Mushroom Supplies: Simplifying Growing for All

The Mushroom Supplies brand emerged after James Gomez, along with his founders, recognized a growing trend towards mushrooms and their health benefits. Fresh off a major acquisition of a prior brand, their unique approach sought to address the fragmented mushroom market's challenges as well as an opportunity to address the complex educational process around growing mushrooms. They decided to tackle these issues head-on and provide consumers with a simpler, more efficient grow kit solution.

"Before we entered the space two years ago, you would have to read a thick book to know how to grow mushrooms. My mentality right off the bat was we have to simplify it, and so that's what we set out to do," said James.

Transitioning to Subscriptions

Initially, the company was skeptical about the efficacy of the subscription model for Mushroom Supplies. Top of mind was ensuring the best customer experience without diving headfirst into a subscription model they weren’t sure would fit with their product.

"We weren't doing subscriptions for this product when we launched...our initial primary focus was ensuring we had the best guides and product on the market so that we could capture the segment of new growers. Once we were completely dialed, we knew it was time to turn new growers and new customers into repeat purchasers via a subscription model."

Onboarding With Skio

Skio caught James’ attention due to its refreshing break from industry norms, alongside a promising compatibility with their existing tech stack. Skio's team, who he described as "absolutely savage", demonstrated a clear understanding of potential friction points as well as a clear focus on customer satisfaction.

"Your brand has a personality to it but if it doesn't play nicely with the other apps that I have on the site, then it wouldn’t make sense to us. However, your team is absolutely savage. Skio as a service comes strong, integration- and customer-experience wise."

According to James, onboarding with Skio was nothing short of incredible. It wasn't just a regular software onboarding but a comprehensive and integrated experience. James recalls how the Skio team went the extra mile, providing detailed knowledge about other parts of their tech stack, and engaged in discussions about the best strategies to enhance user engagement and retention. The conversations even delved into the intricacies of how to most effectively gather user information without causing friction.

James specifically named the team’s assistance in integrating their email flows with Klaviyo as a highlight. What was expected to be a big task, given past experiences with other platforms, turned out to be smooth as butter with Skio.

Skio Features Made the Difference

Three standout features played pivotal roles for Mushroom Supplies after onboarding.

Gorgias Integration: One of the challenges that Mushroom Supplies worried about when enabling subscriptions is the potential spike in customer support tickets. However, the seamless integration between Skio and Gorgias, a customer support software, proved invaluable. The result was a dramatic reduction in customer support tickets, estimated between 30-45%. 

"The integration that you have with Gorgias is really, really nice...it's this really seamless process for the customer support team."

Conditional Cancel Flows: Skio's conditional cancel flows offered a solution to churn. Skio allowed Mushroom Supplies to provide alternatives to customers thinking of leaving, resulting in significantly less churn.

“When someone wants to cancel their subscription, the flexibility Skio gives us to create these conditions has led to less churn than I anticipated. These flows have had a real impact.”

Customer Portal: Skio’s customer portal allows subscribers to easily have direct control over their subscriptions. This self-serve model not only enhances CX but significantly reduces customers’ dependency on customer support, meaning even fewer support tickets.

"One of the main friction points of having a subscription service is potentially having an uptick in customer support tickets... but you make it extremely easy for customers to log in and change their subscription."

Results with Skio

Skio's impact is evident. Since implementing subscriptions with Skio in April of 2023, Mushroom Supplies saw a surge of $60,000 in recurring subscription revenue per month, representing around 10-15% of overall revenue for the business. Additionally, James has seen a 30-45% reduction in customer support tickets.

"It was literally day and night...we're up to $60,000 a month in subscriber revenue. The impact that it's had on our recurring revenue segment is significant, we have growth there that we did not have prior to Skio."

Future with Skio

Mushroom Supplies’ experience with Skio’s team continues to be exceptional. James looks forward to a continued partnership with Skio, particularly appreciating the supportive and customer-focused approach of the Skio team.

"The whole team has been amazing...you all have shown that you stand behind us as a true partner, you don't see us just as a number.”