Post purchase CRO: How to re-engage customers after they have purchased
Why Re-engagement Is so Crucial
Re-engaging with past customers is crucial for businesses because it is much cheaper to retain customers than to acquire new ones. With so many options available to customers, it is not realistic to expect that they will automatically keep coming back. Re-engagement campaigns are designed to recapture customers who have purchased but have since dropped off. As customers are actively being marketed to by competitors, re-engaging with past customers is a way to build on past momentum and maintain a loyal customer base. As a result, re-engagement should be a high priority for businesses.
Post purchase CRO tactics
Post purchase conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of optimizing a customer’s experience after they’ve made a purchase in order to increase the chances of them making additional purchases and improving the overall business revenue. Many e-commerce companies focus solely on optimizing for the first sale, but the true power of CRO lies in repeated sales from the same customers and first-time purchases from new customers.
Post purchase CRO is essential for optimizing customer retention and increasing the average order value (AOV). One common mistake that businesses make when trying to re-engage customers is redesigning their website. However, this is not the solution. The key to getting repeat sales from customers is to increase AOV and improve the customer experience, rather than offering more discounts or coupons.
To increase AOV, businesses can offer upsells or cross-sells during the checkout process, or provide personalized recommendations based on a customer’s purchase history. To improve the customer experience, businesses can focus on providing excellent customer services.
It can help increase your average order value (AOV) and improve the customer experience. One tactic to consider is optimizing your thank you page. Many ecommerce businesses have a thank you page that simply says “thank you for your purchase,” but this is a missed opportunity to increase AOV. Instead of just saying thank you, consider offering complimentary products that are applicable to the product the customer just ordered. This can help beat buyer remorse and encourage customers to purchase more.
Another post purchase CRO tactic to consider is emailing your customers after they have placed an order. Many ecommerce brands rely on the default settings of their platform, but this can miss the mark when it comes to customer experience and loyalty. To do this well, consider including five different types of emails in your post purchase email strategy:
- Confirmation email: Let the customer know that their order was placed successfully and provide them with a transaction receipt.
- Shipping email: Update the customer on the status of their order and provide them with tracking information.
- Delivery email: Let the customer know when their order has been delivered and ask for feedback on the product.
- Follow-up email: Check in with the customer a few weeks after their purchase and ask if they are satisfied with their purchase and if they need any assistance.
- Upsell email: Offer a complimentary product that complements the product the customer just purchased.
By including these different types of emails in your post purchase strategy, you can improve the customer experience, inspire loyalty, and increase AOV.
Shipping confirmation: The second email after a customer makes a purchase, this email informs the customer that their item has been shipped and provides details such as the expected delivery date, pick-up location (if applicable), and a tracking ID for them to monitor the movement of their package. Additionally, to enhance the customer experience, guides and resources such as videos on product assembly and usage can be included.
Customer service email: Sent upon the product’s arrival, this email checks in with the customer to inquire about their experience with the packaging and if they have encountered any issues. This approach helps address potential problems while also personalizing the business for the customer.
Review email: Sent out a few days or weeks after the customer has received and used the product, this email seeks feedback on their experience. To make it easy for customers to leave a review, tools such as Shopper Approved can be used which allows customers to rate using a star system or leave a written review which can then be used as marketing proof on the company’s website and email campaigns.
Post Purchase Survey
Post purchase surveys are a valuable tool for obtaining customer feedback. They involve asking customers one or more questions immediately or shortly after they make a purchase. These surveys can be sent via email or displayed on the checkout page.
The benefits of post purchase surveys include identifying areas for improvement in your service, gaining insights into future products and deals customers may be interested in, improving customer support, and obtaining valuable data to inform marketing strategy.
To get the best results from post purchase surveys, it is important to keep them short and simple, make them easy to respond to, ask open-ended questions, and deliver the survey within 5-10 minutes while the transaction is still fresh in the customer’s mind.
Examples of post purchase survey questions include:
How satisfied were you with the availability of products on our website?
Which additional goods, dimensions, and color choices do you hope to see in the future? How would you rate the overall experience of shopping and paying? Did you feel safe providing your card details on our website?
What element(s), if any, nearly kept you from finishing your checkout? How likely are you to buy something else from our company in the future? How likely are you to tell others about our brand? What is your main justification for picking our brand over those of our rivals?
Some of the departments with the most knowledge of customer needs, wants, and objections are sales, customer support, and customer service. This is as a result of the daily direct interactions that employees in these departments have with customers.
One way to gain valuable insights about what’s working and what’s not is by pulling up customer support tickets, particularly from first-time customers. These chat logs can provide insight into customer friction points and help improve customer acquisition, retention, and onboarding.
The Main Mail Flow
This final email includes this group of clients in your regular email marketing campaigns. Not just first-time buyers, but everyone on your list, receives these emails. Instead of sending them emails repeatedly, do the following: Include them in a segment that receives emails once every two weeks. Keep in mind that the goal of this post purchase email flow is to enhance the customer experience and keep your brand top-of-mind. Don’t lead with promotional emails; send more helpful ones like – “Mother’s day is coming. Have you thought about what to get your Mom? Here are some ideas.”
Setting Priorities Customer Insights
Setting priorities is crucial for making sure that the time spent gathering customer insights is not in vain. One effective way to do this is by prioritizing insights that require the least effort to implement but have the greatest impact.
When it comes to improving customer experience, businesses often make the mistake of starting with redesigning their website. However, it’s important to remember that customers interact with a brand through various touchpoints, such as social media and ads, before ever landing on the website. Therefore, it’s crucial to improve the customer experience on these platforms before moving on to the website.
To improve customer experience on social media, businesses can humanize their brand, post regular content, and have a representative available to respond to customer inquiries. To improve customer experience on ads, businesses can take advantage of targeting opportunities, offer emotional appeal, and deliver exactly what the customer is looking for. When implementing a post purchase CRO, it’s important to track key metrics such as customer lifetime value, number of reviews, and increase in conversion rate. These metrics will provide insight into how well post purchase CRO tactics are impacting customer experience and revenue.
- Number of Reviews: People only post reviews of a business when they are happy or unhappy with it. An increase in the number of 4 to 5-star reviews for your company is what you’re monitoring here. This indicates that your customers have a wonderful experience doing business with you.
- Customer Lifetime Value: When post purchase CRO strategies are used effectively, customers stay with your company longer and spend more money on average (AOV)
- Increase in conversion rate: Your conversion rate should rise the more post purchase CRO is successful. Repeat business indicates that customers are satisfied with your brand and find the process simple, much like a cycle.
Jobs-To-Be-Done
Another approach to understanding customer needs and motivations is using the Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework. Pioneered by Clayton Christensen, JTBD is based on the idea that people don’t buy a product, but instead hire it to get a job done. By understanding why customers bought your product in the first place, you can reverse-engineer the process and increase sales.
When conducting JTBD interviews, it’s important to ask open-ended questions and avoid leading questions. Listen more than you talk, and conduct the interview in an informal setting to ensure the customer is at ease. Some examples of JTBD questions you can ask recent customers include: What was going on in your life when you first realized there was a problem?? How did you find out? What did you do after you realized you had a problem? What sort of solutions did you try? Or not even try? “Why or why not?” and “Did you envision your life with the product before making the purchase? And what did you anticipate?” Etc.
Conclusion
CRO is a continuous process of improvement that goes beyond what takes place before the first purchase.
You’re leaving a lot more money on the table if you stop your CRO process after generating a lot of revenue from first-time customers.
If you apply every tactic and concept in this article by Vispan Solutions, you’re sure to improve your customer experience while increasing your bottom line.