One area where companies could invest in to improve sales is post-purchase campaigns. By keeping in touch with the buyer once the sale has gone through, businesses can not only leave a good impression but encourage repeat purchases. Agop Ashjian, CEO at Shipup, discusses post-purchase campaigns and what can be done by retailers.
Retailers and marketers have both felt the pressures of a tough year as inflation and the cost of living crisis hit budgets and consumer spending power. This is bringing the worlds of retail and marketing closer together as advertising through retail channels grows. But there is another means by which the two can overlap – post-purchase strategies.
Securing repeat customers is a difficult and often expensive task which can be made simpler with personalised post-purchase campaigns that anticipate customer issues before perceptions of a brand are impacted. These campaigns involve direct communication, personalised offers and opportunities to receive feedback after the purchase stage, all of which can be proactively presented to customers. All post-purchase strategies are therefore different to one another, but a consistent customer journey that addresses people’s needs, beyond just an email receipt or expected delivery date, is a trait they have in common.
In addition, post-purchase can build and grow communities around a company’s products, rather than just targeting individuals. Marketing teams looking for a cost-effective way of ensuring repeat business should begin by asking themselves if their post-purchase customer interactions are as proactive and simple for the end user as they could be.
A cost-effective way to keep hold of customers
Products can be a harder sell for retailers and their marketing teams when consumer confidence is low. Rising prices make the decision to switch retailers – or drop a nonessential product from the weekly budget – much easier. As a result, many brands’ connections to once-loyal customer bases weaken during an economic downturn and they feel the impact this has on revenue.
Maintaining success in this economic environment places an emphasis on retaining customers, which can’t be driven solely by product teams. Post-purchase communication is a low-cost channel that encourages repeat business, lessening the importance of engaging new customers. Marketing and acquisition can be a costly and time-consuming process – an unpopular proposition considering the financial strain already on marketing teams. Our 2023 study found that 90% of UK consumers read the emails sent to them after making a purchase, so there is a clear opportunity for marketing teams to use this stage as a way to keep existing customers happy.
Each step of the customer journey has to be hassle-free and convenient if customers are to stay loyal to a brand, and post-purchase is no different. Being passive about delivery issues, for instance, is a complaint nearly half (43%) of British consumers levy towards retailers that a proactive post-purchase strategy can solve. This indicates that customers would much rather be notified of a delivery issue and guided through it than have to report or seek out the problem themselves. We know that 83% of consumers want to be notified of delivery problems, but only 25% receive branded communications from brands. It shows a level of complacency around customer retention that marketing teams can get ahead of. Brands that retain the most customers will reach out at the right time without being prompted and take each opportunity to own up to and correct any mistakes.
Making the most of variety
Post-purchase experiences take a variety of forms, as there are multiple methods and channels for engaging with customers. Impactful communication strategies don’t just involve follow-ups and tracking, but use perks like discounts, offers and feedback opportunities to promote longer-lasting relationships with customers. This is both invaluable to the business and, as our 2023 study shows, appeals to what consumers want from their favourite brands.
Delivery tracking updates are welcomed but are only the first step to a comprehensive strategy. Forty-six percent of consumers are interested in promotional updates and 41% in loyalty programmes, so making relevant, personalised offer emails a priority builds the loyalty retailers desire. Encouraging people to leave reviews is hugely impactful on how people see your brand, as 95% of people consider them when making an online purchase. Reviews and loyalty programmes grow communities around a brand organically, so marketers should never be afraid to ask for necessary feedback.
However, not everyone enjoys receiving the full range of communications companies have to offer. Anyone with a busy inbox knows the feeling of being bombarded with marketing emails. It’s not enjoyable. So, as with most contemporary marketing strategies, personalisation is imperative. Retailers looking to harness post-purchase should monitor engagement data like open rates and click rates, examine who is re-purchasing after a follow-up, and proactively collect feedback in order to tailor communication to individual customers. Including an ‘opt-out’ feature is another effective way to demonstrate an empathy with customers while also picking up on their communication preferences for future reference.
Maximising post-purchase opportunities – Boxraw
Our work with Boxraw, a pioneering boxing lifestyle retailer, exemplifies the marketing function of post-purchase experiences. The majority of its customer base is online, so Boxraw needed a way to keep its branding strong and consistent throughout the buyer journey. Boxraw used post-purchase channels to strengthen its brand community and deliver a fixed message to its customers – that Boxraw is a reliable, go-to brand for all aspects of the boxing lifestyle.
Customers who were initially having to track orders through third party sites now receive emails with delivery updates as soon as issues arise. Boxraw can then investigate and communicate solutions to customers before they make contact. Boxraw also has a dashboard in place for shipping updates, so this process isn’t done behind a curtain. Keeping the status visible and branded makes it clear that Boxraw’s work isn’t finished at the checkout.
Improving customer response time was the next step to turning this strategy into an improved customer experience through post-purchase channels. Anticipation of customer issues was the key to achieving this. Real-time alerts giving solutions in the event of delivery mishaps meant Boxraw could turn a negative experience into a positive one before customers realised anything was wrong.
Final thoughts
Retail marketers in need of a way to demonstrate ROI and build a community around their brand can do so at a low cost with a robust post-purchase strategy. Providing reliable information and support that anticipates issues before they arise mitigates any damage to the brand image in the short-term. In the long run, as Boxraw found, tailoring a reliable branded experience to each customer generates repeat business organically due to the long-lasting positive feedback that results from each delivery.