Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

With all the talk about tariffs and rising costs, every brand is facing tough pricing decisions right now.

That's why we were fascinated when Jordan Nathan, founder and CEO of Caraway, the non-toxic cookware brand, did something most brands are too scared to do right now: 

They raised their prices 10-15% across the board just a few weeks ago.

In our latest podcast episode, we sat down with Jordan Nathan and Jake Cohen, VP/Head of Insights at Klaviyo, to break down exactly how they did it. Plus, the customer intelligence framework that makes these kinds of moves possible.

On the Menu:

BTW - Don’t miss out on our entire conversation here:

Listen on Spotify 🎧 and Apple 🍎.

While everyone debated consumer sentiment, Jordan was watching actual behavior.

Last Q2, customer response to Caraway's promotional events spiked significantly. Gift with purchase promotions and gift card offers performed way better than previous years. 📈

They initially assumed customers were cutting spending due to economic uncertainty. But the data proved them wrong.

The data showed customers weren't cutting spending, they were being more strategic about when they spent. Instead of buying impulsively, they were waiting for moments that offered extra value to justify the expense. 

Klaviyo's research confirmed it:

But this trend varies by category. 

We're seeing this same purchasing behavior at Obvi, but it manifests differently in supplements. 

Promotional fatigue is growing across our customer base. Standard discount mechanics are losing effectiveness because customers have learned to expect them. 

So, we've shifted toward creating scarcity through limited product launches instead. 

When customers know a new product might sell out, their purchasing behavior changes immediately.

📌 Takeaway: Customers still spend on trusted wellness brands. They just want clear reasons why.

Most brands have customer data spread across a dozen tools. Shopify, Google Analytics, email platforms, ad accounts, customer service tickets. 

Good luck making sense of any of it.

Unless you have Klaviyo. Here’s exactly what they solve:

At Obvi, Klaviyo helps us set the foundation to make pricing decisions, segment precisely, and move fast while competitors debate.

👉 Turn your customer data into profitable decisions with Klaviyo

Armed with this customer intelligence, Caraway made their move. Jordan raised prices 10-15% across everything while competitors debated tariff impacts.

"Let's find out what the new norm is instead of guessing." — Jordan Nathan, founder & CEO of Caraway

But execution required completely rebuilding how they talked about value. Here’s how they did it:

🔧 The Product Page Overhaul

For the first time ever, they showed set savings on product pages. Both dollar amounts and percentages. 

During economic uncertainty, customers are doing more math before buying. They needed to see exactly how much they were saving by buying sets instead of individual pieces.

They also added "best value" badges and clear progression messaging about buying more to save more. It might seem like their goal was pushing bigger orders for higher AOV. But it wasn’t. They wanted to create more trust by showing customers how to get maximum value when every dollar carries more weight.💰

Stop guessing what to bundle together. Look at what customers actually buy in sequence, then build your product recommendations around those patterns. Data-driven bundling converts better than random product groupings.

🍽️ The Restaurant Comparison

Jordan realized that customers weren't comparing Caraway to other cookware brands when making purchase decisions. They were comparing it to their entire household budget, especially food spending.

This became their key messaging strategy.

The average consumer spends $2-3,000 eating out annually. Caraway cookware costs $450.

Positioned correctly, $450 for safe cookware that enables home cooking becomes an investment that pays for itself through reduced restaurant spending, not just a kitchen expense.

This shifted the conversation from "expensive vs cheap cookware" to "investment vs restaurant dependency."

📊 The Results

Some products were completely unaffected. Others saw sales drop off. And some actually increased sales after the price bump.

The pattern made sense. Cookware essentials held strong. Specialty items that people buy once a decade felt less urgent.

Jordan's takeaway: "Out of adversity comes opportunity."

The economic pressure forced them to communicate value more clearly, which actually improved conversion on certain products, even if that meant higher prices.

📌 Takeaway: Stop waiting for the "perfect moment" to test pricing. Value communication matters more than the actual price. Some products sell better at higher prices when positioned right.

This customer-first mentality shows up everywhere at Caraway. Including how they think about email frequency.

Jake from Klaviyo sees successful brands doing the opposite of conventional wisdom: Sending more emails during tough times. Not fewer. 📬

"I also see the really best brands...they actually send more communication that is poignant and tight and specific to their customers who are best as opposed to fewer communication to everybody." — Jake Cohen, VP/Head of Insights

Volume isn't the problem. Relevance is.

Jake's framework uses RFM segmentation through Klaviyo to put customers into 6 distinct buckets:

Strategy varies by bucket:

🤝 Champions and Loyal customers get frequent updates. Weekly or more. These people are already invested in your brand and want to stay connected.

🗑️ At-Risk and Inactive customers get removed through automated sunset flows. This protects your sender reputation by eliminating people who might mark emails as spam.

🎁 Needs Attention customers get monthly campaigns with compelling offers they haven't seen in months to re-engage them.

🚀 Recent customers get onboarding sequences to build the relationship.

Caraway follows this exact approach. Jordan’s constantly pushing his team to send more. Because the best customers are his most profitable customers. They need (and want) to stay connected.

“I don't think there's ever an amount of emails or SMS that you want to hold back. I'm always fighting with my team to send more." — Jordan, CEO @ Caraway

When you remove unengaged subscribers, your deliverability improves with higher open rates and better deliverability. You're sending emails to a smaller, more engaged list, generating more revenue from people who actually find value. ✅

📌 Takeaway: Cut the dead weight, boost the frequency for engaged subscribers. Smaller lists with higher engagement beat massive lists with poor open rates.

Caraway builds 4 systems to create long-term relationships instead of hoping people return:

1) The Intent Capture System

They use a lightbox to ask customers why they're buying. New home? Health improvement? Just need cookware?

Different reasons get different follow-up flows.

Health-focused customers get PFAS education. New homeowners get kitchen styling tips. Same products, completely different value propositions.

2) Journey Mapping Based on Real Data

They use cohort data to predict next purchases.

Someone buys cookware and gets bakeware offers at 30 days. On day 100: "Ready to add a stir-fry pan? You're ready to master this."

The timing comes from analyzing thousands of customer usage patterns. By day 100, customers have used their cookware enough to build confidence and are psychologically ready for the next level of cooking.

3) Daily Micro-Sends

Small cohort targeting for consistent revenue.

Example: Everyone who bought a Sage tea kettle gets specific follow-up about complementary products.

Each send generates a couple thousand dollars. Multiple sends per day add up fast.

4) VIP Treatment

Monthly gift boxes to their top 100-200 customers. Highest spenders, most engaged social followers, brand advocates.

Jordan admits ROI is unclear. But these customers become marketing teams.

They post about the gifts. Recommend products to friends. Provide feedback for new product development.

📌 Takeaway: Engineer the next purchase instead of crossing your fingers and hoping. Use purchase patterns to predict when someone's ready to buy again. Daily micro-sends to tiny segments add up fast.

We're hosting 20 leading eCommerce founders here in Manhattan – and we want you to be there, too🗽

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