Where is my ice-cream and pizza? Twilio messaging helps delivers the goods
In my recent podcasts with Twilio, I heard some fairly unique examples of app messaging that helped deliver better digital customer experiences. SMS messages are something that we love to hate. Done right, with the right time and business logic, and they are extremely useful. Getting it wrong is simply annoying, but in these two examples I’m sharing, well, they are perfect examples of how to do it right. And for me, they are highly relatable, because I use both these services regularly and find their messaging to be spot on.
Firstly Woolworths. This example if one I’m familiar with as I regularly use their delivery service. In fact when I first arrived back in Australia, and faced 14 days in a hotel in Sydney, I used their service to deliver much needed essentials for surivive quarantine with a 9 year old and an 11 year old.
The premise is, they end timely messages as your order is being prepared, with advanced warning for example when your order is due to arrive. Ok so when in hotel quarantine time isn’t really that important, but today, as we are regularly out of the house, it’s extremely important that the supermarket gets the delivery window accurate. You cannot send the items to the post office for pick up, especially in a country with temperatures that are sure to melt your ice-cream, you simply need to be home.
This is David Coghill from the Twilio Podcast Episode “Messaging Made Easy“
Never miss a delivery
In our household we are yet to miss a delivery with Woolworths because of this messaging. I regularly get messages from my partner saying “can you please be free from 10.00am to 10.15am to accept the supermarket delivery”.
It’s so timely and most often accurate, I know exactly when to book my next meeting so I can miss the unpacking process in the kitchen.
Pizza is ready for pick-up!
Domino’s digital experience is fairly well documented. For a service that offers low cost pizza’s, I was always intrigued by the investment they made in digital, and how they could afford it. These days though, when digital experience is so highly regarded, the ease, speed, and efficiency of pizza ordering is probably more important than the taste.
They were one of the first companies to implement ‘real-time’ tracking of pizza delivery. I recall, living in Boston and ordering pizza for my daughters birthday, and with a tired 8 year old bellowing at me “Dad where is the pizza!”, I could confidently respond, “3 mins away”, thanks to Domino’s Uber’esque real-time pizza tracker.
Now what’s interesting about this story, is the pivot Domino’s made during the pandemic. Rather than exclusively providing sms updates on pizza production and delivery, they were able to provide real time updates on pizza’s being made in store, and when you should come in to pick it up. Essentially minimising overcrowding in stores.
This is David Coghill from the Twilio Podcast Episode “Messaging Made Easy“
Both of this companies provided simple and timely messages that enhanced customer experience. You could say both of them also helped reduced the spread of COVID, by preventing safe, and simple, ways of consuming.
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