This is part of our #SmileABCs series, highlighting and going in-depth with small businesses and ecommerce brands. Check out the full series here.
How do you show someone you care about them? Often in moments of grief, or during a rough time or an illness, all we need is a warm meal. During joyous moments, we celebrate with food. Food is the center of our life moments and Angel Delivery is making it easier for anyone to say they care with a meal.
Angel Delivery was founded over 10 years ago by Rebecca Cass, a mom of two who was working as a pediatric nurse at the time. She would see new parents heading home from the hospital with arms full of flowers when what they really needed was a good home-cooked meal.
“That sparked the idea for what was then ‘Baby Angel’ –a full care service for new parents. This saw Rebecca turning up at the doorstep of homes around Wellington, New Zealand with her mop and a hearty meal,” says Grace Kreft, General Manager.
Fast forward 10 years and Angel Delivery has since become New Zealand's leading nationwide fresh food gifting, delivery service. “We are proud to help connect hundreds of thousands of families, friends, and colleagues across the country during life's ups and downs,” she says.
Angel Delivery and community
A small team of six leads Angel Delivery and empathy is a big driver for the business. “Receiving an Angel Delivery is an emotional experience, as it connects people personally with their loved ones during a really hard or emotionally challenging time. We often get calls from recipients in tears. They are so moved by their delivery,” Grace says.
They offer gourmet meals, desserts, and treats. “Angel Delivery is a unique business in that every single customer is a kind, caring and generous person, who is sending their love to others–so it makes sense that we are building a community of such like-minded people.” From saying “get well soon,” to offering sympathy, to gifting a new family, there are tons of options to gift for.
The pandemic lockdowns allowed their community to really shine. “When we aren’t able to be close to our loved ones physically, that’s where Angel Delivery really shined. We are a physical manifestation of your love, delivered to their door when you can’t be there. We’ve connected hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders with their loved ones during lockdowns and outbreaks over the past two years,” Grace says.
Love Loop points
Angel Delivery recently introduced Love Loop, their loyalty program. “Our tribe is made up of “givers”–the kind of people who are always first to show up to help during a hard time or drop off a lasagne to help out after you’ve had surgery,” says Grace.
“The ethos behind wanting to introduce a loyalty program was all based around the fact that our customers are always looking after and treating other people. We wanted to take the opportunity to treat them,” she says.
“That’s why we called our rewards program the Love Loop - it’s built around our belief that when you give you also receive, and the kindness we show others always comes back around.”
Just implemented a couple of months ago, users earn 1 Love Loop Point for every $1 spent. Other ways to earn rewards are through actions taken on social media and customer referrals. Customers can redeem their Love Loop points on special offers on their next order such as 15% off.
Because when you purchase from Angel Delivery, it’s for someone else, a loyalty reward they can redeem is a special gift for themselves from the Angel Delivery team.“It’s important to us that the rewards aren’t just offers for them to order more gifts for others, but that they take a second to enjoy a gift for themselves too. It’s our turn to treat them!”
“One of the best aspects of launching our Love Loop has been being able to integrate with our electronic direct messages that we send out via MailChimp. It’s added a really nice layer to our one-off customer nurturing sequences, being able to automatically tell customers how many Love Loop points they have inside those emails and remind them to treat themselves with rewards.”
Advice for new business owners:
Angel Delivery has grown over its 10 years in business. One key to their success is the ability to try new things out. “When you‘re trying to grow your business, the best thing you can do is just try things out to see what works and what doesn’t. Make sure you have a good idea of what risk tolerance you have and how much money you can ‘afford’ to spend on an experiment (that might not work). Make sure you have a good idea in your head going in on what success looks like. Then at the end of the test period, you’ll have some really good data and feedback on what works and can test and repeat, test and repeat.”
“Oh and don't forget to have a little fun! Growing a business is hard, but if you’re not having a little fun and treating it as a bit of a game along the way–what’s the point?!”
