In this forever-thriving digital world, eCommerce merchants are actively engrossed in generating uncountable leads, hoping they’ll get converted into potential customers.
Once a potential lead makes their first purchase, you may assume it is the dead-end point for the customer journey after all the conversions.
But, this is where most eCommerce merchants are wrong!
You don’t want to lose those customers at this stage – instead, you want them to return to your online store and encourage them to purchase more. That’s how you save on customer acquisition and earn more from existing customers.
But, this can happen only if you provide an amazing post-purchase experience to your customers.
In this article, we will talk about the post-purchase experience in the eCommerce business and share some effective tips to help you deliver the right post-purchase experience for your customers.
What is the Post-purchase Experience?
A post-purchase experience or post-checkout experience can be defined as how you treat your customers after purchasing a product or service from you. It is about interacting with customers and making them feel they are still valuable to the brand.
Providing a positive post-purchase experience is vital for eCommerce brands to encourage customers to return to the store in the future and recommend the product or service to others like friends or family.
Why Post-Purchase Experience is Important?
In eCommerce, the post-purchase experience is one of the most overlooked aspects of the customer journey. This is because it doesn’t contribute directly to the performance metrics of the marketers.
However, for eCommerce store owners, it is very crucial to pay attention to this. Here’s why –
1. It increases customer retention rate. When you deliver a good post-purchase experience to your customers, they will feel delighted and revisit your store. This improves the retention rate for your store, and the best part is that the repeat customers tend to spend more than the new customers.
2. It fosters an unbeatable identity in the market. Competition is the market’s ultimate truth; you will not be the sole player forever. But if you provide the right post-purchase experience, your brand can establish a unique identity and always stay on top of your customer’s minds.
3. It boosts credibility and customer satisfaction. When your post-purchase strategies are geared up and progressing in the right direction, you unbox two predominant factors: you earn brand credibility in the market and increase customer satisfaction. Both are essential ingredients for successful growth in the eCommerce space.
10 Strategies to Improve Post-Purchase Experience
Providing a positive post-purchasing experience is more than just sending automated order confirmation emails and order updates. It is more than that and here are some of the effective strategies that you can implement to improve your post-purchase experience for the customers –
1. Send a personalized token of gratitude
Sending a personalized thank you message can do wonders and positively impact your customer’s mindset.
You can also send promo codes and discount offers that act as a magnet in pulling them back to shop for your products.
In the below example, Crate&Barrel, an international home decor store, has expressed its message of gratitude in the simplest yet most beautiful way possible.
To further strengthen the knot with their customer, they have provided a customer service number to reach out for any query.
2. Craft transparent return, refund policies
Before customers proceed to checkout, they will check whether you justify your return, and refund policies so that they get the confidence to buy your products.
Remember, this is an essential aspect because if a customer finds any flaw and wants to change it, you must immediately extend your support to them.
For this to happen, you need to provide clear and acceptable returns and refund policies with useful reimbursements that satisfy your customers.
For example, if you analyze the Flipkart return policy, they have provided a complete breakdown of all possible conditions and cases under which the returns will be accepted and processed.
They have clearly explained their policy by dividing it into three sections:
Part 1: Category, Return Window, and Actions Possible
Part 2: Returns Pick up and Processing
Part 3: General Rules for Successful Return
This is the level of straightforwardness and transparency customers expect in your returns/refunds policy which significantly reduces their post-purchase anxiety.
3. Provide an accurate order tracking
Once customers place their orders, they may want to know where the product is and when it will be delivered. This is where you need to provide the complete details of the customer’s order from dispatch to doorstep delivery.
You must not leave your customers blindfolded and let them just wait till the product reaches their doorstep. Instead, you need to send regular order shipment updates so that they’ll be relieved and relaxed.
Have you ever shopped from Amazon? If yes, you must have seen their order tracking system on the app.
They provide step-by-step status from the date of order, product dispatch, shipment, and delivery status. This keeps the customer updated and thus they can plan the day accordingly to receive the product parcel.
4. Create a magical unboxing experience
One of the crucial elements in eCommerce is how you deliver the ordered items to your customers’ hands.
Providing proper packaging is crucial as it shows the level of care you have for your customers, and it also depicts whether or not you give them the feeling of “special attention.”
In a nutshell, the unboxing experience of your products should be such that the customer is confident about product safety and makes the customer feel that “special” factor.
Take a look at the packaging of ceramic cookware by Caraway Home.
All the cookware items are placed in their correct position such that it doesn’t incur any damage. Everything is perfectly organized, and the customer must be happy with the worthy investment made for spending on this brand.
5. Ask for feedback/reviews
Asking for reviews and feedback is one of the best ways to make your customers feel that you care about their experience and are valued.
However, you have to be cautious to ensure that you are not bothering your customers but genuinely asking for their feedback. The most effective way to do this is to ask for feedback and review after a couple of days or weeks so that customers have some experience with the product to share in feedback.
I strongly suggest not to bombard your customers with automated emails asking for feedback right after the product is delivered. Wait and let your customers use it first!
Here’s one of the best feedback request emails, I came across recently –
The brand offers a 100 INR discount for submitting the feedback form and also makes the process interactive by inserting smileys, indicating the feelings of the customer.
If you are a Shopify store owner, you can use Shopify Review Apps to automatically send review request emails to customers and display them on the site pages.
6. Offer Loyalty Rewards
Nothing works better than making your customers feel loved and rewarding them for their loyalty toward your brand. With a good loyalty program, you can reward loyalty points to your customers for shopping from your store and allow them to redeem the points to purchase products at a low price.
Customers love discounts and they would keep shopping more to earn more points and other rewards for better deals. So, go beyond the formal thank you email and invite customers to join your loyalty program. They will love it!
Further reading –
7. Start an exciting referral program
A loyalty program is great to make your customers happy, but if you allow them to bring their friends to shop together, they might be happier. With a referral program, you can encourage your customers to share their positive experiences and recommend others to shop from your store.
In exchange, they earn a reward for every new customer they bring to your store. The reward can be anything from discounts, free shipping, and loyalty points, to cash rewards which they can use to get better deals. This creates a happy experience for customers and brings them back to your store.
Further reading –
- How to start an eCommerce referral program
- Best eCommerce referral Software
- Best Shopify referral apps
8. Recommend complementary products
Once a customer purchases from your online store, you have plenty of data about the customer’s purchasing behavior, interest, and more.
You should use such data to interact with the customers and send out personalized product recommendations that they might be interested in and are more likely to purchase.
For example, if a customer has purchased a face cleanser, you can suggest other products in the same category. Similarly, if another customer has purchased a mobile phone, you can recommend accessories like Bluetooth headsets, phone covers, etc.
9. Nurture your customers with exclusive offers
One of the excellent ways to hook your customers after the purchase is by sending relevant offers or discounts during special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, or a hot sale happening in your store.
In the above example, the cosmetic brand has sent out an exclusive discount to its customers during a special occasion on Valentine’s Day. It is highly appealing, which must have driven customers to the store.
10. Provide impeccable customer support
Providing a good post-purchase experience is not only about asking for feedback, sending personalized messages, or product suggestions – it also involves being there for your customers at the time when they need you.
For example, a customer might have a serious issue regarding your returns/refund policies or want to inquire about product delivery. In this case, you must provide a solution where they can get their answer.
One of the best ways to provide customer support is by using a 24/7 chat tool like Tidio – which offers both live chat and chatbot features. You can use the live chat during working hours and let the chatbot take over the conversion when you are unavailable.
Further reading –
Ready to improve the post-purchase experience for your Online Store?
Now you know what post-purchase experience is and how it can play a vital role in your business growth. So, start implementing the above tips and focus on pricing one of the best post-purchase experiences for your customers.
Finally, let’s wrap up this article with some key takeaways you should ponder over
- Be there for your customers round the clock. Whether the issue is small or big, it’s your responsibility to clear them.
- By implementing the best post-checkout experience, you’ll reach the highest level of authenticity that every brand strives hard to achieve.
- You can fill the gap that exists between what your customers expect versus how you deliver them a real-time post-checkout experience.
- A solid and unbreakable retailer-customer relationship is guaranteed if you invest correctly in optimizing the post-checkout experience.
Find this article helpful? If so, do share with your fellow marketers and entrepreneurs on social media and show some ♥️ to this post.
