When Care Counts
I am always interested in what separates good brands from truly great ones. Rarely does it come down to product alone. More often, it’s the culmination of product, service, and experience working together in a way that feels intentional. The strongest brands understand this instinctively and design their entire customer experience around it.
One such brand is Chewy. Yes, that Chewy.
The pet food company most people associate with convenience, fast shipping, and subscription deliveries that keep your dog’s bowl full year-round. What many people don’t realize is that behind the scenes Chewy has quietly built a world-class customer care program.
At the heart of it is what they call their WOW Team, a group dedicated to surprising and delighting their customers, especially in those moments that matter the most.
A Predictable, Painful Moment
One of those moments is as heartbreaking as it is predictable. Chewy knows that every pet parent they serve will eventually experience the loss of a beloved animal. Often, it happens unexpectedly, and a grieving customer will forget to cancel their pet’s food subscription. Inevitably, the next bag arrives on their doorstep, an unwelcome reminder of their loss.
When that customer reaches out, Chewy doesn’t simply cancel the order. They refund the most recent food purchase, and the WOW Team follows up by sending flowers and a handwritten note. In some cases, they go even further, commissioning hand-painted portraits of the customer’s pet as a deeply personal gesture.
Intention Matters
What’s powerful here isn’t just the generosity, but the intent behind it.
Chewy understands the emotional weight their product carries. Pet food isn’t a simple commodity. It’s part of a daily ritual of care, companionship, and love. When that ritual suddenly ends, just its absence can amplify grief. Recognizing this, Chewy leans in to honoring the relationship versus the transaction.
Yes, there are tangible costs associated with these gestures, but they pale in comparison to the goodwill and loyalty they create.
This is what it looks like when a brand truly walks the talk.
Predictable Epicurean moments
In hospitality, there’s a powerful principle around predictable moments. If you can identify and anticipate emotional windows in a customer’s journey, you can design how you’ll handle them.
Epicurean brands have many such moments. We’re often central to reunions, celebrations, career milestones, vacations, and holidays. Of course, there are also times when things go awry. A guest runs late for a tasting, a bottle is flawed, expectations aren’t met.
These moments aren’t random. On the contrary, they can be anticipated, When brands proactively design thoughtful, empathetic responses to them, they create the same kind of loyalty Chewy earns every day.
What This Looks Like
Here are some examples of what this might look like in the wine world:
A handwritten note after a club shipment
A thoughtful follow-up after a first visit
A quiet upgrade for a guest celebrating something special
Replacing a flawed bottle without hesitation
Checking in with a long-time customer who’s gone quiet
Care as Advantage
What matters most isn’t the specific action, but rather the why behind it.
Chewy’s WOW Team demonstrates that customer care doesn’t have to be transactional. It works because the company has built a culture of empathy, giving their frontline team permission to act in service of the relationship.
In a crowded marketplace, that kind of care becomes a true competitive advantage. It builds trust, and earns loyalty. It turns ordinary customers into advocates.
So the question isn’t whether you have predictable moments like these in your business. You do.
The question is whether you’ve thought about how to respond when they eventually arrive.
And with that, it’s time to walk my dogs.