When Daily Harvest expanded to sell its products in retail stores in 2023, the direct-to-consumer vegan food delivery brand learned that what works for DTC doesn’t always translate to store shelves.
Daily Harvest product packaging used to feature images of raw ingredients such as chopped fruits and vegetables that make up the final meal. But packaging plays a different role in online orders than in retail. To successfully expand its distribution model into physical retail, the company is now redesigning its packaging for that new context – the real-world grocery store shelf, aiming to meet the customer where they are.
The move to retail follows the crisis the company faced in 2022, when it recalled a product that used tara flour that injured hundreds of patients and sent several to the emergency room. (Daily Harvest is valued at more than $1 billion in 2021.) Founder and former CEO Rachel Driori said. Fast Company In 2023, its customers remained loyal, and the company “increased our acquisition strategy based on this experience.” Last year, its move into grocery stores helped the brand expand its audience beyond its online customers.
Everyday Produce packages now feature ready-to-eat smoothies, single-serve meals, multi-serve pastas and cereals front-and-center, so grocery shoppers can quickly tell what the product is at a glance. Photos of the ingredients now appear on the sides of the packaging, where the ingredients are listed in bold text. The company also redesigned its containers after discovering that the labels had a tendency to fall off when facing outwards. His dishes now come in boxes.
Simply put, different contexts require a different design recipe. Online, customers have a set of decision-making tools. They can see multiple photos of a product, read its description, and scroll through customer reviews. There is more information about the product. The packaging that customers see after they place their order and their box is delivered is not an important part of their purchasing decision.
In contrast, in retail stores, packaging is everything. Without a photo gallery or five-star review system, physical packaging plays a big role in how consumers make purchasing decisions, and Daily Harvest found photos of raw ingredients confusing people in this space. What was actually inside the package? Was assembly required?
Plus, unlike online, where customers only fill their carts for delivery with Daily Harvest products, grocery store customers have many other options. If the product packaging leaves them with a lot of questions, it’s easy to move on and find something else to buy.
“While DTC channels offer complete control over the customer experience, retail environments limit a brand’s ability to control product presentation and merchandising,” says Daily Harvest CEO Ricky Silver. Fast Company. “Direct contact with customers is also weakened in the retail setting, making it difficult to gather customer feedback and data that can inform product development and marketing strategies.”
Other DTC brands have also expanded into retail stores in recent years, such as Allbirds, Away and Glossier. For those looking to make that leap, Daily Harvest’s learning curve can be steep. It’s one thing to be good at selling directly to customers, but to sell in retail stores, brands may have to make some changes to accommodate the way people shop in person and offer a new kind of shelf appeal.