How Jimmy Joy generates 38k+ in referral revenue each month

Did you know that out of every type of advertising, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family the most? For the nutrition brand, Jimmy Joy, they saw this as an opportunity to introduce a loyalty program as a way to increase their customer acquisition and retention through the proven value of word-of-mouth marketing. This strategy led them to bring in over 70,000 customers from referrals alone.

Jimmy Joy has acquired over 70,000 shoppers with a fully-customized referral program

The Jimmy Joy story

Jimmy Joy was founded by an artist named Joey - not exactly the origin story you'd expect for a nutrition brand. Joey was struggling to balance a healthy lifestyle and maintaining his often-busy artistic flow. Inspired by great nutrition brands springing up internationally, he decided to create a company of his own right in Europe.

As a solution to both having access to nutrition and continuing a busy lifestyle, Jimmy Joy is meant to be a brand that supports people who desire both a productive lifestyle and healthy meal options.

Jimmy Joy has branded themselves with a friendly approach that strongly differentiates them in the competitive and often ultra-serious nutrition industry. Their easily recognizable branding includes bright colors and personal communication with a focus on the joy of nutrition.

“We really tried to emphasize on the fun part... Of course nutrition is the most important part, but if you let us worry about nutrition, you can have more time to do stuff that you like - the fun stuff.”
- Otto Mouton, Chief Commercial Officer, Jimmy Joy

Choosing their loyalty platform

There were a few exciting reasons why Jimmy joy introduced a rewards program. Otto Mouton, Chief Commercial Officer, said, “We're a consumable brand, so we sell food, and we hope people come back as often as possible. Adding incentive for loyalty has been great for business, and also making it more fun.”

When deciding what loyalty software to use, Jimmy Joy chose Smile largely because of the launcher and rewards panel experience. The brand liked the fact that the launcher is always available when a customer needs it, especially with the added value of Nudges.

“Referrals are just right at your disposal, which is between 5-10% of our business give-or-take. Also, having the points and the VIP tiers add a nice element and make[s] customers feel more special.”

Program configuration

Since Jimmy Joy relies heavily on repeat customers and referrals, they decided to launch their loyalty program with points, referral rewards, and VIP tiers.

Referrals

For referrals, Jimmy Joy found that offering cash was the best approach to get customers to engage. After trialing with free products for a while, they found more program success when people were offered $10 off as a referral bonus. They offered the same $10 bonus for those who make the referral and those who use the referral. Jimmy Joy then paired this with nudges at the checkout page.

Otto said, “We want to emphasize referrals in that moment, and we really hope they take that moment when they're still euphoric from their purchase and the fact that they made a good decision to get the referral program up and rolling.”

Points

Their points system is called “Time Tokens,” where members can earn time tokens through different actions and spend them on various rewards like percentage off coupons, merchandise, and free products. Jimmy Joy also offers a variety of ways to earn rewards, such as following their brand on social media, subscribing to their newsletter, reviewing products, and more.

VIP tiers

Their VIP tiers align with their points system: they call the process “Your evolution.” With every new tier, members go from becoming an Earthling, to an Astronaut, to eventually a Time Traveler.

Otto explained this futuristic idea as being sparked from how many of Jimmy Joy’s customers link their products to astronaut food:

“We wanted to do something with astronauts and space, and future food is also commonly used for our market. We came from an earthling, which is basically the Neanderthal or the old school guy who still goes grocery shopping and makes everything himself. Then when you move up a tier, you become an astronaut, which is basically pretty cool and also kind of futuristic, but still a bit in the here and now. But when you're way up there, then we decided you become a time traveler. That's the highest that you can achieve with our program.”

Why a time traveler? Because Jimmy Joy's most dedicated customers save so much time not having to prep or cook their meals, that they can basically travel through time.

Program success

Since launching their loyalty program in 2018, Jimmy Joy has seen a lot of success. They currently have over 40,000 program members engaging with their points, referrals, and VIP tiers.

Total Referral Traffic and Revenue

Referrals account for a large number of their annual revenue. Since launch, Jimmy Joy has seen 72,437 in referral traffic, and over €1,000,000 (euro) in referral revenue.

30-Day Referral Performance

In a 30-day span, Jimmy Joy sees an average of over 2,000 in referral traffic, and over $50,000 (euro) in referral revenue.

Redemption Rate

For their Time Tokens, Jimmy Joy has seen a points redemption rate of 20%. This number is the amount of program members that are engaged with Jimmy Joy’s loyalty program and additional revenue.

“We noticed that the word-of-mouth customers are more likely to stick around than the people who you cold targeted through social advertising--all according to the Smile platform and analytics.”

Smile loyalty tips for new merchants

Smile is a powerful and simple-to-use loyalty program for ecommerce brands. For Otto and Jimmy Joy, they said the key is to name your program and customize as much as you can to fit your own branding.

“[Smile is] super straight-forward. You can color everything and give everything names... You can think of something in a couple of minutes--just to stand out from the crowd.”

Who is the real Jimmy Joy?

Jimmy Joy purposely decided not to give Jimmy a face within the company. They imagine every person as having a bit of a “Jimmy” inside of them.

“I see Jimmy as your best friend who speaks to you on a friend level, but also who helps you pass your health and nutrition class, who teaches you stuff about life and what's good for you. We're more of your good friend who wants to help you pass class.”