Shipping is big business for every retailer, but when you’re selling perishable specialty items, it becomes an even more important part of the customer experience. Leaders at The Honey Baked Ham Co. have long understood this and take extra care in delivering their bone-in smoked hams with their signature sweet, crunchy glaze. Each Honey Baked ham is packed cold and sent via two-day service to ensure it remains as delicious as the day it was prepared.
Despite the quick delivery—and the cold packaging to ensure freshness—a lack of visibility into the shipping process was putting a damper on customer service. Essentially, customers couldn’t adequately track their orders, leaving them in the dark—and frustrated.
“People didn’t know when [their orders] would arrive, which meant the hams were delivered without much awareness,” Ash-Marie Duvernois, director of e-commerce operations for The Honey Baked Ham Co., said in a case study describing the challenge the company faced. “They’re packed cold, so they stay fresh, but even so, people are eager to receive their order since the majority arrive as a gift for a special occasion.”
To solve the problem, Honey Baked turned to post-purchase technology platform Narvar and its customized shipment tracking system.
A BRANDED SOLUTION
The problem came down to branding: Order tracking information was coming from the carrier, and not from Honey Baked Ham itself, which caused a disconnect for consumers.
“The carrier would send the tracking emails to customers, which were heavily branded for them, and not at all a Honey Baked Ham brand experience,” Duvernois explained in the case study. “We had a lot of challenges communicating delivery scenarios to our customers because the information didn’t come directly from us. People would ignore the email because it was from the carrier and were always emailing and calling us to ask, ‘Where’s our delivery information? We don’t see an email from you.’”
Implementing Narvar’s customized tracking solution solved the problem.
With Narvar, Honey Baked Ham customers can view all of their shipments and tracking information on one central, branded tracking page—which is especially helpful when dealing with orders that have multiple shipments, which is common with Honey Baked orders.
“We often pack items in different boxes, so customers might order three items and then receive them in three separate shipments,” Duvernois explained. “We had a lot of challenges with the [previous] carrier notifications. They would send all these different emails out, and people didn’t know to expect multiple packages with different items. So having Narvar track it all in one [place] has been really successful.”
Narvar also sends delivery confirmations, so customers know exactly when their order arrived.
“No matter where they are, customers automatically know when their order has been delivered, and that’s very helpful,” Duvernois added. “People want to know that it’s going to be there in time for Christmas dinner or a birthday or even as a sympathy gift, and now they can find that out on their own. Using Narvar has been really great for us.”
The tracking page also provides links to additional content and product recommendations, opening the door to additional sales. And a Facebook Messenger chatbot—branded as the “hambot”—offers a way for customers to ask questions and resolve issues without going through traditional customer service channels.
A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
Since adopting Narvar, Honey Baked Ham has seen a 50% drop in WISMO—“Where Is My Order?”—inquiries and a more than $2 million increase in revenue in just the first three months. That’s because with such a huge drop in customer service inquiries, the customer care team is free to take phone orders and upsell customers on additional products.
What’s more, the additional content on the tracking page and in branded notification emails has given Honey Baked Ham an added revenue stream.
“What we do now is [promote additional products] when you’re on the Narvar tracking page. The click-through rate is phenomenal. It’s another place where you can continue to shop. It’s already brought in a significant amount of ROI [return on investment],” Duvernois said. “It’s pretty awesome to see.”
