How The Post-Purchase Experience Can Enhance Your Marketing Efforts

September was an especially exciting month for the e-commerce and logistics industry. The 9/9 online sale season just started, marking the beginning of the year-end e-commerce peak season.

In this article, we’ll be sharing some key highlights from our team’s sessions about the post-purchase experience.

The customer engagement process does not end at checkout.

A lot of attention is devoted to the pre-checkout part of the shopping experience; with copious resources and effort spent on website UI enhancements, site load speed and other customer-facing factors. All these are important and play a crucial role in attracting customers. But there’s untapped potential in the post-purchase experience to build customer loyalty and increase your customer lifetime value. To create meaningful, trusting and lasting relationships with shoppers, retailers must continue to deliver a delightful and memorable experience well beyond the order confirmation. – Adweek. 

The new online buyer’s journey now accounts for the ‘customer loyalty loop’ and the post-purchase experience.

Previously, the online buyer’s journey was typically constructed as a linear funnel, with customers moving from one stage to another in a predictable fashion. 

Source: Blue Corona

“The new marketing funnel isn’t a funnel at all. It’s a looping journey full of twists and turns.”

With technology and multiple touchpoints across devices, coupled with shorter attention spans, today’s potential buyers behave very differently. 

As retailers, you invest time and resources in attracting new customers. Naturally, you’ll want these customers to stick with you for the long haul. Did you know it costs 5-25 times more to acquire new customers versus retaining existing ones? A repeat customer also spends up to 67% more than a new one. 

All these point to the fact that investing in your current customers makes a lot more sense. In fact, 80% of a retailer’s future profits come from 20% of its existing customers. 

Engaging your customers at the post-purchase journey helps to reinforce the loyalty loop. Here’s where you can send crucial updates such as delivery delays or offer an option to reschedule delivery timings to the customer’s convenience, or fun marketing campaigns such as sending product recommendations or invite your customer to write a review about the product, etc. 

When 60% of consumers rate their post-purchase experience as “underwhelming” (CMO Council), retailers who address consumer expectations after checkout stand to gain a significant opportunity to engage customers and expose your brand to a highly-engaged audience.

Summary of engagement opportunities available throughout the post-purchase journey.

Consider your standard email newsletter. Data from Mailchimp shows they get an average open rate of 15.66%. In comparison, an average post-purchase delivery update commands open rates of up to 80%.

Why? These email updates are valuable and timely for customers. Research shows 64% of customers consider transactional emails as valuable content – they’re more likely to click on an order confirmation email and spend more time reading and taking action compared to a promotional email.

Imagine yourself in the customer’s shoes; if you’re eagerly waiting for a delivery, you’ll be more likely to click on any updates or communication regarding your parcel. That is the magic of post-purchase communication. 

READ MORE: See what customized delivery updates and branded tracking pages can do for your post-purchase journey – including examples from brands like Crate & Barrel, Dollar Shave Club and more.

Unlock powerful marketing capabilities in the post-purchase experience. 

We’ve shared about the many engagement opportunities available to you in the post-purchase experience. It’s time to unlock them to build customer loyalty and grow your customer lifetime value. With the e-commerce peak season here and a slew of shopping holidays coming up, now is the best time to strategize and plan to make full use of these opportunities to acquire and retain new customers. 

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