Case Study
Harvest Group helps DUDE Wipes increase sales using deeper audience insights with AMC
Started by three roommates in a Chicago apartment, DUDE Wipes (DUDE) launched in 2011 with travel-size flushable wipes to use on the go. Over the next few years, the team went from selling wipes out of their spare bedroom to securing a high-level investor on ABC’s Shark Tank to becoming a viral brand found in thousands of stores nationwide.
Challenging the norms of the tissue industry, DUDE’s products offer a more hygienic and eco-friendly alternative to traditional toilet paper. With a goal of disrupting established consumer habits, increasing sales and conversions among new-to-brand (NTB) customers remains the brand’s top priority. To accomplish this goal, DUDE needed deeper and more readily actionable insights into their customers’ purchase journey, NTB customer habits, and the impact of their multitouch advertising.
Understanding NTB customers with Flexible shopping insights (beta)
DUDE teamed up with full-service retail agency Harvest Group to optimize and expand their Amazon business across advertising, operations, analytics, and content. Harvest Group began using Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) alongside Flexible shopping insights (beta), a subscription-based service that, in combination with the free-tier AMC services, expands the depth and scope of insights from analytics on ads, marketing, and retail.
Using flexible shopping insights, the Harvest Group team combined ad-attributed and non-ad-attributed information to determine the top three DUDE products driving NTB sales so that DUDE could invest more in those items. In addition, the team analyzed NTB customer purchase patterns, trade-up behaviors, and optimal media mixes. Harvest Group found that after an initial ad-exposed NTB sale, the percentage of subsequent non-ad-exposed sales was 121% higher than for non-ad-exposed first sales, and the lifetime return on ad spend (ROAS) was 22% higher.1 This indicated that subsequent purchases after an ad-exposed sale yield stronger results for second and third purchases without ad exposure.
— Sean Riley, president, DUDE WipesAt DUDE Wipes, we’re trying to disrupt toilet paper and change consumers’ habits. Learning about our new-to-brand customers is our holy grail. Using Amazon Marketing Cloud, we are able to measure and attract more new-to-brand customers than ever. AMC is helping us understand what works for new customer acquisition and then double down on those strategies.
Apart from advertising insights, Harvest Group also used Flexible shopping insights to inform retail decisions at DUDE. For example, by using AMC’s Subscribe & Save (SnS) signals, which include information on order replenishment, the partner found that customers who subscribe to the advertiser’s products spend an average of 37% more than those who are not.2 In addition, customers spend an average of 132% more after they sign up for SnS, indicating a 65% net growth of sales compared to customers with subscriptions.3 This gives Harvest Group the confidence to keep working with their vendors on pursuing SnS programs and to start planning ad campaigns to drive SnS enrollments.
Improving NTB reach and sales through insight-driven campaigns
A more comprehensive understanding of DUDE’s NTB customers and sales led to a large advertising push for the top NTB-driving item. As a result, NTB customers increased by 72% compared to previous months.4 DUDE also tracked non-ad-exposed repeat purchases after ad-exposed NTB sales. This revealed a 20% increase in ROAS over previous campaigns.5
In addition, Harvest Group noted significant changes after using their findings in day-to-day advertising efforts. For example, DUDE’s campaigns reached 209% more NTB users, and increase NTB sales by 53% over three weeks.6
The next step for Harvest Group is to use AMC and Flexible shopping insights to find sub-audiences with 200% to 500% higher purchase rates to drive more intentional, targeted advertising efforts.
— Michael Turner, director of digital commerce, Harvest GroupWhen you know the full story of how your advertising is affecting the purchase journey, you can be much more intentional in aligning your ad investments with your strategic goals. Flexible shopping insights are the key to getting us closer to the full story.
1-6 Source: Harvest Group, United States, 2023.