Frequency of Use
Frequency of use is based on current behavioral patterns of customers. For example, people tend to eat three times a day, so if you have a company in the food space, the frequency of use of your customers is how often they eat. On the other hand, if you are a vacation planning company, people tend to go on vacation 1 to 4 times a year.
Uber
Uber has realized that the need to use a taxi and limousine is a less frequent (once a week) activity. However, delivering food is a must more frequency (3 times a day) activity. As it shifts from transporting people, to transporting goods, the frequency of use will increase.
Classpass
Gym usage is frequent among class takers. On average they tend to go 3–5 times a week, for life. Gym usage is seen as a routine to maintain your physical form and terminating that routine leads to atrophying of that form.
Square
For consumers, paying using Square depends on if that business accepts Square. In addition, it depends on the product that that business is selling. If it’s a hair salon, the user will use it every 2 months, however if it’s a coffeeshop, the user will use Square everyday. Square realized this and that is why back in November 2012, Square did a deal with Starbucks where you could pay for your coffee with Square Wallet.
Groupon
With Groupon sending daily emails to its subscribers with deal offerings that are targeted by location and personal preferences, there is a possibility of some people purchasing a deal a day. With 54M active customers and 370k active deals sold in 2014, Groupon averages $146 per active customer a year. According to their S-1, their average Groupon sold was $23, and at that price point, people can take a chance on a purchase without feeling too much buyer’s remorse.
Plated
Plated delivers as many meals as you would like so in theory you can have lunch and dinner through its services.
Airbnb
For a host, they can be renting rooms out every night. For the guest, it is as often as they travel and need a place to stay. This is assuming that the Airbnb is priced competitively to the hotels in that area.
Rent the Runway
It is true that $1,000 dresses are to be worn for fancy occasions, and those are less frequent. However, as Rent the Runway can bring the price of these dresses down and make them more attainable, I am sure that their customers can find more occasions for wearing them. Even if it’s for a night on the town.
Rent the Runway even launched their “unlimited” product in which for $129 a month, a customer can rent 3 items at a time. This model is reminiscent of early Netflix, where it was only $7.99 a month for 1 DVD out at-a-time and $11.99 a month for the 2 DVDs out at-a-time plan.
Takeaway
Businesses either start as having a high frequency product or head into a high frequency direction. A comical example of heading towards a more frequency product is what the Dollar Shave Club did. DSC is a subscription service for men’s razors. On average, a man should switch out his razor blades every month. To make their brand have a more frequent product, the rolled out Fresh by Charlie, a manly baby wipe. With one product, the were able to fit themselves into another daily routine that men care greatly about.
Exercise
- How frequently do people use your product or service?
- Can you roll out a complementary product/service to increase its frequency?
- Can you educate your customers on using your product more or enabling them to buy more frequently (i.e. water filters with indicators when to purchase a new one)?
Experience with past Citadines Group clients
For a past client we built out an application where you can get your shoes fixed on demand. However, the frequency of shoes needing some repair was maybe once every few months. So we brainstormed on a more frequent use case for the app. We observed a few shoe shiners in popular areas have a pretty long queue. What we did was built a reservation system for these shoe shiners so men could reserve a spot without having to wait online. This increased the usage for the app and made the users aware of the repair feature.
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