Post-Purchase Email Series
The customer journey isn’t over when they buy from you. Post-purchase emails are your chance to turn a one-time customer into a brand advocate who comes back to you time after time.
More Opens, More Clicks, More Revenue
Sending post-purchase emails is essential for growing your brand. It’s your way of turning a one-time purchaser into a loyal and repeat customer who loves and values your brand. According to research undertaken by Klaviyo, post-purchase messaging receives a 217% higher open rate, over 500% higher click rate and a 90% higher revenue per recipient than your average email campaign. As you’re reaching invested customers at a key point in their journey with your brand, it’s a perfect opportunity to drive revenue from additional sales.
Building Customer Relationships
As its name suggests, this flow is triggered by the placement of an order. Unlike service-based post purchase emails automated from Shopify, keeping your customer up to date with shipping updates, the post-purchase series builds on your relationship. By following up on a customer’s recent purchase, you ensure they feel valued. You can point them in the direction of additional information, sources to find answers to FAQs or your customer service team, and most importantly further products that may be of interest. You can also ask them for that valuable positive customer feedback, which will help you drive more sales.
Here’s an example of a simple post-purchase series:
Email 1
A thank you. It’s best practice to thank your customer for their purchase, reassuring them they made the right choice and that your team is there for them if they have any questions. You should include links to sources of help, blogs or information about warranties if this is appropriate. If this is not, this email could be a simple encouragement to create an account with your brand.
Email 2
A follow up after delivery. Consider any additional information your customer might want, alongside their new product. Share instructions, if they’re necessary; how-to guides, or recommend additional products that complement their existing purchase.
Email 3
A request for feedback. This should be received once the customer has had enough time to experience and use the product - this timing will be product specific. Ask for feedback, or for your customer to leave a review.
Keep It Personal
It’s important to keep this messaging personalised and dynamic, to encourage customers back to your brand and towards another purchase. Consider your product or service, and how your messaging will vary between a first-time buyer, in comparison to a repeat customer, and for a low value order compared to a high value order. Their needs and wants may well vary and you need to reflect that. For a first-time customer, you might want to encourage them to sign up to your newsletter, join a loyalty programme or subscription model, depending on your product offering. For a repeat purchaser, you might want to recognise and thank them for returning to you, update them on their loyalty or VIP status, or ask them for further information.
Timing Is Everything
Another key aspect of the post purchase series is ensuring that you’re accounting for time delays correctly. You will want to ensure the first email of your series does not arrive soon after or before your automated Shopify emails. Considering the standard shipping time, between order and delivery, will allow you to stagger the following email properly. This can get complicated but essentially you want to focus on getting the timing of these emails as accurate as possible, to communicate with your customer at valuable points in time: soon after purchase, soon after delivery, and once they have had just enough time to use and review the product.
Post-purchase flows are essential foundational flows for any ecommerce account, hugely valuable for both revenue driving and customer relationship building. Capitalise on your existing customers by reaching them at key points in their purchase journey, and you’ll see results - for your revenue and brand engagement.
At Eastside Co our email marketing experts are dedicated to creating the best emails and flows for our clients. If you want us to help you unlock the power of a well-implemented email strategy, get in touch and we’ll get started!
