One of South Africa’s Favourite Functional Food Brands bites into e-Commerce:
FUTURELIFE® stirs up the market with the launch of its direct-to-customer online store
Making smart choices about nutrition has now become even easier with the launch of the FUTURELIFE® direct-to-customer e-commerce platform. Offering one-stop accessibility, the new online store gives consumers instant access to the extensive assortment of FUTURELIFE® products as well as the convenience of having their favourite meals and healthy snacks delivered right to their doors.
Mark Bunn, Managing Director of FUTURELIFE®, says that by combining its e-commerce innovation with the traditional bricks and mortar distribution channels, its customers can choose where they buy their FUTURELIFE® products.
“Consumers will still be able to find all their usual FUTURELIFE® products in-store but through our online store, our loyal customers will also have instant access to all of the breakfast cereals, lunchbox favourites and other FUTURELIFE® pantry staples they love,” says Mark. “The platform will also give us the opportunity to reach new customers wherever they are, so we can celebrate healthier living and more nutritious food choices with even more South Africans.”
In addition to offering the full range of FUTURELIFE® products, the online store is also giving the company the space to pioneer and explore new avenues to enhance the customer experience. To achieve this, FUTURELIFE® will be rewarding loyal customers with a host of exciting online-only benefits including special offers, discounts and combo deals.
“FUTURELIFE® is always looking for new ways to connect and celebrate with customers and through this online shopping experience, they will be able to enjoy everything they love about our smart nutrition in a fresh, exciting way,” Mark adds. “We have some amazing concepts in the pipelines such as subscriptions and limited-edition gift packs.”
A world-class e-commerce site with all the standard security to keep its customers safe, the FUTURELIFE® online shop is also jam-packed with innovative features. Digital and e-commerce has been an important part of the company’s growth strategy, so it was easy to accelerate these channels to meet the changing consumer patterns caused by COVID.
“There was always a stickiness for online shopping due to the convenience factor. COVID has however led to a seismic shift, forcing more people to adopt this technology,” Mark explains. “As a result, there’s been explosive growth in online grocery shopping over the past 18 months and now that we’ve got a taste for it, it’s definitely here to stay,” Mark explains.
To ensure that its e-commerce site would be relevant and meet the needs of its customers, the company invited its Facebook followers to participate an e-commerce survey. With nearly 11 000 responses, the results were nothing short of astounding and responsible for much of the innovation that’s shaping the store today.
“Of the 10 847 responses to our customer survey, 10 514 said they wanted a FUTURELIFE® online store! That’s a massive 97% positive response and all we needed to fast-track the development of our shop,” Mark explains. “There were some other fascinating results including that 99% of the respondents indicated they wanted to sample new products and they were keen for a loyalty programme with discounts and rewards.”
Other interesting results generated by the survey include:
- 97% of respondents opted for door-to-door or click and collect delivery
- 91% were in favour of the idea of gift packs
- 87% wanted a bulk-buy option
- 82% of respondents said they would be interested in a monthly subscription service and
- 89% wanted the option to order and send FUTURELIFE® products to someone else such as a parent or a child
The investments FUTURELIFE® has made into e-commerce will help the company continue to develop the platform to ensure that it exceeds customer expectations into the future.
“The past 18 months have been such a unique period of discovery. Seeing consumers sit at home and starting to get more comfortable ordering their FUTURELIFE® online via various retailer e-commerce sites and Apps, has been really fascinating. As a company, we want to celebrate smart nutrition with our customers by being in the right place at the right time with the right choice of food, and our new e-commerce platform allows us to do exactly that” Mark concludes.
For more information on the FUTURELIFE® e-commerce platform, please visit www.futurelife.com
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