Chewy Sends Flowers to Customers Whose Pets Have Passed Away
Irresistible Marketing Example
Losing a beloved pet is so incredibly painful. Add on to that expensive vet bills and the sad reminders of the pet food you just bought but don’t need anymore? Devastating.
Online pet retailer Chewy understands this and sends bereaved pet owners a bouquet of flowers or even a painted pet portrait, heartfelt cards, refunds for food or supplies purchased for a recently deceased pet, and requests to donate unopened food to pet shelters.
Artist Anna Brose went viral when she tweeted about them doing just that when she tried to return an unopened bag of food after her beloved dog Gus passed away.
She tweeted, “I contacted @Chewy last week to see if I could return an unopened bag of my dog’s food after he died. They 1) gave me a full refund, 2) told me to donate the food to the shelter, and 3) had flowers delivered today with the gift note signed by the person I talked to?? 😭🥹”
Many other Chewy customers commented about similar experiences with Chewy after losing a pet.
News outlets soon picked up the story, rendering Chewy’s customary service positively legendary. Customers with similar experiences declared their loyalty to the company like Jennifer Epstein who tweeted, "This happened to us too! We wrote to cancel our late Springer Molly's flea and tick medication and not only got a full refund (without returning the last shipment) but flowers. Customers for life."
Other customers decided to switch over to Chewy, like @curves_n_chaos who tweeted “This thread has convinced me to stop making the trip to a store for my dogs' food and to instead start ordering from Chewy. What a genuinely amazing setup they have going on.”
I love this example of irresistible marketing because:
It displays genuine empathy for customers.
It’s a “customer first” policy, designed to bring comfort to bereaved pet owners experiencing a painful loss.
The company didn’t publicize this policy, the customers did!
It shows just how irresistible kindness can be.
Sometimes, oftentimes, the marketing move is to be more human, less corporate.