilla Tacos sells a smaller Emergency Taco Kit, a vegetarian version featuring sweet potatoes, an Emergency Nacho Kit — and Margarita and Pina Colada Emergency Kits to wash it all down with.
NRF is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating with government agencies, health experts and retailers as the situation continues to evolve. For updated information and guidance for retailers, check out our resource page.