Published 28 April 2012
If you download an app to your iPhone then spend over £70 within 5 minutes, I think you’ve got to admit that the app has succeeded. Maybe I’d have spent the money anyway, but the app certainly made it happen.
Naked Wines’ new app completes their proposition in my eyes. I’ve been a fan of the company, their team, their producers and their wines since they began, but there has been a problem running alongside: I rarely posted comments about the wines on their forum.
I have a bit of an issue with forums: I’ve already got Facebook, so why would I want to use other company-based forums with separate logins? Companies want customers to use their forums rather than Facebook because Facebook retains ownership of data entered on to it; with a forum, the data remains the company’s property. But, it’s just not convenient for me as a user to use multiple forums.
Over the years I’ve bought nearly 300 bottles of wine from Naked, yet only posted around 40 comments on the wines – and considering that I write tasting notes for fun, you’d expect a hell of a lot more. Even though 40 reviews might be more than I’ve left for other suppliers, the difference here is that Naked Wines built their business around consumer reviews – so, if there’s a barrier to reviews, that’s a problem for the company.
Naked Wines’ new app
This is what the app smashes: the app makes it really easy to see my last order and to leave a review on any of the wines. There is no longer a barrier. I will happily leave reviews every time I open their wines [In fact, I’ve already left five reviews in just two days as well as a few comments on other people’s]. And ordering is just as easy: I didn’t have to re-enter my payment details that were stored on my account and with only a few clicks my order was placed. Although you might think this is pretty standard, you’d be amazed how many times you have to re-key stuff like this.
But the app does more: I can see videos from the winemaker and engage them in a discussion about their wines, as well as see reviews from other people. Greg Banbury (Co-founder of Naked Wines) said “We hope that the app will bring winemakers and customers closer together: we’ve made it super easy to chat with winemakers from the app and, since launch last week, we’ve seen a 109% increase in interactions.” Colin Smith (aka @grapefan) agrees that it’s a success: “It’s easy to use and has a nice feel to the interface. The major advantage for me is that I can see what others are saying in the various groups whenever and wherever I am. I don’t just have to be sitting at home on the laptop.”
The app, which took three months to develop and was designed and built entirely in-house at Naked’s Norwich office, has already had over 7,000 downloads.
Joe O’Connell talking about his wines on the Naked Wines app
Rowan Gormley (Naked Wines’ founder and CEO) added, “The wines we sell wouldn’t exist without customer investment and the app makes this relationship all the more real and all the more fun.”
It certainly gets the thumbs up from me. Nice job Naked Wines.
Users who download the free app before the end of April go into a prize draw to win a year’s supply of wine! For more information, go to nakedwines.com/iphone. Android and iPad versions are due to be released this summer.
Despite my best intentions I just have the time to indulge in forums, have enough to do with the blogs, twitter and stuff. Still if they come up with a windows version for my phone that syncs with an andriod version on my tablet I might get involved!