We sat with Cody Plofker to hear about Jones Road Beauty’s experience growing with PDQ with an optimized checkout on the frontend and operational excellence on the backend and delivery side.

Introduction to Jones Road Beauty

Jones Road was founded by makeup artist Bobbi Brown on the philosophy that the world doesn’t need more beauty products. It needs better beauty products. Clean, strategic, high-grade formulations that work on every skin type and tone—and that are as simple to use as they are to master. Jones Road is a lifetime of beauty knowledge, distilled.

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The Stats

Through the implementation of PDQ’s optimized shipping solutions, Jones Road Beauty saw:

• 7 figure annual revenue uplift by adding and optimizing delivery methods
• 6 figure uplift in annual profits by optimizing checkout conversion
• 6 figures in contribution margin uplift in 2023
• Over 3% uplift of checkout conversion

The Challenge

Prior to partnering with PDQ, Jones Road Beauty struggled with inefficient shipping options that hindered customer satisfaction and conversion rates. The checkout process lacked expedited shipping choices, and the delivery promises were not clearly communicated, leading to a high cart abandonment rate and a diminished customer experience. There was also a lot of unknown and ambiguity in JRB’s operations (as there is with almost every online brand)

“PDQ is the real deal. I have high standards and PDQ has gone above and beyond them.”

The Solution

PDQ provided a multi-faceted approach to revamp Jones Road Beauty's shipping logistics:

• Dynamic Shipping Rates: Introduction of varied shipping methods, including expedited and express options, tailored to customer locations and preferences.
• Transparent Delivery Promises: Enhanced the checkout experience by clearly stating delivery times (only for orders where it increased the likelihood of conversion), which helped in setting the right customer expectations.
• Optimized Shipping Operations: Adjustments in shipping markups based on zones and integration of more precise weights in Shopify, which improved shipping cost accuracy. For example, showing an expedited air-delivery shipping option only for non-hazmat items and hiding the "Faster" and "Fastest" options when shipping by air if the order included any hazmat products.
• Tested correlations for delivery and CLV: By testing delivery times and costs with CLV, PDQ identified many massive opportunities in specific regions and segments. For example, offering the "Faster" and "Fastest" delivery options to orders within close proximity zones (zones 1-2, and in some cases zone 3) and optimizing these service levels to be shipped via ground for cost-effectiveness.

“It’s pretty crazy to not use PDQ because you’re able to offer an Amazon like checkout experience to provide a better customer experience as well as make you a lot more revenue and profit and they do all the work - I don’t know what brand wouldn’t want all that”

The Results

The collaboration with PDQ led to substantial improvements for Jones Road Beauty:

• Increased Checkout Conversion Rates: The introduction of faster and more reliable shipping options resulted in an uplift in checkout conversions by up to 1.67%.
• Enhanced Profit Margins: Contribution margins per order saw an uplift, contributing directly to the bottom line with increased 6 figure profits annually.
• Customer Retention: Streamlined delivery times and clearer communication around shipping have enhanced customer satisfaction, fostering loyalty and encouraging repeat purchases. And by lowering delivery times in CA and NY, PDQ was able to increase retention rates thereby increasing CLV substantially.
• Strategic inventory management: PDQ enabled JRB to open a second warehouse, strategically located to boost delivery performance where it mattered most according to historical order and delivery data.

By addressing logistical challenges and improving the shipping experience, Jones Road Beauty not only boosted its financial outcomes but also reinforced its brand promise of providing exceptional customer service.

In conclusion Cody says:

‍“I would recommend PDQ to anybody who wants to offer a better customer experience and ultimately wants to make more contribution dollars.”

What’s next?

PDQ is launching new checkout extensions to boost checkout conversion for JRB with full A/B tests to find the best performing combinations of extensions for every segment. Besides that, the team is assisting JRB in opening another inventory warehouse (in the most impactful location for them) and launching in Europe. 

Lots coming very soon, stay tuned!