The moment after someone makes a purchase from your brand is pivotal… but why? When a new customer has made the leap to buy from you, the way that you handle the post-purchase moment will define whether your brand becomes a trusted go-to for them, or just another email they ignore in their inbox.
Want to create better customer experiences after they purchase? Read on to learn exactly what post-purchase emails are and how they can delight your customers.
What are post-purchase emails?
First things first, what are post-purchase emails? They’re exactly what they sound like — emails that you send after a customer makes a purchase.
Typically, post-purchase emails are automated emails and the message varies based on how long it’s been since your customer made their purchase. For example, you might send an order confirmation email immediately after a customer buys something, then wait ten business days to send an email requesting a product review from a recent buyer. Together, these messages make up your post-purchase email flow.
Post-purchase emails can provide your customers with important information about their orders while confirming their details, which is especially important if they’ve ordered the wrong product or used an incorrect delivery address, for example.
But your post-purchase emails do have another purpose beyond confirming order details, though. You can also use them to tell your customers more about your brand and products, and why they’ve made the right decision to buy from you, which can help to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty.
When done right, post-purchase emails will help you:
■ Tempt people to come back to your site.
■ Lay the groundwork for a second purchase.
■ Collect feedback from your customers.
■ Create an exceptional customer experience.
According to Klaviyo data, post-purchase emails are actually one of the most valuable emails to send. Klaviyo shared that post-purchase emails see a 217% higher open rate, over 500% higher click rate, and 90% higher revenue per recipient (RPR) than your average email campaign!
But creating a successful post-purchase email flow is easier said than done. Read on below to explore resources that you can reference to create an effective post-purchase email series.
How to Delight your Customers with your Post-Purchase Emails
Now that you have an understanding of what a post-purchase email is, how do you integrate them into your marketing strategy?
There are all kinds of emails that you might want to include in your post-purchase customer journey, and that will vary depending on your brand’s goals. By following these 7 resources, tips, and tricks, you can develop solid strategies and explore post-purchase flows based on what you want (or need) to achieve through email marketing.
1. Learn the transactional email basics
Transactional emails such as shipping, order, and delivery confirmations are highly informative emails you send after a customer takes a particular action — like placing an order.
Besides notifying your customers of their recent activity, transactional post-purchase emails are a fantastic opportunity to build brand awareness and customer loyalty.
2. Go above and beyond with your order confirmation emails
Order confirmation emails do more than just confirm product details; they’re an extension of your brand and they’re often the first post-purchase emails your customers receive from you.
Sending confirmation emails gives new customers peace of mind about their purchase, and helps you build trust and begin developing a new and (hopefully) long-lasting relationship.
3. Spice up your shipping confirmation emails
Shipping confirmations and other transactional emails traditionally don’t get a lot of attention from marketing teams.
But, by including a few basic components and adding a little creativity, these emails can help you build customer loyalty, improve the post-purchase experience, and establish a unique voice for your brand.
4. Communicate shipping delays to your customers
If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that supply chains can be impacted at any time, and often at great surprise (and concern) to everyone involved.
But that doesn’t mean the rockstar service your customers usually receive from you should also be impacted.
5. Drive revenue with thank-you emails
Thank you emails are one of the most engaging emails you can send.
According to Klaviyo data, thank-you emails can have a 352% higher open rate than a traditional email campaign, and a 329% higher click-through rate (CTR) because customers are expecting emails after paying for their orders.
Sending a thank you email can help you improve customer retention, which can eventually lead to a customer making repeat purchases with you over time.
6. Consider anniversary email strategies
Everyone loves having a reason to celebrate. That’s why we encourage you to recognize unofficial (but very fun) holidays like National Ice Cream Day, National Puppy Day, and National Margarita Day.
But how can you give your customers a celebratory reason to shop with you beyond their first purchase? The answer is an anniversary email.
7. Predict when your customers will buy from you again
Data drives the most powerful post-purchase email flows. You’ve likely heard all about segmenting your email content by gender, age, location, and other demographics, and you might even know that behavioral triggers are an excellent way to segment your email list.
But here’s an option you may not have considered: segmenting based on when you expect a customer to buy from you again. This means doing a little bit of research and guesswork into when you expect your customer to finish their product and need to replace it. When you have an estimated timeline, send an email to them a reminder (link to replenishment email blog when it’s up) to replenish their product before they run out.
The Sale isn’t the Finish Line
The most important thing to remember with post-purchase emails is that the sale is not the finish line.
Think about what happens when sprinters win a race at the Olympics. Do they stop at the finish line? No, they don’t! They often run their lap of honor, pose for photos, and start prepping for their next event.
Just like Olympians, your job doesn’t end once you cross the finish line (A.K.A. once you’ve made a sale). After all, it costs 5x less to keep existing customers than to gain new ones, which is a considerable amount of money you could put towards growing your business and launching new and exciting products instead.
So, get ready for your next “event” by continually delivering exceptional customer service and convincing your customers to come back for more through a stellar post-purchase email series.