Brightpearl’s Lightning 50 E-Commerce Growth Hacking podcast, hosted by Caroline Baldwin, gets under the hood of highly successful e-commerce brands to discover the key technologies they are using to power growth.
In series 1, episode xxx, we caught up with Candy Kittens, a 100% vegan confectionery retailer founded by Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing. Aimed at the millennial market as ‘vegan sweets for grown-ups’, the company launched in 2012 and has since become the fastest-growing confectionary brand in the UK, stocking in every major grocery store as well as wholesalers, independents and online.
During the podcast, the DTC Lead at Candy Kittens, Moynul Hazari, discussed exactly how the brand achieved a jaw-dropping 608% growth rate during 2019/20, placing them 4th in the Brightpearl Lightning 50. He also revealed the top tech the brand relies on for its continued success, and how it plans to maintain growth moving forward.
Here are some of the highlights from the transcript…
- “At Candy Kittens, what sets us apart is not just great tasting sweets but having a positive impact on the environment. Sustainability is key for us – we avoid animal gelatin and palm oil, we’re a carbon neutral business, and our pouches are recyclable.”
- “We did a lot of testing and trialling. There’s nothing wrong with failing, but as we always say, ‘Test fast and fail fast’.”
- “It’s so important to know how various tech and software can transform your business in exactly the right tech stack. We use Shopify, which I personally swear by – and technology that supports Shopify is essential. We invested in Klaviyo last year which completely changed our email marketing metrics and generated revenue. We use Recharge for subscriptions, Gorgias for customer service, and Yotpo for loyalty programmes and referrals. A really important one is 3PL for your warehouse. Having streamlining in place to manage your stock and orders is absolutely vital.”
- “Having great foundations in place before scaling was absolutely key for us. You really don’t want to be in a position where you’re spending money to drive traffic, then find out you have an issue with supply chain, product, an integration issue, or inefficient customer service. You might get sales in the short term but will suffer longer term with your returning customer rate, so getting the foundations right is essential.”
- “Making the Lightning 50 is a massive achievement. You can really get lost in the operations of e-commerce and it’s great to see our hard work pay off by being recognized in this way. It’s huge for us.”
Want to hear more of what Moynul had to say? Catch up with the full episode, and subscribe to upcoming ones, here.
