How to get the most out of your post purchase emails

Once someone becomes a customer, that doesn’t mean you can move on and focus on getting new customers. Instead, you want to do everything you can to nourish the relationship and build trust. Making customers feel valued after they’ve bought, and not forgetting about them, is a great way to build brand loyalty. 

You can start doing this as soon as they buy with your post-purchase emails. 

All too often, brands forget about the importance of these emails. There’s one big reason why you shouldn’t ignore these emails; they have high open rates. So while you’ve already got your customer’s attention, capitalize on it. You can do all sorts of things to improve your post-purchase emails. Use them to show your customer they matter and you want to keep building a relationship with them.

Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Give them real-time updates

Once a product is purchased, your customer will mentally go right to where is my stuff mode. You can avoid getting an overflow of Where Is My Order (WISMO) calls taking up your customer support team’s valuable time by giving real-time moment of open shipping updates.

With real-time moment of open emails, every time your customer opens their email, they will see the most up to date information. They don’t have to search for tracking numbers or log back into your site. They get the information they want when they want it. Don’t underestimate how valuable that is to a customer.

The more personalized your tracking email is to your customer’s needs, the better their overall experience will be. Those positive feelings are something that will drive them to keep buying.

Use the data you have

Today, you can do so much with the data you have from your commerce platform, website tracking, email service provider, loyalty program, and customer relationship management tools — just to name a few. 

So use that data, even when it comes to post-purchase emails. You can go through what you have and see how your customers behave. From there, you can segment your emails based on particular customer behavior. This is a really cool way to keep these post-purchase emails personalized, which is exactly what consumers want.

Imagine it from your customer’s perspective. They are getting so much more than an emailed receipt. They are getting updates on their purchase, plus personalized details on their loyalty rewards or product recommendations based on their browsing history. That’s powerful stuff.

Don’t only focus on the transaction

With post-purchase emails, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of only giving bare-bones information about the transaction and calling it a day. Instead, use this time where you’ve got your customer’s focus to engage with them. 

There are a few approaches you can take here. You can highlight your customer loyalty or rewards program, for example. Why not let them know how many points their transaction earned and how far away they are from the next rewards tier. 

Or you can use your post-purchase email to highlight some related products that your customer might love. Maybe they’ve just bought a new tent and sleeping bag. You can showcase related products, including sleep mats in your post-purchase emails. These might catch the eye of your customer and make them interested in buying more. 

Keep checking-in

Your emails don’t need to stop once your customer has gotten their product. Follow up, give them a great customer experience. You can also ask how they like what they’ve got, ask for reviews or testimonials that you can use on your marketing campaigns. 

All the while, don’t forget to make these emails as personalized as you can. Use that data that you have to craft emails that really speak to their needs and interests.

For example, you can reward them with special gifts or enticements. Maybe it’s as simple as 10% off on their next order or free shipping for something that you know they’ve browsed in the past. For loyalty programs, you can offer double points on particular products that you know they’ve purchased and enjoyed. 

As you can see, there’s so much you can do with your post-purchase emails. Use your data, personalize them, and give your customers a great customer experience as they move through the tail end of the sales funnel. Do that, and they’ll keep coming back for more.