DXP Snapshot #2: the strategy behind Huel's incredible brand advocacy

We have examined the purchasing journey of Huel, a disruptive DTC player in the European wellness industry with an army of loyal customers.

The recently started DXP (Digital Experience) Snapshots look under the hood of the most successful e-commerce brands.

We act as a “mystery shopper” and undergo the complete purchase & return experience, which allows us to underpin the key components of the brand’s digital strategy and tactics.

This time, we chose to examine Huel, the leading food replacement and nutrition DTC brand with a 98% customer satisfaction score.

Huel has nailed the 3C Flywheel strategy and has been enjoying predictable growth.

Huel is a very interesting DTC brand because it has achieved incredible brand advocacy:

• There are more than 32K members on Huel’s branded Reddit community;

• Over 30K Huel customers have enjoyed more than 1,000 Huel meals;

• There were 988k active Huel customers in the end of 2023 (+8% YoY).

Data from Huel’s Annual Statement 2023

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DXP Snapshot of Huel

Conway’s digital experience consultant Daan Spangenberg has extensively analyzed Huel’s approach towards maximising the customer lifetime value.

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Watch the interview with the main insights here:

Find Daan’s Miro worksheet with details here:

The Miro worksheet includes the analysis of Huel's strategy, tactics, and user experience.

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In short, what is the secret sauce of Huel’s strategy?

Huel has nailed the e-commerce flywheel strategy, investing heavily into community building and content strategy. The brand has developed an elaborate customer retention strategy, that turns regular customers into brand advocates from the very first purchase.

Every new Huel customer is welcomed into the #Hueligan clan. ∼3% of them can be expected to have more than 1K Huel meals.

• Each Huel customer gets additional perks (branded t-shirt, a bottle) with their purchase and an invitation to join the community of #Hueligans.

• There are vibrant Reddit and official Huel forums, in which Hueligans discuss nutrition, fitness, weight loss and openly share opinions about Huel products.

• Huel produces top-quality content, like the Hardest Gezeer campaign, that generated massive engagement, reactions, and UGC.

• Disruptive omnichannel moves, such as deploying vending machines in high-traffic locations like airports, enhance Huel's accessibility to customers when they need it most.

Huel's CAC must be higher than the industry's benchmark, given the value (i.e., free goodies, incentives, engagement) it provides for the first-time customers upfront. But the key lesson is that it definitely pays off for the brand in the long run.

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Interested in a DXP Gameplan for your own brand?

Feel free to contact Daan Spangenberg if you want to do a digital experience audit for your brand and build your 'DXP Gameplan' to increase conversion, NPS, and retention.