NEW YORK — Raw pet food manufacturer Darwin’s Natural Pet Products announced Feb. 17 it will use Ordergroove’s subscription ordering platform to enhance its direct-to-consumer services.

In conjunction with shifting its website onto Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Darwin migrated all its active subscriptions to the Ordergroove platform to take some pressure off internal resources and refocus around creating a personalized front-end experience for its subscription customers. The switch also allows Darwin to devote resources to other projects.

“We are proud to partner with Ordergroove to provide an even better customer experience,” said Gary Tashjian, chief executive officer and founder of Darwin’s. “Not only does the Ordergroove technology improve the effectiveness of our ordering system, it frees up our team to spend more time working directly with customers to help their pets live happier, healthier lives through a diet of raw, natural food.”

Ordergroove’s platform offers new capabilities for Darwin’s subscription customers, including a tiered discount system, an “Instant Upsell” feature for adding relevant items to subscription orders, and customization options based on a pet questionnaire to help Darwin’s suggest the best products for each animal.

“The pet food landscape has changed dramatically, and consumers want a personalized, seamless online experience,” said Dwight McCabe, director of business planning and analysis at Darwin’s. “To account for this shift, we decided to revamp our e-commerce strategy and turn to a subscription provider that can work with any eCommerce platform.

“Ordergroove has enabled us to enhance our subscription program and enact new, innovative strategies to make it easier for our customers to get the products they love,” he continued. “We’ve been able to successfully reduce customer friction, deliver convenience and ultimately improve conversion rates.”

The pet food company has already seen the benefits of Ordergroove’s Instant Upsell feature and reported an increase in the monthly subscriber retention rate. According to Ordergroove, pet-related subscription purchases increased by 777% throughout the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales weekend in 2020, compared to 2019 sales.

“Darwin's is a pioneer in the natural pet products space and has seen significant growth since launching with Ordergroove,” said Greg Alvo, chief executive officer of Ordergroove. “Like many brands, Darwin’s recognized the limitations and pain points associated with maintaining a homegrown subscription solution. We’ve enjoyed helping Darwin’s offer more personalized relationship commerce experiences and build long-lasting relationships with its customers. As our partnership continues, we’re excited to help Darwin’s sustain its innovative approach to eCommerce and stay on top of the evolving market.”

As e-commerce continues to gain speed as a go-to retail channel for pet owners, subscription ordering tools and inventory management platforms are likely to help companies manage this shift. Market research firm Packaged Facts estimated e-commerce sales of pet products accounted for 27% of all pet product sales in the United States in 2020, and predicts that share to jump to 35% by 2024.

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