How BARK powers personalization to drive customer retention & loyalty

Founded in 2011 by three dog-obsessed founders, BARK began as a curated subscription service providing thematic monthly boxes of dog toys and treats. Over time, BARK expanded its mission to cater to all dogs based on their playstyle, dietary needs, and health maintenance. Today, BARK has expanded its products to include more durable chew toys, dental care, kibble, and toppers. BARK has also expanded into retail, reaching 40,000 stores and serving customers globally. Its mission is to provide joy to all dogs and their people by providing them with resources and education. 

Recently at CRMC in Chicago, Kristen Elmer, Sr. Director of eCommerce Sales at BARK, shared how BARK has transformed its customer engagement and retention strategies using the Simon CDP. 

Watch the video presentation or continue reading the success story below.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, BARK saw a surge in demand and revenue growth as more people adopted or fostered dogs and switched to online shopping, getting everything delivered right to their door. 

As the popularity of dogs grew and sales increased, the amount of customer data and with it, the potential to understand our customers grew. However, analysis became a struggle due to siloed platforms and fragmented data sources.

^{“BARK was dealing with and manually processing a ton of customer information,” says Kristen Elmer, Sr. Director, eCommerce Sales at BARK. “It was too much to manage, and the customer data wasn’t always easily accessible or actionable.”}  

The BARK team also lacked an efficient, manageable way to activate this customer data for marketing campaigns. Instead, the team relied on manual workflows to collect and segment data, relying on a large CSV passed between teams to edit, which was often time-consuming and error-prone.

Later, when the world recovered from the pandemic, the retail industry evolved, competition increased, and BARK’s growth stabilized. BARK set out to find new and innovative ways to engage its existing customers and drive retention and loyalty.

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To combat BARK’s initial challenge with siloed customer data, the Simon CDP was the perfect solution for centralizing its customer data and building comprehensive customer 360 profiles. 

The Simon CDP enabled the marketing team to gain a comprehensive understanding of its customers — six million pups and their owners, to be exact — so it could build more personalized, creative, and automated marketing campaigns. 

And, combined with Simon’s advanced no-code UI for customer segmentation and easy data activation to downstream marketing channels, BARK’s marketing team is more efficient, streamlined, and creative than ever. In fact, BARK estimates that Simon Data has saved the marketing team over 2.5 hours of time per email sent.

^{“Simon makes testing, learning, segmenting, and customizing so much easier. I was doing this work manually in CSVs before, and now we can click, click, click and get a custom email out and not have to worry about undertaking a massive process,” says Kristen.}

Using Simon, BARK now segments and tailors customer communications based on detailed customer profiles, including transaction history, subscription status, pet allergies, and product preferences.

For example, BARK can avoid promoting chicken-based treats to customers with dogs allergic to chicken while promoting dog toothpaste, treats, and supplies to only customers with older or small dogs prone to dental health issues.

But the real benefit the BARK team has seen has come from launching its innovative “Add-to-Box” program. The Add-to-Box program is an optional add-on order of exclusive items and pricing available only to BARK customers. 

BARK uses Simon Data to create hyper-specific Add-to-Box customer segments that incorporate their transaction history, channel preferences, subscription status, food allergies, and more. This ensures that the right add-on product is marketed to the right customer. With Simon, BARK also cross-promotes new products to active subscriptions through Add-to-Box.

BARK now sends 6 to 10 Add-to-Box emails monthly, supplemented by lifecycle marketing emails and early engagement series, milestones, and birthday celebrations. This approach has strengthened customer relationships, improved customer loyalty, and driven retention.

Since implementing the Add-To-Box program, BARK has significantly boosted annual revenue and conversion rates. From 2019 to 2023, Add-to-Box revenue skyrocketed from $1.1 million to $40.8 million.

Email and SMS campaigns now drive 20% of BARK’s revenue. Its partnership with Simon has been instrumental in scaling business, enabling the marketing team to build advanced customer segments, enhance personalization, and ensure customers are communicated with on their preferred channels. 

^{“What drives these successful campaigns at BARK? A full lifecycle,” explains Kristen. “With Simon and our partners in place, BARK can launch a new product, develop a target audience for that product using our customer data and CDP, then watch how sales perform and iterate as necessary.”}

BARK aims to continue growing its SMS and push notification channels. BARK’s team also plans to continue enhancing product recommendations and personalized communications for its millions of dog customers.

^{“Now we can get creative and have some fun with our personalized campaigns. We can change them up, test new ideas, and get the right product in front of the right customer,” says Kristen.}

BARK’s collaboration with Simon Data has revolutionized its approach to customer engagement and retention. By leveraging Simon Data’s capabilities, BARK has achieved remarkable growth in average order value, overall revenue, and customer satisfaction, setting the stage for continued success and innovation in the pet care industry.

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