Keep More Customers With These 5 Post Purchase Strategies

Do you care about your customer’s post purchase experience?

It’s something we often overlook in eCommerce. We all aim for the sale. Once we get it, it’s standard from there, right? A confirmation email, maybe. And a parcel tracking page.

And that’s fine – if you want to lose out on return customers and the revenue they can offer.

Why Should I Care About Customer Retention?

Retaining a customer is between 5 and 7 times cheaper than getting a new one. Which makes it logical to want more return customers. They cost less and are more likely to convert than first time buyers. So why spend all the effort on the new sale?

Below are 5 easy strategies that can help your customer retention efforts. And help you lower your overall cost per sale.

1. Treat Them Well

Your customers are important – treat them accordingly.

We’re limited in eCommerce, of course. We can’t exactly give them a free coffee with every purchase – but coupons and free stuff work great.

If nothing else, let them into your “circle” – so to speak. Working towards a noble cause? Let them know. Do you donate a part of your proceeds to charity? Let them know. Else, a simple and sincere thank you page will do the job just fine.

As long as your customer feels appreciated – truly appreciated – they’re more likely to buy again.

2. How To Guide

Is your product complicated? Why not include a well-designed how to guide with every purchase? It can be a print booklet or a downloadable PDF.

In PDF form they get to download it right away. But some might appreciate the booklet more. If it doesn’t cut into your profits too much, why not offer both?

But what if your product is easy to use? Then a simple alternative would do the job.

For example, a “what now?” section on your thank you page, detailing the process from here on out. You can avoid leaving customers in the dark and have them feel valued at the same time.

3. Encourage Customer Feedback

5-star feedback looks great on your product page. In fact, nearly 70% of online shoppers rely on reviews to help make buying decisions.

But negative reviews are equally as useful. They’ll help you improve your service so you can get those 5 star reviews. Plus you’ll have a better idea of what your customers want. Thereby knowing which products to pull and which to keep.

Don’t leave the negative feedback on your site if you can help it though.

While reviews of any kind are great, there’s a problem… a low percentage of online buyers actually leave reviews. The exact number is hard to find, but it’s somewhere in the 2-10% range.

And the solution is simple. Just ask!. A whopping 70% of users will leave a review when asked. And though that study is focused on local consumers, there are some fascinating insights.

In eCommerce we’ll have less users that leave a review when asked. But the fact is if you don’t ask you’ll never know. Simply ask the question on your thank you page.

Finally, you can even offer a small discount coupon for their review. This helps future customers and creates a return customer automatically (if they use their coupon). You could make the coupon transferrable too. They could give it to a friend and net you an extra customer.

4. Reward Returning Customers

We ended the previous point on this – coupons! Reward your customer with a coupon if they come back to make a purchase. Or send them a coupon directly after their purchase, along with a few product recommendations (ties into the next point).

You could hand out a discount coupon with every sale. Or you could hold a draw once a week or month. This discount could be bigger, too.

The point is your customers are more likely to come back if there’s a reward for doing so. Or at least the promise or possibility of a reward.

5. Upsell / Cross Sell Based On Behaviour

Users are more receptive to marketing directly after buying. At least, this is what countless marketing studies tell us. But remember, your buyer could also be suffering from buyer’s remorse.

So while the post-purchase screen and shipment tracking pages are a great place for marketing, it’s also important that we help the buyer feel good about what they’ve bought from us. And this ties back into the first point and your thank you page.

Remember to include your guarantee or return policy, a sincere thank you message and a link to your how to guide if necessary.

And if there’s room for marketing, there’s no better place for it.

Include a special deal. Remind them that if they come back before X date, they’ll get a discount coupon. Advertise related items, etc.

It all depends on the strategy you go with. Test different things, and you’ll soon find a post-purchase marketing strategy that skyrockets that revenue.

Bonus Tip: Post Purchase Product Tracking

Post-purchase shipping is a very standard affair. But should it be?

Your customer expects standard – why not blow their mind?

This is where WISMOlabs helps. We’re not a “shipping tracking” or “product tracking” company. We’re a post-purchase customer experience solution (apologies for the mouthful). That said, your users do get to see exactly where their package is.

But you also get to show them what you want them to see. You can segment and display ads to different buyers – down to the individual level if you wish. That’s where the power of WISMOlabs shines.

But why not see for yourself –book a demo with us here.

The Post Purchase Experience And Your Revenue

It’s time to take the above tips to heart and witness your revenue growth first-hand.

We’re eager to help you get your revenue soaring. So if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us or drop a comment.

We’d love to hear from you. Contact us today and start improving your customer post sale experience.