Currently, the company operates dozens of stores across the UK as well as in one in Boston and three in the Middle East. Just this week, the firm announced plans for three new UK stores. Its distribution strategy also includes selling through selected John Lewis stores.
One of the firm's marketing specialities is segmentation by occasion (holidays, birthday, wedding, thank you and more), age, gender and lifestyle (vegan and alcohol-free, for example). Hotel Chocolat offers a full range of "genres" (milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and so on) and provides corporate buyers with bespoke chocolate gifts, among other products.
Chocolatiers don't typically operate their own hotels, but that's one of the initiatives that sets Hotel Chocolat apart from competitors. Its Chocolate Hotel in Saint Lucia, West Indies, is adjacent to the firm's Rabot Estate Cocoa Plantation. Not just for chocolate lovers, the hotel's marketing mixes the mystique of a Caribbean holiday with a taste of social responsibility (a la eco-tourism).
Another unusual move: When Hotel Chocolat wanted to raise money for expansion, it offered members of its chocolate tasting club a "chocolate bond," including twice-monthly dividends paid in chocolate treats.
For social media marketing, Hotel Chocolat uses Twitter and Facebook plus its own blog, "Tales from Tree to Bar." Want to see the hotel or cocoa plantation? Tune into the firm's YouTube channel.
