381–390 of 394 posts
For some Australian context, being in Melbourne, a place full of coffee lovers (and something we jokingly say our city is better at than Sydney) I can't say I see a market for nice freeze dried coffee. I'd almost go so far as saying it's become a very established cultural past time to go out and buy a fresh coffee from a local cafe - even when there may be Nespresso on offer in the office for free. I don't see how th…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not about LTV of your customers for you. This could easily be interpreted as 'when given a chance to try the product without a subscription a large percentage of the trials led nowhere'. That you get a larger LTV out of an automatic conversion is a given, it would be extremely surprising if that were not the case. I would suggest that you try to get to the point where your LTV of customers trying one paid/free s…
Short answer - we're starting to experiment with trial options. This is a link to a 2-cup trial that converts to a sub: https://www.suddencoffee.com/?trial=true Longer answer - sort of but not that simple in our current state. Even if you absolutely love a product, often times you don't buy again. Many reasons for this - it's a pain to checkout again, you don't have your credit card on you, you forgot about it, you'r…
There are probably other things you could do to speed up the process. Maybe a sticker (or mug) with a QR code that leads to the purchase screen. Something that's always in front of my face that I can scan when I realise I'm down to my last cup.
Subscriptions are fine, and there's no way you should drop that model, but having both options would be way better.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am the same.. as soon as something is a subscription model I am asking myself if I really want it. But a cup of great instant coffee could be awesome. Especially when you are camping or on music festivals. These were the only times I was using instant coffee. If their price point stays the same you won't save much on their model. From a price standpoint I don't know if there is something much cheaper than buying co…
Can you elaborate on the earlier point above - what don't you like about the market positioning? (We aren't exactly going for Nespresso to Keurig, but really curious what rubs you the wrong way about that.) Definitely won't save money compared to buying your own beans. It's the same as cooking - it's cheaper to grill a nice steak than buy one. As a music festival goer - Sudden at festivals is about taste and speed. I…
That's the only time when I'm buying instant coffee, but all the ones I've tried were bad or horrible.
To the Nespresso or Keurig model: it is the single serving in plastic tubes which rubs me wrong and which reminds me of these models.
I'd prefer something like a Nescafe glass with better coffee (and it can be really small, like 20 servings or something like that). More flexibel and less waste. But I understand that I may not be your target group and that the model right now is working much better for you.
And the Nespresso model is working great for them and is preferred by many people I know - it's just not for me.
Also, why in hell you use plastic as a holder? Do you realise how much waste you are creating?
Does anyone know how this compares to Starbucks Via?
Co-founder here - it's miles better than Via. Sometimes we include a packet of Via in our shipment so you can do a taste comparison (thinking about making this standard). You'll definitely notice the difference side by side.
Maybe it won't convert well enough to justify cost but I bet it would. You get someone to input all their shipping data etc and an email (which pre-validates them as someone likely to buy), then you can email market them the day the package gets to them via tracking code. They try it, then can immediately order via the email if they like it.
A week after they have received it send them another email with a X% discount on first Y months subscription if you haven't heard back from them.
Is there a way to buy some on a one time basis without subscribing?
I would like to sample the coffee before committing to a subscription.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What prevents you from subscribing and then unsubscribing just afterwards? (I don't know, maybe the webpage does, but there's no mention of minimum times anywhere and recurringcheckout has let me unsubscribe without problems in the past)
You have to call the New York Times to cancel your digital subscription. Why would I trust that some online coffee merchant I've never heard of isn't up to the same tricks? https://www.nytimes.com/content/help/account/purchases/subsc...
Because they use "recurringcheckout.com" as a payment processor, which lets you do this.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I was starting to work on Sudden I knew that the biggest challenge would be around the perception of instant coffee. It's a lot of work but we have a pretty solid plan and traction right now!
I'm glad to hear it. As others have said, if this was at REI or other stories and priced the same or higher I would totally grab some for when I go backpacking. In any case, I'm truly impressed by your responses in this thread. Most founders don't take criticism in stride and that's, in my opinion, a main difference between those who succeed and don't. I'll be a subscriber in the near future as I'm going to be travel…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for the comment! I hear ya. We're considering retail as an option in the future. Right now the subscription simply is the business model that makes sense for us - our current margins are too slim for retailers.
That makes sense. If you offered a batch where I could just buy a bunch and it stays good for a long while then I would definitely buy some in that model. That way I can simply stock some away and pull it out for trips or when I don't feel like making it / in a hurry etc. If you want to hit the backpacker market get some freebies out to blogs like Andrew Skurka, Section Hiker, Adventure Alan, Gear Junkie, etc. I don'…
Personally I subscribe for a similar use case and then just defer a week or two or skip on the months where I haven't used it all yet. Their subscription management options are very fine grained which is nice. I've been really happy with it so far.