BOS Brands, the makers of BOS Ice Tea and other certified organic Rooibos products, continues to innovate within the context of the global pandemic. As part of their plans to grow their direct to consumer offerings, the company relaunched its web store and added a new subscription service in December.
Giving their customers 5% off monthly orders for BOS products such as ice tea, hot tea, functional health shots and fruit ‘icys’, the subscription service has already proved popular with consumers who no longer want to spend time in the isles at retail stores.
Will Battersby, CEO of BOS Brands, says: “We have a strong and loyal following of BOS fans, and we want to encourage them to use our online store and our pure play partner Takealot, to ensure that they always have their favourite BOS products at home. Consumers are generally shopping less often and buying in bulk more, so a subscription service makes a lot of sense in the current climate.
“In 2020, online sales accounted for 5% of our sales, where previously it represented only 1%, and our plan is to grow that to 10-15% in 2021. We have been forced to push our ecommerce thinking five years ahead and make other adjustments based on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The company’s 2020 strategy was to introduce organic Rooibos based products beyond just ice tea, launching a range of Rooibos health shots in March – an immunity shot, a collagen shot, a CBD shot and a gut health shot. Listed at Pick n Pay and Spar and on their online store, it proved to be an excellent time to launch a product for the health-conscious.
Despite some hesitation at launching another new product in 2020, the September launch of Fruit Icys, a freeze-at-home confection, was a great success, reinforcing the brand promise that healthy can be fun. The icys contain organic Rooibos and fruit juice, with no dairy, no added sugar or preservatives.
In the past five years the BOS brand has expanded its operations to the United States and Europe. “Our business is currently 60% in South Africa, 30% in Europe and 10% in the US, and we are looking to introduce BOS products to a wider global network of distributors in 2021,” says Battersby.
To make use of the subscription service on the BOS online store, customers simply shop the products they would like to receive every month, and select the recurring order option at checkout for the 5% discount to register. They can adjust the order each month or cancel at any time.
“It’s a great way for us to reward our regular customers who appreciate the convenience of home delivery. We also offer a range of special offers via our social media channels and newsletters, and this has given us great insight into what our customers value and respond to online,” he said.
