Gimme, Gimme, GimmeAnother

No matter how hard he tried, CEO Jon Roketenetz couldn’t dissuade himself from creating GimmeAnother, a mobile re-order option that retailers can offer their loyal customers. And neither could anyone else. Trusted business allies, friends and family all expressed their desire to have the GimmeAnother app on their smartphones. ASAP. In fact, they were so eager to indulge in the convenience that they offered to help implement the technology.

“Either they couldn’t talk me out of it,” Jon says, of his various contacts in tech or sales, “or they didn’t have a good reason to. Instead, they demanded to know why it didn’t already exist. So here we are,” he adds with a laugh.

GimmeAnother empowers the consumer to re-order favorites—everything from a go-to eye cream to a preferred custom tea blend—with the convenient click of a button. The concept of Recurrable and the GimmeAnother app, came to Jon in three separate light-bulb moments:

1. Engage the consumer with a faster shopping experience.
As a longtime marketing consultant, Jon has helped various brands improve website design and ease of use. Over the past few years, Jon has seen a huge increase in the amount of cash retailers are throwing at customer engagement. “The technology is there to keep you on the product page,” he says. “Videos, reviews and more are at your fingertips. But what are retailers doing to ‘quicken’ the order? And are they adding mobile convenience?”

Consumers don’t always make the decision to re-order a product when they are in front of their laptops. Jon provides the example of his daily walk in a nearby park with his wife and son. “It’s exactly the sort of time and place where I’ll think, ‘crap, my favorite pair of jeans is starting to get that hole over the knee.’ That’s the kind of thing that makes me wonder,” he continues, ‘how is it that I can’t just pull out my phone, press a button and expect those jeans to arrive at my house two days later?’”

2. The subscription-based model of customer retention usually fails.
Brands often put a lot of horsepower into monthly subscription services for their recurrable products, items people need to re-order on a regular basis. This system often fails and encourages order cancellations, because it’s calendar-based and can feel forced upon the consumer.

“The subscription model for non-timed products will never work,” Jon explains. “Let’s take socks, for example. I really like good socks. I don’t like to mess around with socks, but I would never sign up for a subscription for socks, because first of all, that sounds crazy. And second, suddenly, I’ve got 15 new pairs of wool socks right when the summer hits.” Jon adds that the subscription concept creates frustration for the retailer, as well. Managing and processing ongoing payments is both pricy and clunky.

3. Daily deal opt-ins are ridiculous for both the retailer and consumer.
One of the latest retailer trends involves daily deals, where mass amounts of consumers buy into a coupon that offers seriously slashed prices. These programs can force the customer and retailer into an adversarial relationship that neither want to have. “I don’t go into my neighborhood sandwich shop and say, ‘tell me your lowest price on the chicken salad or I’m walking out,’” Jon explains. “That’s not how I do business with the brands and products I love. I like their sandwiches,” he adds, “but I also like them, and I want them to have some of my money. I want them in business.” In return, Jon knows the sandwich shop isn’t going to turn around one day and suddenly charge him ten bucks for a milkshake. “I know they’re not going to be ridiculous with me. And I’m not going to be ridiculous with them,” he says.

GimmeAnother comes to fruition.
Loyal customers don’t expect wild discounts, but they do expect convenience. “I can do everything else on my phone,” Jon says. “I can pull up a satellite map to tell me if it’s raining on my head. I should be able to quickly re-order the products I love. Even socks.”