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HelloFresh is a global food solution group, operating in 18 countries, including the US, EU, Australia, and Canada. Last year, the company generated 7.6 billion euros in net revenue.
Over the past eight years, the company has partnered with Chattermill to foster a customer-centric culture, make strategic product decisions based on customer feedback, and ultimately, drive more efficient business growth.
The partnership created a ripple effect on customer experience and product development, delivering impressive results:
- The business transformed customer insights into new revenue streams by launching 7 new brands in their portfolio since 2018
- The team introduced 500% more recipe options for HelloFresh customers since 2015
- Negative customer sentiment was significantly decreased across various feedback categories
- The average basket value increased due to new cross-sell and up-sell opportunities
We spoke with Stefan Platteau, Associate Director of Global Product Strategy and Analytics, to learn how HelloFresh incorporated customer insights into their product development and the overall company strategy.
The Challenges
Q: What are the primary challenges that businesses face in the meal kit delivery service industry?
Stefan: We operate in a subscription business, so we need to keep our customers happy on a constant basis.
Customer centricity is one of the core values at HelloFresh, so we strive to understand customer needs by actively seeking feedback across all touchpoints - from their initial sign-up to recipe selection and post-cooking experiences. We receive both - ratings, which provide a quantitative view, and text-based feedback, a rich but complex data source.
In my view, the quantitative approach is a bit limited. We can understand how a recipe scores, but if it scores poorly, the team would want to address it. When it comes to text-based feedback, the issue is that without feedback analytics, it would be impossible for us to sift through thousands of data points and derive actionable insights to inform our product strategy.
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Q: What do you do with all the feedback you gather?
Stefan: One key thing we try to understand is how our customers experience every step of the customer journey. Many teams are involved in decisions affecting this journey, so our goal is to keep these teams customer-centric. In order to do that, we gather extensive feedback, and Chattermill allows us to structure this feedback in a way that teams can easily understand and act upon.
For instance, we have Operations and Product Teams, and Chattermill helps us analyze customer feedback related to their respective areas. This allows these teams to make informed decisions that positively impact our customer journey.
The Solution
Q: So how does HelloFresh leverage Chattermill to understand customer feedback about your meal kits and recipes?
Stefan: We have various feedback channels at different touchpoints in the customer journey. This text data goes through Chattermill, where we categorize feedback into different categories. For the menu, we analyze whether there were any issues related to the variety of recipes or convenience. For recipes, we similarly assess what customers liked and didn't like and whether there were any issues related to the quality, flavor, or ingredients we used.
This way, the team planning the menu can better understand our customers' preferences. Do they need more quick and easy recipes? Or perhaps they'd like to see more healthy options available? Our Culinary Teams review each recipe, identify learnings, and ensure any issues are addressed. They also aim to enhance recipe quality so that the next time we send out a box, it meets our customers' expectations.
Q: What about positive customer feedback?
Stefan: I think it's equally important to analyze the positives as the negatives. It's crucial to understand what aspects of our offering are working well so we can capitalize on them. For example, if a recipe performs exceptionally well, there's valuable insight to be gained. We can leverage these learnings to develop more recipes that resonate with customers.
It's also important for our teams to understand what's going well. Continuous improvement shouldn't solely focus on fixing issues but also on acknowledging and reinforcing what's working effectively. That's why we share positive feedback across all our Product Teams.
Q: Which Chattermill features do you find the most useful?
Stefan: The obvious one is text categorization, which helps us deeply understand the pain points and positive aspects across multiple feedback channels.
The second is Impact Analysis, which helps us understand which themes and categories affect our NPS score. It's invaluable for creating a business case - if we know the monetary value associated with changes in NPS, we can easily quantify the impact of improving that metric in a certain category.
Finally, many teams at HelloFresh find the Chattermill Dashboards highly valuable. These include Operations, Product, Culinary Teams, and Procurement. Our goal is to provide them with actionable insights specific to their area so they can make more informed decisions.
The Results
Q: Can you give examples of insights that surprised you or made a big impact?
Stefan: There were multiple times when customer insights initiated specific changes in our product.
For instance, in the past, we received feedback indicating that our vegetarian offering wasn't exactly fit for purpose. Over time, we've expanded our menu significantly, particularly in the vegetarian category. We've also introduced new brands, such as Green Chef, specifically tailored to meet the needs of customers with vegetarian or vegan preferences.
We initially launched Green Chef in the United States, and over time, we've expanded its availability in European countries such as the UK and the Netherlands.
Another thing often raised by our customers in the past was that meal kits should be more convenient, with cooking time being a significant factor. We received much feedback indicating that many recipes had longer cooking times than our customers expected. Over time, we've optimized more recipes to achieve shorter cooking times and introduced concepts like "extra quick" or "one-pot" meals that take only five minutes to cook. These changes have largely stemmed from valuable insights gathered through customer feedback. If you examine the feedback we receive regarding convenience and cooking times, the negative sentiment has significantly reduced over time.
And to provide one final example, we're continuously striving to understand how we can provide a range of options that fully satisfy our customers. We've expanded our menu over time - from offering approximately 10 to 20 recipes weekly to now providing 40 or 50 recipes. Additionally, we've introduced several new concepts such as 'surcharge recipes,' where for a small fee, customers can enjoy top-of-the-line recipes with the highest quality ingredients.
We've also launched HelloFresh Market, which allows customers to purchase products beyond their subscription as add-ons. This includes extra lunch or breakfast options, or specific ingredients. Many customers are opting in to get some of these add-ons, which is increasing their basket value.
Q: Can you quantify any of the benefits?
Stefan: It's always challenging to directly attribute the effects of customer insights and initiatives on retention or revenue. However, HelloFresh has experienced significant growth over the past decade. A substantial factor contributing to this growth is our focus on customer experience.
Over the years, as customer expectations have risen, we've worked diligently to ensure their journey with us is consistently positive. This involves continuously understanding what aspects of their experience they appreciate and where we can improve.
Metrics such as NPS, particularly within product-related categories, reflect the impact of our decisions based on customer feedback. We've observed improvements in these categories when implementing changes such as enhancing recipe convenience or ingredient quality.
Q: Aside from business results, have you noticed any impact on your team’s productivity?
Stefan: Yes, I definitely think that Chattermill has a significant impact on the team's productivity. We serve 18 markets, and we're a relatively small team of three. By automating the process of gathering and categorizing feedback, Chattermill helps us spread the customer's voice across the business so everyone can access relevant information and make informed decisions.
Q: At what point did Chattermill pay for itself, and at this point, what is the estimated return on your investment?
Stefan: As soon as we started using Chattermill, we gained a better understanding of customer opinions about our products. Quite quickly, we were able to make changes that paid for our investment in Chattermill. It's difficult to say how many times it has been paid back over the years, but given the growth of HelloFresh since 2015, it's safe to say that it has been many times over.
Q: Did it contribute to your position as a market leader?
Stefan: Yes, in fact, one of the main reasons HelloFresh has been so successful is that we have tried to maintain customer centricity as one of our core values. Arguably the best way to understand your customers and stay customer-centric is to talk to them and find out how they're experiencing your product, and that's where Chattermill played a pivotal role.
Q: If someone was on the fence about using Chattermill, what would you tell them about the benefits it gives?
Stefan: I would say that if you're a company that collects a lot of customer feedback, Chattermill is a fantastic way to ensure you understand that feedback in depth without having to dedicate excessive resources.
What's next?
Driven by a deep commitment to customer centricity, HelloFresh continues to leverage insights from customer feedback to enhance product quality, understand the impact of customer experience on revenue, and drive substantial growth.
This relentless focus on customer satisfaction has not only positioned HelloFresh as the market leader, but also ensures its sustained success moving forward.
See how Chattermill can help you leverage customer feedback to improve product quality and create new revenue streams - book a demo.
