Jinx launches the first text-to-buy platform in the legacy pet food space, in partnership with VC firm Initialized Capital and Alexis Ohanian.
Going beyond push notifications and customer service, the proprietary SMS platform is shaking up the pet food industry by delivering a full commerce and customer engagement experience: a first of its kind for modern dog parents.
Initialized, the lead capital investor in Jinx, is partnering with the DTC brand to pilot the technology, which offers a flexible purchase experience that prioritizes the direct customer relationship by providing a modern communications service inclusive of support, subscription management, easy checkout, order notifications, special offers, and loyalty programming.
Following the brand’s successful launch earlier this year, Jinx’s text-to-buy initiative comes at a pivotal moment for new pet parents as dog adoptions soared this year due to COVID-19, and consumer patterns and preferences are primed for new purchasing experiences. According to Statista, “Pet food was the highest selling pet market product category in the United States in 2019 and is projected to maintain the top spot into 2020. Approximately $36.9 billion U.S. dollars of pet food was sold in 2019 and this is estimated to increase to around $38.4 billion in 2020.”
Text is the preferred channel for millennials when communicating with businesses, while mobile sales are slated to reach $314Bby the end of 2020. Convenience, especially via mobile, is a critical factor to a business’ success. Jinx is pioneering the way by being the first dog food text purchasing option available.
Initialized co-founder and board partner, Alexis Ohanian, said “I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the DTC e-commerce space and as a product-builder my whole career, realized I could build a better system for all the companies in our portfolio and that there’d be no better partner to launch it than Jinx, who have consistently been at the cutting edge of the industry. There are many plug and play text-to-buy options available in the marketplace, our goal was to create a proprietary technology that offered convenience and personalization to Jinx’s customers and allowed us to hone in on consumer findings that would be valuable to all our portfolio brands.”
New Access Points + Retail Partnerships
In addition to launching the text-to-buy feature, Jinx is working hard to deliver new access points to customers so that dog parents can get Jinx whenever they need it, wherever they are. In 2020, the brand has established strategic partnerships with Postmates at the height of COVID-19 to offer same-day food delivery, and with Petco.com as the first DTC dog food brand to be offered on its digital shelves. They even created an exclusive co-branded product and accessory bundle offering as part of their Barry’s Bootcamp partnership, in which dog parents could participate in their first-ever dog + human at-home workout, celebrating the ever-growing bond with our pups that today’s world has fueled. The brand also launched on Rover.com this month to a very engaged dog parent community.
Terri Rockovich, Co-Founder and CEO of Jinx stated: “We believe that access to premium, high-quality dog food is critical in today’s world. It’s not just about convenience, it’s about giving our customers access to everything they need at their fingertips. For many of our millennial customers, that means being accessible via text message - giving them the ability to purchase, manage their subscriptions, and connect with customer service, providing a fully comprehensive brand engagement experience.”
Jen Wolf, COO and Partner at Initialized Capital continued, “Jinx is a customer-first brand that pushes the boundaries of DTC, it’s one of the reasons we invested in this company and team. We’re excited to pilot a full commerce and customer text experience with Jinx, one that meets their customers where they are, and one that other companies in the Initialized portfolio can use going forward.”
The sign-up process for the Jinx text-to-buy platform begins on the website with customers entering their cell phone number, verification code, payment, and shipping info. Once signed on, the experience moves to text and includes the following features for customers:
- Direct access to the Jinx Team for any questions
- Subscription order management and purchasing, as well as one-time purchasing
- Engagement with marketing campaigns and promotional offers
As a digitally native brand, Jinx is committed to providing unparalleled access to premium dog nutrition to the mass market. Being a customer-first brand means living at the intersection of innovation and customer behavior to deliver exceptional customer experience - Jinx’s text-to-buy platform allows them to do just that. For more information on Jinx and their full portfolio of healthful and delicious recipes for modern dogs, please visit www.thinkjinx.com.
