Shopify's latest Future of Commerce 2021 Report highlights how eCommerce businesses are prioritising retention over acquisition. Turning to rewarding, and incentivising existing customers to spend more. This is due to customer acquisition costs increasing worldwide across all channels.
As eCommerce is becoming more competitive, ad spend is increasing on platforms such as Facebook and Google. These factors are leading brands to explore new growth channels, with a major focus on customer retention.
Shopify mentions that "Historically, improving customer retention 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%". One way to increase customer retention is to create a killer post-purchase experience.
Communicate With Your Customers
Keeping your customers in the loop regarding their orders will help you build trust. After a customer checks out, they should receive a confirmation email or text when their order is received, shipped, and delivered. We understand it can be difficult to keep on top of, luckily Interparcel has a solution.
When shipping through Interparcel, you can take advantage of our Branded tracking. Fully customisable to suit your brand, you can provide your customers with a seamless omnichannel experience that allows them to check where their orders are and when to expect to receive them.
Create a great unboxing experience
Present the 'wow' factor and give your customers a memorable unboxing experience.
Creating an unboxing experience not only can increase the perceived value of your products, regardless of their price. But, it also could produce some user-generated content (UGC) that you then can promote in future marketing campaigns.
Who gives a crap use this strategy in every single order. Check out their hashtag #Whogivesacrap on Instagram and look through the thousands of UGC they have due to their funky and unique packaging.
There are plenty of ways to 'wow' your customers unboxing such as:
- Including a handwritten thank you note
- Providing free samples
- Using sustainable, eco-friendly packaging
- Focusing on the presentation for Instagram worthy pictures
Reward Loyalty
Loyalty matters, so why not reward your shoppers for choosing your business? Usually, a rewards/loyalty program can be a combination of free gifts, early product releases or redeemable points.
A great example of a rewards/loyalty program that works, is Mecca Beauty Loop. It is a tier-based rewards program. This means the more you purchase from the brand, the higher tier you will be in. The higher tiers then receive more rewards worth in value.
Engage and provide value
When it comes to engaging customers, the old saying 'Content is king' rings true. Quality content is not only liked by Google but it's liked and valued by customers. It can increase your brand's credibility and value and it generates new leads while keeping old ones interested.
Once your customer has received their order you can begin sharing content that would interest them. Content can be in the form of; case studies, articles, emails, social media or podcasts.
Follow up
After your customer receives their product, following up with them through an email can give you the opportunity to upsell and learn where your brand could improve.
Some examples of follow up emails could be:
Product Education Email
This could be sent around the time your customer is expected to receive their shipment. This email could be linked to "how-to" videos or guides on how to get the most out of their new product.
Review Request Email
With review emails, it's best to strike when the iron is hot. Emailing your customer asking for feedback 2 - 3 days after expected delivery could give you more insight into how your customer's journey went.
Reminder for a repeat order
You can extend your customer lifetime value by sending out a replenishment reminder email. Once you've figured out an average time between purchases of a particular product you can schedule this in your CRM system to automatically send out.
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