SIMULATE is on a mission to change how we produce and consume food. They're creating the most delicious alt protein products you've ever tasted in a world rife with GMOs and high-sugar foods. Beyond that, it packs more protein and contains less fat than animal-based foods.

We sat down with Danielle Katan, SIMULATE's fulfillment operations manager, to discuss:

• How they're making the most advanced chicken nugget on the planet
• The blockers Danielle dealt with on their previous subscription app
• How Skio's product and CX team got SIMULATE back on track

The Early Days: Subscriptions Blockers

SIMULATE is a small company. Shrink the group down to CX-focused roles, and you've got yourself a small but mighty team, where Danielle is the captain. 

In her words, they just couldn’t afford any distractions that might drain precious time and resources from a small startup. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to SIMULATE.

Before discovering Skio, Danielle‘s team used Recharge to manage subscriptions. Soon, however, the tool started causing ongoing issues with SIMULATE's operational processes.

In Danielle's words, they knew they needed to make a switch to a better tool.

"On Recharge, we got so many support tickets for basic things like login issues. That may seem simple at first, but it can be a make-or-break for the customer."

Ongoing Frustrations & Duplicate Products

On Recharge, even if customers didn't experience login issues, they still had trouble completing their orders. Danielle recalls numerous times that duplicated products or discount codes were applied on Shopify and Recharge pages, creating customer confusion.

In her words, by the time her team would catch the error and try to cancel it, their third-party logistics partner had already received the order. When that happens, they’d be out of pocket.

Since chicken nuggets are perishable, sticking to a shipping timeline was even more critical. 

Skio solved this issue by allowing users to stay put on the native checkout page, along with:

• No checkout.rechargeapps.com in URL
• PayPal is known as a payment option
• No duplicate products or discounts
• No refunds separately in Recharge
• UTM tags working properly

Ending the Headaches: Switching to Skio

Beyond login issues, SIMULATE also experienced errors with Recharge's checkout experience.

Danielle laments that SIMULATE's customers couldn't log into their accounts some days, which created massive headaches for their customer experience and fulfillment functions.

That's when Skio stepped in. 

After the brand made the decision to switch tools and onboarded with Skio, password and login problems became a thing of the past.

Danielle specifically points to Skio’s ability to send easy 4-digit codes by SMS or email, create accounts for customers automatically, and keep users logged in for their shopping period.

While these are simple features, they make a big difference and compound over time.

“When we made the jump to Skio, our subscription issues quickly decreased. In addition, Skio’s UX is clean and streamlined – a huge boost for our customers.”

The One-Click Difference 

When a customer used to checkout using Recharge, they'd have to edit each product in a subscription individually. Danielle recalls filling out tedious information to complete an order.

With Skio, SIMULATE does the heavy lifting, not the customer. From Danielle’s perspective, that’s the way it should be. This leads to fewer clicks, less complexity, and saved time for customers.

Once SIMULATE switched over to Skio, its frustrations with Recharge faded away. 

Critically, Skio doesn't stop at the migration. Danielle points out that they’ve continued to ask for feedback on new feature requests and how they can make product improvements.

SIMULATE remains bullish on the tool and is fiercely committed to growing its subscriber base on the platform. With Skio, they never have to worry about tech issues and can finally get back to what they do best: build, launch, and sell great-tasting products to their customers.

"Skio allows for a one-click interaction for the customer. By cutting down on the redundant steps to modify a subscription, our user experience improved.”