Forthglade increases dog food subscriptions by 26% with Klaviyo x Relo integration

Forthglade has been making high quality dog food from its base in Devon for over 50 years. The brand started with a single offering of frozen tripe and has matured into an entire range of dog food, all made from natural ingredients and no junk. It has grown to become one of the most recognised pet food brands in the UK. In recent years the brand has begun to focus on its ecommerce business to increase its direct-to-consumer revenue. 

Learn how the brand’s upgrade-to-subscription email became one of its top performing automations

Challenge

Dog food lends itself to a rolling subscription model and Forthglade wanted to increase the number of people who subscribe to food for their four-legged friends. As an ecommerce brand, having repeatable monthly revenue allows the company to invest in its entire operation, and so having subscribers is very valuable. However, only a small percentage of customers were taking out a subscription. There was clearly a lot of untapped potential.

If Forthglade could convert even a small percentage of one-time purchasers into subscribers, it would generate an additional revenue stream and reduce the growing marketing costs associated with customer acquisition. 

Solution

Forthglade teamed up with Klaviyo, Relo and Recharge to identify and target customers who are ready for a subscription, and make the transition easy for them. The three platforms integrate with Shopify and data is synced across the tech stack.

We were looking for new ways to convert our one time customers onto our subscription model but wanted to ensure this was targeted and showed the right content at the right time. The integration and set-up was really straightforward with support from Relo and Klaviyo at every step.

Relo uses data science and AI to identify which repeat purchase customers are showing some tell-tale signs they’re ready to convert onto a subscription, and on which specific day. The data feeds into Klaviyo through a dynamic trigger which sits atop an email flow that invites customers to upgrade to a subscription, at just the right time. The CTA button in emails becomes a link to a personalised shopping cart called the Relo Magic Cart that allows customers to convert to a subscription in just two clicks, with all previous checkout details – name, address, billing – prefilled. 

Strategy

Forthglade’s customer journey reflects the fact that converting one-time buyers into product subscribers is a key priority. By segmenting its audience by subscription status, the brand combines its friendly, engaging content for dog lovers with a consistent marketing message

It starts with the brand’s welcome flow. Customers who sign up to email when they place a single order receive tips on how to transition their pet to the new food with a link to create a subscription. Those who have already subscribed get switching tips plus suggestions for complementary products. Prospects who’ve never ordered receive an introductory offer (plus an invitation to enter their pooch into Dog of the Month!). The flow uses multiple conditional splits and performs well across all segments.

Once customers have made a purchase, Relo’s algorithm gets to work to drive habitual repurchase and ultimately convert them onto Recharge subscriptions. Those who don’t reorder receive two further emails the following month, this time with a purchase incentive to encourage them to return to the store. This flow alone generates a quarter of the revenue attributed to email automations. 

Since implementing this strategy, Forthglade has seen product subscriptions increase by 26%. The combination of predicting which customers are ready to re-order or subscribe, syncing that data to Klaviyo, and converting to a Recharge subscription via Relo’s Magic Cart has helped supercharge the brand’s recurring revenue. 

We’ve seen a positive impact so far and have been acquiring more subscription customers through the new flow by highlighting the benefits of our subscription model to customers who are likely to want to switch.