How a great post-purchase experience can boost customer retention
Vaishali Ravi
·September 23, 2024
Customer loyalty is crucial for building a sustainable brand. And while you’ve most likely built a customer loyalty or rewards program to encourage shoppers to buy your products on an ongoing basis, there’s an important touchpoint you might be overlooking: the post-purchase experience.
“Post-purchase” refers to the period of time after the customer has completed a purchase, and can include everything from the shipping process to unboxing to post-purchase customer support—and in some cases, the returns process.
Tom Ross, UX Lead at our partner agency Convert Digital, says that by prioritising the post-purchase experience, brands can gain a better understanding of their customers and improve their overall brand experience. In particular, gathering data around your shoppers’ post-purchase experience can help you optimise operations and improve their experience with your brand.
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Book a demoLeverage the power of surveys
Follow up with your customers after they’ve completed a purchase. Automated campaigns can encourage them to fill out a quick survey about their experience with your product, or ideally, leave a review. You can analyse this data in aggregate to gain a better understanding of your customers and their perspective on your brand.
It’s also important to use surveys when a customer requests a product return. Using Loop’s Insights feature, you can set up multiple-choice questions to find out why the customer is returning the product, with potential reasons such as too small, too large, wrong color, or “just didn’t like it.” “By leveraging analytics in Loop, you can feed the return reasons back to product teams,” says Tom.
These insights can be used to inform new product developments, or to help your team optimise product descriptions for existing products. “Understanding why a customer is returning or swapping an item allows for the most effective onsite solutions to be implemented,” says Tom.
For example, “if size is always mentioned in returns, increasing your focus and effort into the most effective size guides can help customers make informed buying decisions.” Including detailed measurement guides, and adding a notation that “this product runs small,” can help customers find the right fit on the first try.
Boosting post-purchase retention
Using Loop’s returns management solution can also help you boost customer retention by using your survey data to help customers who are returning items find products that are a better fit for them. Not every product is a fit for every customer, and by developing a flexible and streamlined returns process, you’ll be able to encourage customers to give your brand another shot.
Offer guided recommendations based on their responses: If a pair of jeans ran too small, you can display available inventory in the next size up and offer them an Instant Exchange. Or, if the shopper wasn’t a fan of the product generally, they can use Loop’s Shop Now & Later features to apply the credit from their purchase towards any alternative item in your store. By creating a seamless, hassle-free exchange process, you’ll encourage customers to purchase a new product rather than requesting a refund.
Boosting post-purchase exchanges leads to higher revenue retention, as well as improved customer retention metrics. By building a best-in-class post-purchase experience that focuses on understanding your customers’ pain points and helping them resolve their issues, you’ll be able to build lasting relationships with your shoppers.
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With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.