How Dock & Bay Use Reviews To Inform Their Product Releases

November 12, 2019

3 min read

Dock & Bay is the brand behind the original quick dry beach and travel towel. Constantly evolving to meet their customers' changing needs, they've become the go-to lifestyle store for intrepid travellers, beachgoers and fitness lovers alike.

The best eCommerce brands don't just sell great products, they sell a great story. Dock & Bay was launched by Ben and Andy in 2015. A young Brit and Aussie who loved travelling themselves, their aim was to inspire others not to shy away from risks but to take chances and live life to the fullest. Their website, scattered with adventure-inspiring images bring this concept to life. Amazing scenery and activities combined with fun, laughter and the odd bright towel make the impossible seem possible, and the intimidating achievable. Customer's aren't just buying a towel - they're buying an adventure.

Dock & Bay's range of products, including towels, hair wraps and now swim shorts, are compact, bright and highly practical, enabling their customers to pack light and get stuck into the good stuff.

A truly modern company, Dock & Bay make a real commitment to being responsible in business. Their 'Doing Our Bit' campaign has seen the creation of Swim Shorts made entirely from recycled plastic bottles (6 in each pair!), and active range made from 30% recycled bottle. In 2017 they also made the switch to 100% biodegradable packaging to ship their orders, and in 2018 raised £3,000 for 2010 through the sales of a Limited Edition Rainbow Skies towel.

Their fun lifestyle, philosophy, and modern beliefs and values have made them a hit with customers, who have left thousands of reviews for the brand. Today we're sitting down with them to find out what role customer feedback has played in their growth from start-up, to fully-flourishing brand.

The Challenge

Dock & Bay thought they were making lots of customers happy, but they wanted proof. in order to guarantee that their customers loved their products as much as they did, they wanted to start gathering feedback.

And if they didn't? Dock & Bay knew that reviews would facilitate the solving of problems, as well as highlighting any issues they should look to rectify moving forward.

As a startup, value for money was extremely important for Dock & Bay, along with a review platform with an established reputation.

Like all eCommerce stores, having a review platform that integrated seamlessly with their operations and enabled them to automatically collect reviews for various products would be essential to their growth moving forward.

The Solution

As part of their Customer Review Strategy, Dock & Bay have collected company and photo reviews alongside product reviews using a customised review email request. Using our In Email Forms, which enable customers to leave a review without leaving the email itself, they've made the process as easy and attractive as possible.

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"Photos really add something to a review. They make them seem more real and legitimate and allow people to really get behind a good review!."

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The photo reviews they've collected provide great marketing collateral. Allowing customers to share their personal experiences with Dock & Bay, be it on the beach, mountains or lake, bring the brand to life in ways traditional marketing would struggle to do.

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One of Dock & Bay's initial desires was to learn more about their products and operations through customer feedback. Analysing feedback in their Reviews.io timeline has enabled them to quickly respond to reviews constructively, solving any problems quickly and efficiently to keep their customer satisfaction high. The feedback they receive has also given them great insight into their target audience's wants and needs.

Results

Dock & Bay are now able to utilise the 3,500+ reviews they've collected to boost their online reputation across their site and the web.

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Feedback continues to play a huge role in the success of their products, not just in convincing other customers to buy them, but by informing their product releases as they continue to expand their offering.

"We believe reviews are an influencing factor when customers are considering a purchase as having other real customers recommend a product drives consumer confidence. We think this is especially important for new customers, as well as [encouraging] existing customers to try new products."

Final Words

We're incredibly proud to be working alongside this iconic, modern brand. They've made a splash in the online marketplace with their commitment to evolving with their customers needs - a strategy we can definitely get on board with.

Could customer reviews help you learn more about your products and performance? We'd love to get you set up with a free trial of our platform. Click here to get started, or jump on Live Chat with one of our friendly advisors for tips and tricks.