The e-commerce landscape is constantly evolving, which requires entrepreneurs to adjust quickly. Post-purchase experience, which was a trend only a few years ago, is now a primary consideration for every e-commerce brand.
According to research by Simplicity DX, average customer acquisition costs (CAC) went up 222% from $9 to $29 in the nine years between 2013 and 2022. With online shopping the preferred method of shopping for most customers now, this trend shows no sign of slowing down. It is going to be more expensive to bring in new customers.
Faced with this reality, brands need to do all they can to retain their customers by offering them an after-sales experience worth their time. Simply put, post-purchase is the new customer retention strategy.
What is the Post-Purchase Experience?
Post-purchase experience refers to a customer’s feelings and interactions with a brand after making a purchase. It can be regarded as positive or negative, depending on how the customer feels once the transaction is complete and the good or service is delivered.
It is important to understand that this does not refer to an isolated aspect of a business but the amalgamation of several factors including product delivery, customer support, product packaging, payment convenience, and follow-up communication among other things that the customer considers important.
The post-purchase experience is a critical factor that affects the customer’s satisfaction with a brand and its product or service. Customer-centric brands invest in multiple strategies to encourage repeat purchases, and referrals, and foster a positive brand image.
Why is Post-Purchase Experience Important?
The reasons why brands undertake initiatives to provide an exceptional post-purchase experience to customers are as follows.
Decreases Customer Confusion
Buyer remorse, information overload, and lack of familiarity with how your brand conducts business are all factors that contribute to customers having questions or uncertainties about a product or service after making a purchase. Brands with a seamless post-purchase experience provide customers with clear instructions and helpful resources that help them address any issues they may have immediately.
A Zendesk survey shows that 67% of customers would rather serve themselves autonomously than contact a brand’s customer support. Thus, an effective strategy should provide customers with the comprehensive tools and information they need to use a product or service independently without having to contact customer support. This strategy also helps to reduce the strain on support teams.
Encourages Repeat Purchases
It costs businesses much less to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Providing an excellent post-purchase experience is key to dependable customer loyalty and high retention rates.
When customers enjoy a smooth, hassle-free experience after making a purchase, it leaves a positive impression on them, which improves the chances of them returning to buy from your brand in the future. It can also turn your customers into advocates for your business through positive word-of-mouth recommendations and referrals to close friends. This helps earn your business more loyal customers and drives repeat business.
Brands that prioritize and consistently deliver an exceptional experience foster long-term relationships with their customers and increase their lifetime value.
Improve Brand Image
When a business actively addresses customer concerns, it significantly reduces the likelihood of customer dissatisfaction. This, in turn, leads to fewer negative reviews on public review platforms like Trustpilot, enhancing the brand’s image.
Elements of Post-Purchase Experience
Although every business will have its unique approach, the following are elements that each brand should aim to provide customers to boost post-purchase experience.
- Order Confirmation and Thank You Message: Order confirmation messages let the customer know their order has been received and what the next steps are. Adding a thank you message shows appreciation for the customer’s choosing your business.
- Real-time Shipping and Tracking Updates: Real-time shipping and tracking updates eliminate customer anxiety and let them know the whereabouts of their orders.
- Delivery Experience: All customer orders must be delivered on time as promised to delight the customer and avoid a frustrating delivery experience.
- Packaging and Unboxing: Using beautifully designed packaging adds to the appeal of the product and enhances the customer’s experience when they unbox the order.
- Product Use and Satisfaction: Customers express satisfaction when a product they ordered meets their quality and functionality expectations. Additionally, providing clear use instructions helps to enhance their experience.
- Feedback Solicitation: Collecting feedback from customers about their experience with the product allows your brand to gain insights that could help improve the product and the post-purchase experience.
- Returns and Exchange Processing: Providing a hassle-free returns and exchange process enhances the customer’s experience and shows your brand’s commitment to their satisfaction, even if they don’t like a product.
- Loyalty Programs and Follow-ups: Incentivize customers to buy again from your brand by offering loyalty programs they can join easily. Also, follow up on them after purchase to provide product usage tips.
- Customer Support: Ensure that your customers can easily contact your support team with any questions or concerns they have before, during, and after a purchase. Implementing a robust contact center solution can greatly enhance this process.
How to Build the Best Post-Purchase Experience
To provide the best post-purchase experience, your brand needs to track the metrics that matter, enhance customer engagement, invest in the right technology, and ensure high-quality services.
Assessing the Post-Purchase Experience
In building the best post-purchase experience, it is important to monitor the following critical metrics to identify customer pain points and optimization opportunities.
| Post-purchase Metrics | Definition |
| Customer Satisfaction Surveys | These are surveys that ask customers to share feedback and rate their experience with your product or service. |
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | The net promoter score gauges customer loyalty and satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10. |
| Customer Support Metrics | These metrics show your support team’s performance on issues such as speed of answering questions, first-contact resolution rate, and customer satisfaction. |
| Return and Exchange Rates | The return rate refers to the percentage of items customers return for a refund compared to the number of purchases made. The exchange rate is the number of returned products exchanged for another. |
| Repeat Purchase Rates | The repeat purchase rate tracks the percentage of customers who return to buy an additional product or pay for a service after the initial transaction. |
Enhancing Customer Engagement at Critical Touchpoints
Your shoppers deserve seamless and memorable experiences at different critical touchpoints with your brand. The key to such satisfactory engagement is mapping out the post-purchase customer journey through the following.
1. Order Confirmation and Thank You Message
The order confirmation message sets the tone for your customer’s post-purchase journey. The first step here is to reassure the customer that their order was placed successfully by sending them a customized order confirmation message.
Although the main purpose of a thank you note is to show gratitude, it also helps to reinforce a positive sentiment towards your brand when you send it. Adding order details and estimated time of arrival information to these messages builds trust with the customer and enhances transparency.
2. Shipping and Tracking Updates
As a brand, providing real-time shipping and tracking updates helps keep your customers informed about the status of their orders and reduces their anxiety and uncertainty, which often escalate into negative reviews if left unchecked.
By eliminating blurriness in the delivery process, you empower your customers to actively participate in the post-purchase journey. Your brand also demonstrates its commitment to customer satisfaction by proactively communicating any delays or issues in advance.
3. Unboxing and the Initial Impression
The product unboxing process is crucial for any brand to make a lasting impression on the customer. When packages are thoughtfully designed and personalized, they help evoke excitement about the product, resulting in customer delight.
You can also amplify your brand’s visibility and help foster a sense of community among customers online by encouraging them to share their unboxing experiences on social media and tagging your business.
4. Product Usage Support
With the product unboxed and ready for use, your brand needs a strategy for providing usage support. This initiative illustrates your brand’s commitment to customer success, which bodes well with customers.
Create tutorial videos, and instructionals and provide comprehensive guides that empower the customer to derive maximum value from the product they just bought. Also, address common pain points and frequently asked questions proactively to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
5. Feedback Solicitation
By actively soliciting feedback, your brand showcases its commitment to customer-centricity and continuous improvement. You need to create avenues such as customer surveys, reviews, and direct communication channels that give the customer a voice and allow them to contribute to future products and service design.
When customers feel a brand acknowledges and acts upon their feedback, it fosters in them a sense of partnership and investment in the success of a business.
6. Customer Support Interactions
Customer support plays a crucial role in resolving any issues and concerns that may arise after purchase. By providing timely and personalized assistance, your brand can empower customers to overcome any challenges and navigate the post-purchase journey seamlessly.
Brands should invest in recruiting and training knowledgeable and empathetic support staff who can listen to customer problems and help resolve them. Investing in technology, including AI-powered virtual calling systems and chatbots can also help customers get support around the clock while helping you learn more about their behaviors to help improve your customer service.
Maximizing the Effectiveness of Post-Purchase Experience Tools
Providing customers with a unique experience is easier by leveraging different tools tailored to streamline various functions. The most common tools designed for enhancing the post-purchase experience for customers include the following.
1. Email Marketing Tool
An email marketing tool is a must-have in the post-purchase stage of the customer journey. This tool allows you to create personalized campaigns to engage with the customer. You can send them order confirmation emails, shipping updates, and follow-up messages that keep them informed and excited about their purchase. Such emails stand out even more when they incorporate dynamic content that recommends other products the customer may love.
2. Order Tracking Page
A branded tracking page can help you avoid the mishap of redirecting them to a third-party website to track the shipping progress of their orders. By leveraging it, you can provide a user-friendly interface where customers can easily track the status of their shipments at any time.
This tracking page can be tailored to match your website’s theme and ensure an on-brand tracking experience. It also enhances the post-purchase experience with smart product recommendations that enable your brand to upsell and cross-sell customers as they track their packages.
3. Prompt Delivery Notification
Proactive notifications are crucial for informing customers when their orders have been dispatched and are out for delivery. They also provide an estimated delivery date to help manage their expectations and reduce any anxiety after purchase.
By utilizing automated shipment notifications, you can effectively keep your customers informed by customizing the timeline with specific notification triggers. This feature allows you to align each notification with your brand’s identity through customizable templates. Moreover, the system enhances operational efficiency by instantly alerting your team to any delivery issues, ensuring a swift response to maintain customer satisfaction.
4. Return Management Software
Return management software, also known as reverse logistics software, helps businesses manage product returns, exchanges, and repairs. It automates return handling while enhancing efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Use returns management systems (RMS) to authorize returns quickly, track returns, manage inventory, and communicate with your customers. These functionalities enable your brand to provide a satisfactory customer experience after the purchase is complete.
5. Customer Feedback System
A customer feedback system consists of tools and processes such as surveys, feedback forms, social media monitoring, and review sites that a business uses to collect customer feedback on its products or services.
Such a system is important for understanding customer sentiment regarding their experience after purchase. Using the feedback collected, your brand can gain valuable insights on opportunities for improvement and how it can enhance the overall customer experience.
6. Customer Loyalty System
Customer loyalty systems are designed to help businesses offer and manage loyalty programs that reward their most frequent customers. These systems come with built-in systems that allow your brand to incentivize customers with discounts, freebies, and exclusive access to services, new products, or events.
With a customer loyalty system, you can learn more about your customer’s shopping habits and tailor a reward system that keeps them coming back to buy or engage with your business after the initial purchase.
7. Omnichannel Support
Omnichannel support is customer service that is available to customers across different platforms where they interact with your business. Exceptional post-purchase customer support is consistent and timely across multiple channels including social media, email, SMS, live chat, and phone.
This type of support gives customers confidence that your brand is there to help them reap maximum value from your product or service. It also gains their trust, as they know they can get assistance with any challenges they encounter.
How Shein’s Order Tracking Services Reduce WISMO Inquiries?
Order tracking plays a crucial role in enhancing the post-purchase experience for customers. It boosts shipping transparency, sets the right expectations, and reduces WISMO (Where Is My Order?) inquiries, ensuring top-notch customer satisfaction.
Shein, the world’s renowned fast-fashion brand, had previously faced challenges with an increasing number of WISMO tickets as its business grew. To address the negative customer experience, the apparel brand turned to TrackingMore, an all-in-one order tracking platform.
Shein used TrackingMore to provide reliable end-to-end order tracking, which resulted in a 5X increase in customer service bandwidth and a 60% decrease in WISMO queries.
Learn more about the Customer Success Story of Shein >>>
FAQs
What factors are associated with the post-purchase phase of the shopping experience?
The critical elements of this shopping phase that affect the customer experience include product quality, delivery experience, customer service, customer communication, and ease of returns and exchanges.
When is a buyer most likely to experience post-purchase dissonance?
A buyer is most likely to experience post-purchase dissonance if the product’s quality and performance fall short of what a brand promised to deliver. It may also arise from external influences including opinions of friends and online reviews about the product or service they bought. Customers who bump into alternatives are also likely to experience some level of dissatisfaction.
How can digital marketers create a positive post-purchase experience and encourage customer loyalty?
Digital marketers can drive customer loyalty by creating educational content that helps customers maximize the value of a service or product. They can also ensure seamless, consistent, and on-brand customer support through multiple channels. Continuously gathering customer feedback helps improve the customer’s experience.
Conclusion
How your brand makes the customer feel after a purchase, while waiting for a delivery, and when using a service or product is crucial for ensuring a positive experience. Investing in initiatives such as returns and exchanges, shipment tracking, beautiful and sustainable product packaging, and professional and empathetic customer support increases your customers’ satisfaction and gains their loyalty.
The TrackingMore team shares insights on logistics tracking technology, industry trends, and e-commerce logistics solutions to help businesses streamline shipment tracking and enhance customer post-purchase experience.
