Universal Yums, the subscription snack box service that delivers delicious treats from around the world, recently celebrated its tenth anniversary in October of 2024. Founded by Monique Bernstein and Eli Zauner, the company has seen exponential growth over the years, now boasting over 100,000 active subscribers and selling over ten million snack boxes to date. With anticipated growth during the upcoming holiday season, Universal Yums has become a household name in the snacking industry.
In a recent interview with Universal Yums’s CTO, Devin Price, Woo’s Artistic Director, Beau Lebens, and CMO, Tamara Niesen, the team delved into the intricacies of running a successful subscription-based business. With an annual revenue of approximately $40 million, Universal Yums operates with a team of 50 employees between their office and warehouse, managing an impressive 10,000 renewals per hour on renewal day.
Behind the scenes, Universal Yums meticulously plans their sourcing, compliance, and shipping logistics to ensure that each box of snacks meets the highest quality standards. Leveraging supplier relationships around the world, their procurement team connects with vendors from every country they import snacks from. The compliance team ensures that ingredients and nutrition information adhere to U.S. regulations, while the shipping team coordinates logistics and adjusts for unexpected delays.
To streamline their procurement process and warehouse operations, Universal Yums integrates with Fulfil.io, allowing for seamless order fulfillment and inventory management. Custom code is used to define product listings, ensuring that each box is accurately described and associated with availability dates and contents.
One of the key aspects of Universal Yums’s business model is to keep customers engaged by offering a variety of snacks from different countries, challenging their taste buds with unfamiliar flavors. Customers have the option to choose the country of origin for their snack box, adding a personalized touch to their subscription experience.
As the holiday season approaches, Universal Yums anticipates a spike in gifting, with November and December being the busiest months for sales. By focusing on customer retention and offering a unique subscription experience, Universal Yums has found success in a competitive market.
Looking towards the future, the team at Universal Yums is exploring new features such as transferable gift subscriptions and gift cards, to enhance the customer experience and promote long-term engagement. With a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, Universal Yums remains a trailblazer in the snack box industry, delighting customers with a taste of the world in every box. Universal Yums, a popular snack subscription service, is a well-oiled machine when it comes to managing their high volume of renewals and customer engagement. With the ability to process 10,000 renewals per hour and send up to 500,000 emails at a time, their website needs to be optimized to handle the influx of activity.
Devin’s team understands the importance of optimizing their website to ensure smooth operation during peak times. By reviewing all queries and optimizing processes that pull customer data, they can handle uncached visitors landing on their site. Using transients to store temporary data helps reduce the need for constant querying, improving overall performance.
Customer engagement is a top priority for Universal Yums, as they understand the value of retaining customers. Monthly customer surveys provide valuable feedback on the subscription box and how customers are using it. By understanding the different reasons customers subscribe, whether for themselves, as gifts, or to share with others, Universal Yums aims to tailor their boxes to meet the needs of their diverse customer base.
Learning from both happy and churned customers is essential for Universal Yums’ growth. Understanding why customers cancel their subscriptions helps them improve the overall customer experience and reduce churn rates. Customer feedback also informs future box decisions, ensuring that each box is tailored to meet customer preferences.
To build new relationships and attract potential customers, Universal Yums’ marketing team constantly refines their strategies. By testing new ad creative and messaging, they aim to resonate with their target audience and meet customer expectations.
Co-founder Eli Zauner initially built the Universal Yums website on WordPress in 2014. Over the years, the team has grown, with Devin leading the engineering team in optimizing the website for performance and scalability. With a focus on managing data flow between WooCommerce and third-party integrations, Universal Yums built a custom data layer to control information flow effectively.
Despite not expecting much collaboration from WooCommerce, Universal Yums was pleasantly surprised by the support they received. When faced with a technical issue, the WooCommerce team stepped in to help diagnose and solve the problem efficiently. By working together, Universal Yums and WooCommerce were able to improve the platform for all users.
The ongoing collaboration between Universal Yums and WooCommerce highlights the importance of customer feedback and continuous improvement. By working together to address issues and enhance the platform, both teams strive to provide the best possible experience for users. As Universal Yums continues to grow and evolve, their partnership with WooCommerce remains a valuable asset in their quest for excellence. Universal Yums is making strides in perfecting their high-scale subscription service, acknowledging the challenges they face along the way. With a deep appreciation for the hard work put in by their team, the company is focused on enhancing the customer experience by refining their checkout process.
In the short term, Universal Yums is dedicated to customizing the steps that customers take when selecting their box and subscription preferences. Leveraging the power of WooCommerce, they are able to conduct A/B testing to determine which checkout experience yields a higher conversion rate. This commitment to continuous improvement showcases their dedication to providing a seamless and user-friendly shopping experience for their customers.
During a recent interview, Devin Price, the CTO of Universal Yums, shared his insights on the scalability of their business on WooCommerce. He emphasized the importance of solid hosting and the ability to own their entire tech stack, enabling them to negotiate favorable rates with credit card providers. By leveraging WooCommerce, Universal Yums can create a customized and exceptional shopping experience for their customers while maintaining control over every aspect of their business.
As Universal Yums continues to grow and evolve, they are committed to delivering a top-notch service to their customers. By prioritizing customization, scalability, and ownership of their tech stack, they are setting themselves up for long-term success in the competitive world of e-commerce.
In conclusion, Universal Yums is on a mission to revolutionize the subscription box industry by combining high-quality products with a seamless shopping experience. With a focus on refining their checkout process and leveraging the power of WooCommerce, they are well-positioned to continue their growth and success in the market.