Background
Ribble have expanded from selling just bikes to stocking a large range of cycling kit and accessories. Their direct sales model means they offer unrivalled customisation at a great price – something their loyal customers value.
Ribble understood that these loyal customers, with a network of fellow cyclists, could become their greatest advocates. So they decided to launch a refer-a-friend programme. Wanting a solution that could encourage, incentivise, and track this advocacy across multiple channels, they turned to Mention Me.
Unique name sharing maximises referral opportunities
Referral marketing is an obvious channel for a brand like Ribble. The cycling community provides an ideal environment where brand enthusiasts will mention a product in conversation. Mention Me’s ‘Name Sharing’ functionality makes capturing this advocacy easy; customers can tell a fellow cyclist to use their name to claim a referral reward. This has worked to great effect for Ribble with over 11 per cent of referral purchases coming via this channel.
The functionality of the platform also allows the Ribble team to AB test different offers with different customer segments to see what resonates best with that demographic.
Results
The referral programme has become an important marketing channel:
- Increasing rate of brand sharing – AB testing has helped increase the rate at which the brand is shared by 64 per cent since launch.
- Referred customers are valuable – The Average Order Value (AOV) for referred customers is 32 per cent higher than that of customers acquired via other channels.
- Referred customers become repeat customers – in the past year, over a third of the revenue from referred customers was driven by subsequent orders.