10 Best Post Purchase Email Examples to Boost Retention in Ecommerce & Retail in 2024 [+Tips to Create Post Purchase Emails]
Securing the sale from your eCommerce buyer doesn’t necessarily mean your conversion process has come to an end: the actual challenge is transforming a one-time buyer into a lifetime customer. This is why having a robust eCommerce post-purchase experience is important for your eCommerce brand, now more than ever. According to Epsilon, a customer who has had a favorable post-purchase experience is three times more likely to repurchase from, and recommend the brand to others.
In 2024, Post Purchase Emails are by far the most effective channel to curate your buyers’ post purchase experience, and with the right sequence and strategy, you can garner brand loyalty organically.
In this article, we dive into the three-stage post-purchase email cycle that has a proven track record of ‘closing’ your conversion process by evolving one-time buyers into regular customers. We also explore real life post purchase email examples for each of the 10 steps and understand the key benchmarks for your Post Purchase Email templates. Read on to learn more!
What are Post-Purchase Emails and How Do They Boost Retention?
Post-purchase emails are a sequence of emails that are sent to the customer’s inbox after they have made a specific purchase. Such emails have more than just the function of confirming a transaction that has taken place - they set up the path for the rest of the conversion and retention journey. They are intended to improve the customers’ satisfaction, make them loyal, and prompt them to buy the same product again. Here's how they boost retention:
- Reinforce the purchase decision: These are useful in making customers feel they have made the right decision by thanking them and affirming the order details.
- Provide valuable information: Informational emails with tips on how to use the product, how to maintain it, or even on related products that the customer might find useful are beneficial to the customer, and this establishes your value as a brand beyond more than what you have to sell.
- Encourage engagement: These emails urge recipients to follow social media accounts, sign up for loyalty programs, and submit reviews in order to maintain an active relationship between the brand and its patrons.
- Personalize the experience: With information derived from the purchase, the businesses can then target the next communication to be more relevant to the customer, thus personalizing the e-commerce experience.
- Reduce churn: The win-back post purchase emails are useful in reminding the customers who may have been inactive for some time to make another order and thus they do not completely slip through the cracks.
- Build brand loyalty: Effective and relevant communication after the sale is another way of building a bond with the customer.
A well-designed and executed post-purchase email marketing communication program can go a long way in raising the customer retention rates, the number of repeat purchases and the development of a loyal customer base that is key to sustainable business growth.
The Best Post Purchase Email Cycle in 3 Stages [+ 10 Real Life Examples in 2024]
Following up through Emails is a critical aspect of the post-purchase process in e-commerce and retailing, as it can significantly influence customer loyalty and their total value to your brand. Dividing this process into three phases helps to develop a coherent plan that will allow you to not only attract customers and sell products to them, but also retain them for a long time. The main goal of closing the consumption loop is achieved by spreading the targets over a sequence of multiple emails rather than in one go, making this approach persuasive while not being too unsubtle.
In this section, we'll explore the optimal post-purchase email cycle, divided into three key stages:
1. Sending Transactional Emails
2. Building and Sustaining Customer Trust & Loyalty
3. Reinforcing The Consumption Loop
Stage 1: Send Transactional Emails
The first stage of mails covers all the transactional information your customer needs, pertaining to their purchase. This sequence of emails is your first entry-point into the customer’s inbox post-purchase - making a strong impression is important. Provide concise and relevant information, cut out the fluff and prioritize ease of access above all else.
Order Confirmation Email
The first email in this sequence is the order confirmation email. It’s pretty straightforward, confirming your customer’s purchase and providing an overview of their cart.
Post Purchase Email Example: Amazon's order confirmations are concise yet comprehensive. Note the prominent ‘View or Manage Order’ button for easy access to order details and tracking information - this can be a crucial feature to add in your post purchase email template
Shipping Confirmation Email
Follow the Order Confirmation Email with a Shipping Confirmation Email once the order has been dispatched. This informs your customer about their order that’s on its way, reducing anxiety and building anticipation. Try to communicate the information visually instead of verbally to appeal to your customer’s intuition.
Post Purchase Email Example: Etsy's shipping confirmations are visually appealing, featuring the item's image, shipping address, and a clear ‘Track Package’ button linking directly to the carrier's tracking page.
Delivery Confirmation Email
Once your delivery has been made, send in a Delivery Confirmation Email to notify your customer - this ensures that they’re aware of their order’s whereabout even if they don’t happen to be at home. Include a brief summary of the items delivered and care instructions, if applicable.
Post Purchase Email Example: Check out Polaroid’s Delivery Confirmation Email. Simple, effective and to the point - serving as a great reference point for your brand's post purchase email template.
Stage 2: Nurture Customer Trust & Loyalty
Now that you’ve found a valid point of entry into your customer’s inbox, you’re able to send in regular emails that are less likely to get ignored. Your emailing approach should however be evenly-paced - for the second stage, focus on establishing an emotional connect with your customer. Prioritize establishing brand familiarity in their inbox, over directly pushing product suggestions from the get-go.
Thank You Emails
Show appreciation for the business your customer has given you, however small - send in a Thank You email that fosters goodwill and prompts loyalty on a subliminal level. Your Thank You Emails can include a personalized message, a special offer, or other content that’s directly useful for the customer. The important aspect to focus in this step is to make your customer feel seen, valued and appreciated.
Post Purchase Email Example: Abercrombie & Fitch sends a simple, heartfelt thank you email that directly resonates with the customer.
How-To Guides
How-to guides provide value to your customer by helping them get the most out of their purchase. Your customers are sure to appreciate usage tips, advice for maintenance or any other ideas that are actually useful with respect to their latest purchase from you. This, again, plays into the factor of your customer feeling seen and understood - establish the fact that you can understand their needs acutely.
Post Purchase Email Example: This How-to Email by Dossier on how to get the most out of their perfumes is a great example of how you can go about providing value to your customers through your Post Purchase Emails Strategy.
User-generated Content (UGC)
UGC is perhaps the most effective way of reinforcing your brand value organically, and featuring UGC in your emails can prove to be extremely effective. Try to align these emails as an initiative to build community in a way that benefits both your customer and your brand image.
Post Purchase Email Example: GoPro's "Photo of the Day" post purchase emails feature stunning images captured by customers using their cameras, inspiring other users and demonstrating the product's capabilities.
Survey Emails
Establish transparency and trust with your customers by actively seeking customer feedback - and the best way to do it is through emails, and adding this crucial step in your Post Purchase Emails Sequence. Keep the surveys short and engaging - try incentivizing completion.
Post Purchase Email Example: Airbnb sends post-stay survey emails with a simple star rating system and open-ended questions, ensuring that the survey is convenient for the user to fill out, while also capturing insightful information.
Rewards, Referrals, Loyalty Programs
It’s at this phase of your Post Purchase Emails Strategy that you can start pushing prompts in your emails to reinforce and encourage buying. Send in post purchase emails about rewards, referrals and loyalty programs to encourage repeat business and increase the rate of WOM (word-of-mouth marketing).
Post Purchase Email Example: Sephora's Beauty Insider program sends regular emails updating customers on their point balance, exclusive offers, and rewards they can redeem, keeping customers engaged and incentivizing future purchases.
Stage 3: Reinforce The Consumption Loop
In the final stage, you will be focusing on reinforcing the consumption of your customer - thereby establishing a loop - purchase, engage, repeat. This stage concludes your post-purchase emailing sequence, helping you turn your one-time sale conversion into a lifetime buyer.
Upselling & Cross-Selling
Upselling and cross-selling emails suggest complementary or upgraded products based on the customer's purchase history, buying habits and so forth. The key here is to push personalized recommendations based on the data you already have on your customer.
Post Purchase Email Example: Chewy sends follow-up emails after pet food purchases, recommending matching treats or toys.
Win-Back Emails
Win-back post purchase emails are essentially a last-ditch attempt to re-engage with customers who haven't made a purchase in a while, and successfully get them back into the consumption loop. While it might be difficult to bring a cold prospect back into the pipeline, the right template can prove to be extremely effective.
Post Purchase Email Example: Take a look at Sears’ winback post purchase email template, which provides readers with a number of reasons to re-engage with Sears. After the welcome back text, this post purchase email template focuses on three new benefits that the reader may not be aware of.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that post-purchase emails are one of the most effective strategies to increase customer loyalty in the context of the constant development of e-commerce and retail. This paper seeks to outline the three-stage email cycle that can be used by businesses to convert one-time buyers into lifetime customers.
All the stages of transactional, nurturing, and reinforcement messages are important in the customer journey since they play various roles in building the relationship with customers.
Thus, it is crucial to understand that personalization, timing, and the value that customers receive are the main factors that define effective post-purchase email campaigns. So, by applying the best practices and post purchase email examples we have analyzed, you can develop the post purchase email templates sequences that will meet and even surpass the customers’ expectations and provide the sustainable growth for the business.
It is therefore expected that the need for post purchase communication especially in the year 2024 and beyond will further be felt. Make it your habit to monitor your email performance indicators, experiment with new tactics, and always remember that your customers are your top priority.
Good post purchase emails do not only help to increase retention rates but they also generate people who will recommend your products and services to others. When you spend effort and money into the post-purchase e-mail communication, you do not only keep your customers; you foster a community around your brand that will ensure the success of your business in the future. This is where App0 can help in your post purchase email automation using the right templates, leverage concise insights from user conversations with our conversational AI platform, and streamline your entire post purchase customer experience from end to end.
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