Howdy F&S board,

Class of '00 sponsor here. Been on TA for nearly a decade and just started my sponsorship a year ago.

I have a consulting firm that specializes in ecom strategy. I help companies create a new ecom strategy and then execute on it. I work with lots of brands across industries and one of the things that i do to get the wheels turning for ecom is post some product promotions on Texags to help get them exposure and sell some products!

I have a promo in mind for this board, but before I post, I wanted to get your feedback so that I can craft something that you'll be excited about. Would you mind taking a few minutes to share your thoughts with me?

The brand I'm working with now is Pederson's Natural Farms. They make bacon, sausage, fresh pork, hams, ground beef, hot dogs... you get the picture. Everything they make is really healthy (paleo, keto, whole 30 approved). I helped them get set up with Dot Foods (distributor) so that they could offer their products across different ecom sites and fulfill the orders with 2 day shipping. It's expensive, to be honest, because it's frozen meat delivery, but a lot of people want to shop online only these days. Here are my questions...

Do you or would you buy meat online?
How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Do you expect to pay for shipping?
Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound?
Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)?
If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both?
What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today?
Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to?

Because i often only get response from people that care about what I'm talking about, I'm going to post right after this with a "don't care" option. If you don't give a rip about any of this, please star that post!

Thanks everyone!

Trek

Answers at the end of each question.

Do you or would you buy meat online? Sure

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Inside a week

Do you expect to pay for shipping? Up to a certain spend level, yes.

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound? If I wanted healthier options price won't matter. Personally, I buy what is needed to make the dish taste good then control my portions if I'm trying to be healthier.

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)? I prefer some system for which I already have an account and I trust their ecom system.

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both? Availability of products.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to? Absolutely friggin not. Do not automatically send/bill me for anything.

phideaux_2003 said:

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Answers at the end of each question.

Do you or would you buy meat online? Sure

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Inside a week

Do you expect to pay for shipping? Up to a certain spend level, yes.

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound? If I wanted healthier options price won't matter. Personally, I buy what is needed to make the dish taste good then control my portions if I'm trying to be healthier.

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)? I prefer some system for which I already have an account and I trust their ecom system.

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both? Availability of products.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to? Absolutely friggin not. Do not automatically send/bill me for anything.

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Exact same for me for every answer

Thank you both. I'm going to let a few more responses roll in before I ask a couple of follow up questions.

Do you or would you buy meat online?
Yes

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Do you expect to pay for shipping?
Around a week - Up to around 20% of total order price

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound?
The reason I buy online is for higher quality products. Price & healthiness is not the motivator.

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)?
Amending my answer here - I don't think I would buy meat from Amazon.

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both?
Store for convenience and commodity products. Online for higher quality, hard to get items.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today?
Most likely this wouldn't be a factor for me. Maybe a sampler pack of your best products so I can try them all out.

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to?
No subscription

I like to choose my own meat. I do not buy it online.

Do you or would you buy meat online?
Yes

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Do you expect to pay for shipping?
3 days. I'm paying for shipping whether it's baked into the price or added separately

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound?
I buy products I can't find at HEB or my local meat market

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)?
Yes. I go to specific places for certain things.

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both?
Quality

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today?
A deep discount towards a 1st purchase. 25% off or more

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to?
No subscription for me. Also, It annoys the crap out of me when anyone calls meat "protein".

Quote:

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Do you expect to pay for shipping? Up to a certain spend level, yes.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

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Couple of follow up questions here, and thanks for taking the time to respond.

How much is too much for shipping? For example, we've got 4 and 5 packs of sausage (breakfast sausage / kielbasa) priced at $29 plus $20 shipping. The sausage itself is about $6 per rope, but the shipping is about $25. Is there a better way to price what we have that doesn't turn you off?

Second, would 30% off the total price be enough? So on a $50 purchase, you'd pay about $33.

Quote:

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Exact same for me for every answer

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I'll ask you the same, and thanks for taking the time to respond.

How much is too much for shipping? For example, we've got 4 and 5 packs of sausage (breakfast sausage / kielbasa) priced at $29 plus $20 shipping. The sausage itself is about $6 per rope, but the shipping is about $25. Is there a better way to price what we have that doesn't turn you off?

Second, would 30% off the total price be enough? So on a $50 purchase, you'd pay about $33.

steve00 said:

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Do you or would you buy meat online?
Yes

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Do you expect to pay for shipping?
Around a week - Up to around 20% of total order price

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound?
The reason I buy online is for higher quality products. Price & healthiness is not the motivator.

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)?
Amending my answer here - I don't think I would buy meat from Amazon.

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both?
Store for convenience and commodity products. Online for higher quality, hard to get items.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today?
Most likely this wouldn't be a factor for me. Maybe a sampler pack of your best products so I can try them all out.

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to?
No subscription

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Great feedback, thanks!

FIDO*98* said:

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Do you or would you buy meat online?
Yes

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Do you expect to pay for shipping?
3 days. I'm paying for shipping whether it's baked into the price or added separately

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound?
I buy products I can't find at HEB or my local meat market

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)?
Yes. I go to specific places for certain things.

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both?
Quality

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today?
A deep discount towards a 1st purchase. 25% off or more

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to?
No subscription for me. Also, It annoys the crap out of me when anyone calls meat "protein".

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Thanks Fido

FIDO*98* said:

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Also, It annoys the crap out of me when anyone calls meat "protein".

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Thank you. Can't stand that.

Yes Bluebonnet Beef
DeeeLeon TX

Trek Strategy said:

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Do you or would you buy meat online? No, unless it was exotic meat/hard to find meats that I would like to try that I don't have sourced. (Sandhill crane, quail for examples--not trying to be funny. I just would like to try crane but don't know how to do it.)
How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? A week. Do you expect to pay for shipping? I feel like I'm already paying for shipping in the price that seems higher than what I'm paying in the store.
Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound? I don't think you can ever truly win on costs, so "better for you" is probably going to have to work though it's not compelling to me.
Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)? I agree with those above, I trust Amazon's ecom.
If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both? Online is convenience. In a store is time sensitive or wanting to try it out or concerned about returning or refunding.
What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Nothing on food.
Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to? Buy when I want.

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Trek Strategy said:

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Howdy F&S board,

Class of '00 sponsor here. Been on TA for nearly a decade and just started my sponsorship a year ago.

I have a consulting firm that specializes in ecom strategy. I help companies create a new ecom strategy and then execute on it. I work with lots of brands across industries and one of the things that i do to get the wheels turning for ecom is post some product promotions on Texags to help get them exposure and sell some products!

I have a promo in mind for this board, but before I post, I wanted to get your feedback so that I can craft something that you'll be excited about. Would you mind taking a few minutes to share your thoughts with me?

The brand I'm working with now is Pederson's Natural Farms. They make bacon, sausage, fresh pork, hams, ground beef, hot dogs... you get the picture. Everything they make is really healthy (paleo, keto, whole 30 approved). I helped them get set up with Dot Foods (distributor) so that they could offer their products across different ecom sites and fulfill the orders with 2 day shipping. It's expensive, to be honest, because it's frozen meat delivery, but a lot of people want to shop online only these days. Here are my questions...

Do you or would you buy meat online?only on very rare occasions, since I can find almost anything I want locally, and if I can't find it, like a bacon or sausage, I make it.
How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered?a week, and no longer than 10 days Do you expect to pay for shipping?yes, because shipping perishable items is expensive. Charge what it costs.
Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound?no, because most of the "better for you" meat I find is either misleading or at worst, a flat out lie ("uncured" bacon loaded with celery powder comes to mind).
Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)?No.
If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both?Convenience and getting to see what I'm buying in a store, getting something my store doesn't carry for online.
What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today?30%-35% off first order.
Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to?No way, because one month I'll get strip steaks, and the next month is beck bones.

Because i often only get response from people that care about what I'm talking about, I'm going to post right after this with a "don't care" option. If you don't give a rip about any of this, please star that post!

Thanks everyone!

Trek

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Have never bought meat online...

Trek Strategy said:

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Quote:

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Do you expect to pay for shipping? Up to a certain spend level, yes.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

---

Couple of follow up questions here, and thanks for taking the time to respond.

How much is too much for shipping? For example, we've got 4 and 5 packs of sausage (breakfast sausage / kielbasa) priced at $29 plus $20 shipping. The sausage itself is about $6 per rope, but the shipping is about $25. Is there a better way to price what we have that doesn't turn you off?

Second, would 30% off the total price be enough? So on a $50 purchase, you'd pay about $33.

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Given the cost of shipping something refrigerated or frozen, that's not unreasonable for shipping charges... with that said I will never ever pay that to ship sausage. I cannot imagine the breakfast sausage or kielbasa worth paying 4 times the product cost to ship it, and I'm not buying 6 ropes of kielbasa at a time.

Structure it differently. Do it by weight or just package it such that $20-$30 shipping is reasonable.

phideaux_2003 said:

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Trek Strategy said:

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Quote:

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Do you expect to pay for shipping? Up to a certain spend level, yes.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

---

Couple of follow up questions here, and thanks for taking the time to respond.

How much is too much for shipping? For example, we've got 4 and 5 packs of sausage (breakfast sausage / kielbasa) priced at $29 plus $20 shipping. The sausage itself is about $6 per rope, but the shipping is about $25. Is there a better way to price what we have that doesn't turn you off?

Second, would 30% off the total price be enough? So on a $50 purchase, you'd pay about $33.

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Given the cost of shipping something refrigerated or frozen, that's not unreasonable for shipping charges... with that said I will never ever pay that to ship sausage. I cannot imagine the breakfast sausage or kielbasa worth paying 4 times the product cost to ship it, and I'm not buying 6 ropes of kielbasa at a time.

Structure it differently. Do it by weight or just package it such that $20-$30 shipping is reasonable.

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Thanks. The big benefit is that you only pay the $20 shipping charge once, no matter how much you buy on one order. So if you bought 5 4-packs, you'd only end up paying $4 shipping per product. That's a pretty good deal to get lots of meat and 2-day shipping, but man it's hard to get that across in the marketing so that people read and understand. Most people only look at a product page for a few seconds.

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How much is too much for shipping?

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Hard to say, but that's usually the biggest obstacle to ordering meat online for anything other than holiday gift type things. Especially w/ so many Texas brands available in grocery stores now. There aren't many things I order online w/ shipping costs that are equal to or greater than the product price. So I would think some kind of sampler combos would be the best way to introduce the promised higher quality to new customers.

Trek Strategy said:

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phideaux_2003 said:

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Trek Strategy said:

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Quote:

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Do you expect to pay for shipping? Up to a certain spend level, yes.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

---

Couple of follow up questions here, and thanks for taking the time to respond.

How much is too much for shipping? For example, we've got 4 and 5 packs of sausage (breakfast sausage / kielbasa) priced at $29 plus $20 shipping. The sausage itself is about $6 per rope, but the shipping is about $25. Is there a better way to price what we have that doesn't turn you off?

Second, would 30% off the total price be enough? So on a $50 purchase, you'd pay about $33.

---

Given the cost of shipping something refrigerated or frozen, that's not unreasonable for shipping charges... with that said I will never ever pay that to ship sausage. I cannot imagine the breakfast sausage or kielbasa worth paying 4 times the product cost to ship it, and I'm not buying 6 ropes of kielbasa at a time.

Structure it differently. Do it by weight or just package it such that $20-$30 shipping is reasonable.

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Thanks. The big benefit is that you only pay the $20 shipping charge once, no matter how much you buy on one order. So if you bought 5 4-packs, you'd only end up paying $4 shipping per product. That's a pretty good deal to get lots of meat and 2-day shipping, but man it's hard to get that across in the marketing so that people read and understand. Most people only look at a product page for a few seconds.

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Yeah that's a marketing problem. So it sounds like you have it structured decently but it needs to be communicated that a box of X size costs this much, up to X lbs is another tier of shipping cost, etc.

I'll play.

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Do you or would you buy meat online? - Yes
How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Do you expect to pay for shipping? 2-3 days & yes
Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound? I only buy things that I can't get at my neighborhood HEB like duck breasts, certain cuts of steak, Berkshire pork, etc
Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)? I've bought other groceries from Amazon Fresh but never meat
If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both? Answered above
What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? I usually order from Wild Fork Foods; to consider ordering from another company I would need an equal to slightly better selection at equal to slightly better price; they have $9.95 shipping to Texas, and I don't find that to be an egregious rate
Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to? Not interested in a subscription model

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Trek Strategy said:

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Exact same for me for every answer

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I'll ask you the same, and thanks for taking the time to respond.

How much is too much for shipping? For example, we've got 4 and 5 packs of sausage (breakfast sausage / kielbasa) priced at $29 plus $20 shipping. The sausage itself is about $6 per rope, but the shipping is about $25. Is there a better way to price what we have that doesn't turn you off?

Second, would 30% off the total price be enough? So on a $50 purchase, you'd pay about $33.

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The discount would get me to follow through with a $50 purchase if that is $50 of product and not inclusive of the $25 shipping. If I'm buying 1-2 ropes of sausage, spending $33 for that doesn't seem worth it. I'll just go to HEB to avoid shipping.

I understand the high cost of shipping refrigerated meats but 20-25 shipping for a $6-12 order doesn't make sense to me.

Maybe create packages with multiple cuts of meat(do you have anything other than sausage?).

Or charge shipping up to a point ($75 order gets free shipping). If that works out economically for your business.

Thanks for all the replies. I've got something lined up that most of you will like. I will post it here tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Here's the thing for me and I am probably in the minority here.

I run a cow calf operation therefore my beef comes from my stock, I know it, have seen it every day if it's life and personally delivered it to the processor.

One thing Covid did for me and my family is force us to bring our dollars spent in close to our community. We buy our produce and other necessities as local as possible and others around have reached out to us to buy beef directly from us.

The world in my opinion will continue to get more compartmentalized. Meaning I don't want to buy meat from 2 states away. I will pay more locally to support other producers. When the local farmers market is up and running we will shop there ALOT.

Again, I know I have a different opinion because I am a producer, but that's my take.

We love Pedersons bacon! I would consider a subscription for bacon, but shipping cost would be a factor as we can buy it from the store. We typically buy 2 lbs a week. We also bought pedersons hot dogs on occasion. Those are good, but we are not big buyers of hot dogs. Within the past few months Pedersons bacon has not been available at central market where we shop. What happened? I've exclusively bought their bacon since around 2011.

BreckCO2000 said:

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We love Pedersons bacon! I would consider a subscription for bacon, but shipping cost would be a factor as we can buy it from the store. We typically buy 2 lbs a week. We also bought pedersons hot dogs on occasion. Those are good, but we are not big buyers of hot dogs. Within the past few months Pedersons bacon has not been available at central market where we shop. What happened? I've exclusively bought their bacon since around 2011.

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Which Central Market? I'll ask. It shouldn't be the case.

Lovers ln Dallas. First they stopped selling the larger package about 16oz. Then they stopped stocking the smaller package too.

phideaux_2003 said:

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Answers at the end of each question.

Do you or would you buy meat online? Maybe, if everything was right

How quickly do you expect the order to be delivered? Few days

Do you expect to pay for shipping? Yes

Do you care about "better for you" meats or do you just want to buy bacon for $3 a pound? I care about quality. To me, better for you meat means lean meat. Sometimes I want chicken breast, sometimes I want ribeye, sometimes I want bacon. DGAS about organic, grass fed, hormone, antibiotic, gmo, whatever BS.

Do you care where you purchase online (pedersons.com or Amazon.com)? Prefer something simple, easy to navigate, and trustworthy

If you buy online and in a store, what are the reasons that you do both? I almost exclusively do curbside pickup grocery shopping because of convenience. If I want something I can't find at the store, I'll order it online.

What kind of promotion would get you interested in purchasing today? Deep deep discounts will get me off my normal shopping routine as a trial. If I'm happy with the product, process and actual costs beyond that first purchase, I can continue to use it.

Lots of protein suppliers are doing a subscription model. Do you want a meat subscription or do you just want to buy when/where you want to? Absolutely friggin not. Do not automatically send/bill me for anything.

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