CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Post-purchase experience
Post-purchase platforms help brands update the customer with transactional news about their shipment
Fill channel gaps with post-purchase customer experience platforms
It costs more to acquire customers than it does to keep existing ones. Companies that work hard to draw visitors through the marketing funnel and achieve a sale must nurture that customer if they want repeat business. This makes the post-purchase experience critical. Post-purchase platforms help brands update the customer with transactional news about their shipment. These platforms support not just email but SMS text messaging, giving companies an opportunity to meet the customer on their preferred communication channel. This can be especially important when updating a customer with delivery information which must reach them in a timely fashion. SMS often features higher engagement rates than email, which makes it a perfect complementary post-purchase communications channel. Customers used to getting updates about product shipments via SMS will be more likely to look at product drops via SMS too.
Most brands sent order updates to keep customers informed about the latest status, including reporting when an order had shipped. They also embraced delivery tracking, often through third-party couriers that provided their own updates. Some brands crafted a seamless connection between the purchase and post-purchase experience. Oak Furniture Village followed up its offer of different delivery windows during checkout with an SMS message updating the user about the delivery time slot (although it didn't send a dispatch note). Cancellation notifications were a common weak spot. Order cancellations after purchase are a fact of life, especially in a pandemic environment which has constrained supply chains. Nevertheless, companies should be up-front when informing customers. Many brands failed to send a cancellation email or reach out via customer service. That lack of communication left customers logging into their account to find out what had happened only after they realized there was a problem.
Many brands failed to send a cancellation email or reach out via customer service
We found past customer reviews on 70% of brand product pages, making this the rule rather than the exception.
Unlock the power of customer feedback
Post-purchase marketing goes beyond mere order and shipment confirmation. Smart brands use it for a full customer service management and marketing experience that nurtures more engagement and possible extra sales with valuable editorial content and relevant product promotions. Brands can use post-purchase platforms to manage customer loyalty programs and to nurture select VIP client groups. They can also solicit product feedback. Post-purchase feedback was requested from 47% of brands. Some went beyond individual product feedback, asking for broader evaluations of the overall shopping experience. They would often do this via triggered campaigns featuring feedback forms powered by third-party platforms including Trustpilot, Yotpo, and Narvar. Many chose not to reveal this fact, instead presenting feedback forms and customer reviews as native to their site. This risks a lack of transparency compared to those who explicitly refer to a third-party service. Review requests are a powerful part of the post-purchase experience and can help generate social proof for other potential customers. We found past customer reviews on 70% of brand product pages, making this the rule rather than the exception. As customer communities demand more transparency, a lack of reviews risks turning some customers away.
EXPERT COMMENTARY:
Forming a relationship with your customers isn’t easy; it often requires a series of interactions for engagement. While there are different ways to do this, starting with authenticity and transparency is key. Stay top of mind with your shoppers by asking for reviews that feature photos and videos. Display customer content on social media to show how valuable their opinions and experiences are to your brand. Keep them in the know with an inside look at your upcoming product launches to further deepen the connection between your brand and your customers.
Swee Lee and Baum und Pferdgarten both wove requests for feedback nicely into highly visual post-purchase email designs. Each used a clear CTA on a button that gave a clear instruction for the recipient.
While some brands presented feedback forms as their own, brands often used third-party post-purchase feedback platforms. Drench disclosed that its feedback form came from Trustpilot.
