What’s surprising is that the ‘post-purchase’ stage of the customer journey is so essential, yet it is often overlooked.
The post-purchase experience impacts their decision ever to refer your brand to other people and even buy from you again. With 40 percent of total revenue coming from repeat customers, you need to stay with your customers throughout their entire purchase journey across every touchpoint.
You can’t just focus your eCommerce marketing on acquiring new customers. In fact, a survey revealed that acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an old one.
Furthermore, increasing your customer retention rate by 5% can increase profits by 25-95%.
However, post-purchase experience plays an important role in gaining your customer’s loyalty and driving more revenue.
But What Is Post-Purchase Customer Experience Exactly?
In today’s time, customers are looking for a transparent and effortless experience.
They expect to hear from online retailers not only before buying but after purchase as well. Post-purchase experience includes everything right from what the customer experiences after he checks out online to when his product arrives. It involves how the delivery was fulfilled, how the status of their order was communicated, or dealing with the return policy.
Did you know that 47 percent of customers are dissatisfied because of the lack of visibility on their order delivery status?
When a customer places an order, they are eagerly waiting for the parcel to arrive. While waiting, they need some kind of reassurance that their goods are on the way and that there is no delay.
Not knowing when their order will arrive or not having an option to track their delivery status makes them anxious.
So, how can you implement a successful post-purchase engagement strategy that can continue to delight your customers? Well, here are a few ways in which you can drive growth by providing the best-in-class experience.
i. Keep Communicating With Your Customers Even After Post-Purchase.
Brands need to recognize that real growth is achieved when a consumer comes back for a repeat purchase.
One way to ensure that is by providing a seamless post-purchase experience, rather than sending your customers off to third-party sites.
43% of customers are more likely to never buy a product from a brand following a negative delivery experience.
Besides, 40% of online shoppers check a product’s order status at least once a day
You can avoid bad customer experience by choosing the right logistics partner that provides visibility into the delivery. You should give your customers the option to sign up for SMS notification for their order shipment status.
You are 3 clicks away from creating order status page for your online store
ii. Engaging Your Customers With Relevant, Personalized Information
Another way to implement excellent post-purchase experience is by offering branded, personalized post-purchase content. Personalization is a distinguishing factor in customer satisfaction.
Post-purchase emails are highly engaging with a 217% higher open rate, and over 500% click rate. Customers who are waiting for their delivery are open to communications from their retailers.
A survey found that 73% of consumers prefer to buy from retailers who use personal information to make their shopping experiences more relevant. With the help of predictive analytics, ecommerce owners can provide consumers with increasingly personalized experiences.
In fact, you can further drive the engagement post-purchase by promoting new products to existing customers based on their previous purchases.
iii. Ensuring Good Customer Experience Even After Checkout
A lot of things can go wrong during the delivery process — an incorrect address, package delayed due to some circumstances, a wrong item shipped, and much more. It can create a bad brand image in their mind.
While these circumstances can’t be entirely controlled, retailers can take measures to solve the matter in a timely manner. It can help them bring back their customer’s trust again. For instance, a secure return solution acts as one of the main driving forces to shop online.
As per Narvar consumer report 2018, 52 percent of customers look for an easy return solution.
Therefore, hassle-free returns can trigger customer spending. In fact, several companies are offering “Try-Before-You-Buy,” wherein the customers can try many items at home and pay only for the ones they like. It makes them buy multiple items, try them at home, and return the ones that they don’t like or don’t fit well.
By taking actions proactively, you can solve their problems quickly, and thus, you turn them into loyal customers. Always focus on converting a bad experience into a good one for your customers.
Final Words
It must be clear by now that if you want to retain customers, you need to focus on their post-purchase experience. Besides, happy customers are likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand and refer to their friends and family.
Align your E-commerce needs to their behavioral changes and invest in providing the best pre as well as post-purchase experience.