How’s your shipping doing? Is it a quick FB hump & dump and then a 4-week radio silence till delivery?

Or are people kept in the loop, feel the excitement of the soon-to-arrive product, and then pampered and spoiled as a VIP to encourage 2nd-time purchase?

There are several strategies of course, and they all have a place.

Firstly, it’s important to understand your customer. Are they impulse buyers that buy the next hot thing in your general store? Or are they niche audience with a very exact pain/problem that you are solving with your products? (think beauty creams, or dog food, or men’s jewelry)

Now, the nature of your audience (and therefore your business model) will determine the potential of your repeat purchase rate.

#1?

If it’s impulse buyers buying from a general store, it will be REALLY hard to get them to buy again. It’s just a nature of the business. Not saying you can’t do anything, but it’s good to keep it in mind,

#2?

However, if you’re doing a brand store, or sell to a niche audience, repeat buyers are something you should nourish. After all, getting a person to buy again is much cheaper than getting them to buy for the first time. A list of buyers is ALWAYS a much stronger list.

So how do we nurture those 1st-time buyers into repeat buyers?

Firstly, think about what happens to your customers after they press that “place order” button?

How does the order confirmation email look like?

Are there any shipping updates?

Do you use apps such as aftership?

How’s your customer support doing?

How long does it take for the package to arrive?

How does the package look and feel like, is there anything else inside of the package?

What happens after, do they receive anything special, is there a thank you note on the way?

Now, this is just a bunch of questions that are supposed to stimulate your brain juices in the right direction.

Figuring this out is definitely not easy (and I don’t have all the answers), but it will bring you customers for life, or at least a long time. Getting 1-time buyers only from general stores can be a great cash tree, but it won’t last forever. Brands last a lot longer.

Now, since I’m an email marketing expert, I’ll give you a cheap email trick.

Use order updates, to sell more stuff. Transactional emails have a very high open rate by definition (since people wonder where their order is), so make sure you use the attention they give you.

Keep in mind, that if people don’t allow marketing, you need to look into whether you’re legally able to add that up-sell in the emails… Anyway here’s a mock up of subtle up-sells you can add to different order updates:

?The related item up-sell works best in a thank you email:

Day 0 (buying) – Thank you email – “You’re awesome, thanks so much bla bla…
BTW – this is a related item that 67% of other customers bought in addition, and here it is for 30% off. You in?”

?The open hook works on any order update:

Your order has been processed. It’s just been dumped on a silver platter, and there’s a pelican flying with it towards your destination…
BTW – I’ll be sending you something very special very soon – keep on the lookout.

?The “Sharing is caring” works best after delivery, but also anytime in between:

Imagine how awesome it will be having your new product etc…
BTW – sharing is caring. Wouldn’t you love to put a big smile on the lips of a friend or a loved one? Why not order the same for them… We’ll also throw in a lovely 25% off because you’re so awesome…

There you go, that’s all for now. How’s your shipping process? Are you proud of it, does it need more work? What about people with large volume, what do you struggle with?

Hope this helped,
Bostjan