Why invest in post-sales email?
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 10:46 am
The relationship between a consumer and your brand doesn’t end after they receive the product at home. After all, customer loyalty is one of the most important steps to maintaining the sustainability of your business. But how can post-sale emails support your success?
Read more:
>> Payment methods: which ones to offer and how can they help? >> International e-commerces: what can we learn from these giants
Remember: in a sea of competitors, you caught this buyer's attention and managed to guide them to closing the sale. Therefore, they expect some type of frequent and differentiated communication from you. And the post-purchase moment defines whether your brand will become a reference in this customer's routine.
If you’re interested in learning how you can make the most of this time after shoppers have moved past checkout, stick around. In this article, we’ll cover post-sale email flows and how you can use your campaigns to delight your customers.
Content
How post-sale email works
1. Interest in the post-sale email
2. Building trust
3. Long-term relationship
How to segment your post-sale emails
7 types of post-sale emails
1. Order confirmation
2. Shipping confirmation
3. Delivery confirmation
4. Thank you
5. Educational or guidance
6. Loyalty programs
7. Cross-sell or upsell
How post-sale email works
In short, a post-sale email is one that a company sends to customers after they purchase a product or service. It is a type of follow-up email that generally includes important information about the newly purchased product, but can also include other promotions or educational content with the aim of improving retention and encouraging the next conversion .
For example, order confirmation, shipping confirmation, and delivery status emails are all transactional post-purchase emails. But you can also include a thank you email or an order review request email in your post-purchase automation flow.
The timeline and content of these automations will also vary based on how much time has passed since the customer made their purchase. It’s best to send an order confirmation email right away, but it’s important to wait until the product is delivered and the customer has had time to use it before sending an email asking for a review.
The post-sale email is a great time to focus on optimizing the customer experience. While you can use this email to make an offer, the focus here shouldn’t be on generating additional sales.
Below, we’ve rounded up three of the main reasons why post-sale email flows are so important:
1. Interest in the post-sale email
Until recently, producing and sending emails consumed a lot of resources, data and connections from companies. But the accelerated digital transformation has democratized access to tools that simplify this entire process.
But that’s not all. Customers’ access to online shopping has also been growing exponentially, which has led to a much greater interest on the part of consumers in brands’ efforts to please them.
2. Building trust
Customers see companies like Amazon as a benchmark for a successful purchasing journey. However, a small or medium-sized e-commerce business does not automatically generate this level of trust.
This is where post-sale emails come into play . They are a valuable way to communicate with buyers not only when things are going well, but also when there are any delivery issues , for example.
Imagine that a storm hits the city where your main distribution center is located, flooding the entire region. You must inform customers that their deliveries will be impacted. This way, the post-sale email becomes a great ally for your brand to convey security and peace of mind to consumers.
3. Long-term relationship
As we’ve already mentioned, your post-sale email provides your customers with the most important information about their order. But it can also serve another purpose: you can use it to tell your customers more about your brand and products, helping them make the decision to buy from you again.
Following up with customers after they make a purchase is undoubtedly a very effective way to increase their loyalty to your company. Therefore, not sending this type of email is a missed opportunity.
This is a mistake that is unfortunately still very common among online stores. This is because many brands focus only on the pre-purchase experience and fail to understand the importance of the post-purchase experience in building customer loyalty.
When well planned and executed, post-sale email flows help to:
Encourage people to return to your website;
Establish links to carry out a new order;
Ensure customer satisfaction;
Collect customer feedback to show that you care about their opinion;
Create an excellent shopping experience.
How to segment your post-sale emails
Practicing good email marketing segmentation habits is important for all your automations. There is no debate about that.
And it’s no different with post-sale president email lists emails . After all, no one deserves to receive exactly the same emails for every purchase they make with your brand. Segment your base so that buyers receive different emails for each closed sale.
With the first purchase, you can share your gratitude for their support of your company. With the second purchase, you can tell them what they can expect from the product they just bought. Finally, with the third purchase, you can present a loyalty program and invite them to follow you on social media. And so on.
A good way to start segmenting your customer base to send a post-sale email is to separate new customers from returning ones. After all, newer buyers may need a little nudge to join a loyalty program, for example, while a simple “thanks for coming back” may be more appropriate for older customers.
You should also consider sending special messages to those who are considered your VIP customers . The rule here is to reward them by giving them something that is, in fact, interesting to them and that enhances their experience with your brand. For example, for a wine e-commerce fan, it would be lovely to receive a champagne cooler or personalized glasses.
Also, remember not to overwhelm your customers with too many messages. To ensure that they aren’t inundated with a barrage of emails, consider the following questions:
This customer is also registered in yournewsletter? If so, will he receive this message plus the post-sale email within a short period of time?
You are paying attention to the customer journey from start to finish, starting with sending awelcome email?
In the case ofcart abandonment, is the client within a specific automation flow for these cases?
Is this the customer's first purchase from your brand or are they a returning customer?
If you are a returning customer, are you already part of a loyalty program?
Do your purchases qualify you to be part of the VIP customer group?
It’s crucial to use the data you collect about each customer to personalize your messages. As soon as your customer places an order, you have a wealth of data that can help you create unique content that’s relevant to each shopping experience.
This means you can, for example, divide your emails by product categories. This way, you show your customers that you care about their wants and needs, creating strong ties in the post-sale relationship.
7 types of post-sale emails
Transactional emails, such as shipping confirmation, order confirmation, and delivery confirmation emails, are basic post-sale automations that every online store should have set up in their email blasts. These emails typically contain details such as the customer’s order number and receipt, as well as information about the product, shipping, payment method, and customer support contact details.
But just because this is standard doesn’t mean you have to stop there. Go beyond the basics to make these newsletter emails even more engaging. Consider what other offers, programs, or incentives might make sense to promote to customers immediately after they make a purchase or shortly after they receive their item.
The benefits of this type of email are nearly endless: they can encourage repeat orders, act as a cross-sell or upsell opportunity, increase word-of- mouth marketing , and establish your brand as a trustworthy company that genuinely cares about each and every customer.
Read more:
>> Payment methods: which ones to offer and how can they help? >> International e-commerces: what can we learn from these giants
Remember: in a sea of competitors, you caught this buyer's attention and managed to guide them to closing the sale. Therefore, they expect some type of frequent and differentiated communication from you. And the post-purchase moment defines whether your brand will become a reference in this customer's routine.
If you’re interested in learning how you can make the most of this time after shoppers have moved past checkout, stick around. In this article, we’ll cover post-sale email flows and how you can use your campaigns to delight your customers.
Content
How post-sale email works
1. Interest in the post-sale email
2. Building trust
3. Long-term relationship
How to segment your post-sale emails
7 types of post-sale emails
1. Order confirmation
2. Shipping confirmation
3. Delivery confirmation
4. Thank you
5. Educational or guidance
6. Loyalty programs
7. Cross-sell or upsell
How post-sale email works
In short, a post-sale email is one that a company sends to customers after they purchase a product or service. It is a type of follow-up email that generally includes important information about the newly purchased product, but can also include other promotions or educational content with the aim of improving retention and encouraging the next conversion .
For example, order confirmation, shipping confirmation, and delivery status emails are all transactional post-purchase emails. But you can also include a thank you email or an order review request email in your post-purchase automation flow.
The timeline and content of these automations will also vary based on how much time has passed since the customer made their purchase. It’s best to send an order confirmation email right away, but it’s important to wait until the product is delivered and the customer has had time to use it before sending an email asking for a review.
The post-sale email is a great time to focus on optimizing the customer experience. While you can use this email to make an offer, the focus here shouldn’t be on generating additional sales.
Below, we’ve rounded up three of the main reasons why post-sale email flows are so important:
1. Interest in the post-sale email
Until recently, producing and sending emails consumed a lot of resources, data and connections from companies. But the accelerated digital transformation has democratized access to tools that simplify this entire process.
But that’s not all. Customers’ access to online shopping has also been growing exponentially, which has led to a much greater interest on the part of consumers in brands’ efforts to please them.
2. Building trust
Customers see companies like Amazon as a benchmark for a successful purchasing journey. However, a small or medium-sized e-commerce business does not automatically generate this level of trust.
This is where post-sale emails come into play . They are a valuable way to communicate with buyers not only when things are going well, but also when there are any delivery issues , for example.
Imagine that a storm hits the city where your main distribution center is located, flooding the entire region. You must inform customers that their deliveries will be impacted. This way, the post-sale email becomes a great ally for your brand to convey security and peace of mind to consumers.
3. Long-term relationship
As we’ve already mentioned, your post-sale email provides your customers with the most important information about their order. But it can also serve another purpose: you can use it to tell your customers more about your brand and products, helping them make the decision to buy from you again.
Following up with customers after they make a purchase is undoubtedly a very effective way to increase their loyalty to your company. Therefore, not sending this type of email is a missed opportunity.
This is a mistake that is unfortunately still very common among online stores. This is because many brands focus only on the pre-purchase experience and fail to understand the importance of the post-purchase experience in building customer loyalty.
When well planned and executed, post-sale email flows help to:
Encourage people to return to your website;
Establish links to carry out a new order;
Ensure customer satisfaction;
Collect customer feedback to show that you care about their opinion;
Create an excellent shopping experience.
How to segment your post-sale emails
Practicing good email marketing segmentation habits is important for all your automations. There is no debate about that.
And it’s no different with post-sale president email lists emails . After all, no one deserves to receive exactly the same emails for every purchase they make with your brand. Segment your base so that buyers receive different emails for each closed sale.
With the first purchase, you can share your gratitude for their support of your company. With the second purchase, you can tell them what they can expect from the product they just bought. Finally, with the third purchase, you can present a loyalty program and invite them to follow you on social media. And so on.
A good way to start segmenting your customer base to send a post-sale email is to separate new customers from returning ones. After all, newer buyers may need a little nudge to join a loyalty program, for example, while a simple “thanks for coming back” may be more appropriate for older customers.
You should also consider sending special messages to those who are considered your VIP customers . The rule here is to reward them by giving them something that is, in fact, interesting to them and that enhances their experience with your brand. For example, for a wine e-commerce fan, it would be lovely to receive a champagne cooler or personalized glasses.
Also, remember not to overwhelm your customers with too many messages. To ensure that they aren’t inundated with a barrage of emails, consider the following questions:
This customer is also registered in yournewsletter? If so, will he receive this message plus the post-sale email within a short period of time?
You are paying attention to the customer journey from start to finish, starting with sending awelcome email?
In the case ofcart abandonment, is the client within a specific automation flow for these cases?
Is this the customer's first purchase from your brand or are they a returning customer?
If you are a returning customer, are you already part of a loyalty program?
Do your purchases qualify you to be part of the VIP customer group?
It’s crucial to use the data you collect about each customer to personalize your messages. As soon as your customer places an order, you have a wealth of data that can help you create unique content that’s relevant to each shopping experience.
This means you can, for example, divide your emails by product categories. This way, you show your customers that you care about their wants and needs, creating strong ties in the post-sale relationship.
7 types of post-sale emails
Transactional emails, such as shipping confirmation, order confirmation, and delivery confirmation emails, are basic post-sale automations that every online store should have set up in their email blasts. These emails typically contain details such as the customer’s order number and receipt, as well as information about the product, shipping, payment method, and customer support contact details.
But just because this is standard doesn’t mean you have to stop there. Go beyond the basics to make these newsletter emails even more engaging. Consider what other offers, programs, or incentives might make sense to promote to customers immediately after they make a purchase or shortly after they receive their item.
The benefits of this type of email are nearly endless: they can encourage repeat orders, act as a cross-sell or upsell opportunity, increase word-of- mouth marketing , and establish your brand as a trustworthy company that genuinely cares about each and every customer.