Peloton : Case Study

Check out this week's spotlight on "Learn for the best": Peloton case study

Peloton is an exercise equipment company founded in 2012 and boomed in popularity in 2020 during the pandemic. They mainly sell exercise equipment directly to consumers online but also offer subscriptions to streaming fitness video content.

You may have some burning questions such as how did Peloton become popular? What is Peloton's strategy? Well, here are some interesting learning points we have identified that you can adopt and emulate Peloton's success story:

1. Back in stock alert

Stockouts can cause significant financial losses for Shopify stores, making it harder to acquire those sales in the future. The first step to avoiding long gaps of stockouts is to understand the selling pattern of your product and stock up your inventory better. This can be done with proper inventory management.

However, controlling your inventory down to the minute details can be difficult, and short gaps of stockouts are inevitable. During those times, you need to have a system in place to avoid losing sales. The solution? Back in Stock Alerts!

Peloton uses back-in-stock alerts so that interested customers can subscribe to their out-of-stock products via email. Customers will be alerted and brought back once a product is back in stock. This is a way to not only boost sales but also give customers a positive experience and grow your subscription list!

All these might seem overwhelming, but it can be easily done with Konigle's Inventory Management tool and Back in Stock Alert tool.

Here are some videos on how you can make use of the tools effectively:

2. Product comparison table / Cost Calculator

It is human nature to be unable to make a decision when faced with many alternatives due to it being hard to compare the pros and cons of each individual alternative. However, when given a smaller set of alternatives with a number of criteria to compare and select from, decisions are usually made much quicker.

Peloton provides comparison tables for their products and a cost calculator on their website. These features enable potential customers to easily compare the specs and how much savings (both time & money) will be incurred so as to justify their purchases. This is a good tactic to upsell, facilitate conversion, and increase average order value (AOV).

3. Bundling

Product bundling is the practice of offering a package of several products at a reduced price, either as an upsell or cross-sell. It is an effective method to increase sales, AOV, and customer loyalty, as they get to try more products at once.

Peloton adopts the mixed bundling tactic (combining products sold separately at a reduced price). The packages with various add-ons are pictured clearly and priced such that buyers will save more when they purchase more items.

4. Promotional tactics

Pop-ups

Research shows that the average pop-up has a conversion rate of 3.09%, while the top 10% of pop-ups have an impressive 9.3% click-through rate. This suggests that, when properly implemented, pop-ups can in fact boost your marketing efforts!

Peloton uses an entry pop-up to get new visitors to subscribe to their newsletter in exchange for a glass water bottle priced at $1. This is something online stores can learn from as it grabs visitors’ attention and expands the subscription list, which can act as a stepping stone to grow the customer base.

Referral

Next, it was observed that referred leads convert 30% better and have a 16% higher lifetime value than leads acquired via other channels. Peloton also has a referral program that entices their buyers to refer a friend for a reward of a $100 discount to their online apparel store. This is another good method many online stores should use as a means to grow their customer base and increase AOV.

5. Take a quiz

E-commerce quizzes provides an interactive experience that attracts and engages customers. Peloton offers their customers the choice to take a quiz for personalised class recommendations based on their fitness goals. This is a tactic to increase AOV as a satisfying quiz results means customers are more likely to convert and make a purchase. In addition, it is also an efficient way to collect data about your customers such as demographics, behaviour and personal preferences. All these are valuable information that can contribute to better marketing efforts and translate to increased sales.

6. Reviews & Questions

What is the first thing you do when making an online purchase? In an e-commerce driven world where customers are unable to get their hands on products before making a purchase, many of them rely on online product reviews.

Peloton has a page solely for reviews and questions of their product. Wary customers who are interested but still unsure can get a better idea about the product from these other fellow customers who have had first-hand experience using the product. Therefore, by aiding customers’ decision-making, this results in a higher purchase likelihood that increases conversions and drives sales.