3 Tips to improve your post-purchase experience
JP Arnaud-Marquez
·February 18, 2022
Customers spent over $204.5 billion during last year’s holiday season — and chances are, you saw your biggest spending boom of the year during the Black Friday – Cyber Monday shopping season.
But even though you may have shipped a lot of products during your holiday promotion window, the goal is to keep all of those customers coming back for more year-round. After all, it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one, and increasing retention by just 5% can increase your profits by anywhere from 25-95%.
So what can you do to keep your one-time customers coming back for more? Provide a great end-to-end customer experience from the first touch to the last—including the post-purchase experience.
Here are three tips to improve your post-purchase experience that will help you win over loyal customers:
1. Get feedback to learn what they liked and didn’t like
Immediately after completing their transaction, send your customers a quick survey to find out what went right and wrong during their shopping experience with your brand. This will help you check the pulse of your customer experience, and discover new ways to optimize the experience for them. It’s also worth encouraging them to write a review of the product they purchased — if they loved it, their review will be a powerful draw to lure in new customers, and if they didn’t like it, it provides an opportunity to reach out with support or exchange options.
2. Provide personalized product recommendations
You can use customer browsing and purchase data to get a detailed view on what types of products your customers are most likely to be interested in. That enables you to reach out with product recommendations and promotions that are designed to appeal to each individual customer. For example, a customer who previously purchased a lipstick from one of the cosmetic brands you carry may be interested in recommendations for lip liner from the same company. Or a customer who browsed through your collection of sandals but didn’t make a purchase may be inspired to buy if you send a follow-up message linking to your latest sandal styles, especially if you throw in a special discount.
3. Encourage customers to make exchanges instead of returns
Sometimes, a product just doesn’t work for a customer. Maybe it was the wrong size or style, or it was a gift that they already owned. Whatever the case, it’s important to be flexible on offering returns when needed, but just as important to offer incentives for making exchanges instead of returning an item. If a customer had requested a return on a $60 sweater, offering them an additional $10 in bonus credit to apply towards an exchange of any product from your shop will likely incentivize them to choose a new product, allowing you to preserve a valuable customer relationship that might otherwise be lost.
Want more strategies for improving your bottom line by optimizing the post-purchase experience? Download our free ebook.
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