Equally important to the customer experience during the purchase process is the post-purchase experience. A research on decoding customer lifetime value shows that the fastest growing ecommerce businesses are differentiating themselves from the competition through both acquisition and retention. According to another study, repeat customers spend 67% more than a new customer. Additionally, 61% of small businesses generate more than 51% of their annual revenue from repeat customers rather than new customers.
Given that repeat customers can lead to higher ROI, it makes a lot of sense to focus on improving the post-purchase experience of your customers and encourage them to convert again and again and again…
We have recently published Checkout Usability Reports focused on evaluating the online purchase experience among ecommerce businesses in specific industries. So, expect a blog post on the post-purchase experience of each ecommerce site included in the reports in the coming days.
Let’s start off with the Sports Equipment Checkout Usability Report. The delivery location for all items ordered was in Auckland CBD.
The analysed ecommerce sites from the report
- Sports Distributors – http://www.sportsdistributors.co.nz/
- Stirling Sports – http://www.stirlingsports.co.nz/
- Torpedo7 – http://www.torpedo7.co.nz/
- Rebel Sport – http://www.rebelsport.co.nz/
- Hart Sport – https://www.hartsport.co.nz/
Know more about the Sports Equipment Checkout Usability Report here.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
1. Sports Distributors
The Good
- They sent a confirmation email shortly after the checkout process was completed.
- The company name was on the package (sticker).
- The package included the invoice with the customer service information.
The Bad
- There was no shipping confirmation email received.
- The order arrived after four business days from the order date despite indicating on their website (Shipping information section) that they aim to dispatch the order either the same or next business day.
- No thank you note inside the package.
- No return information or return form.
and The Ugly
- The confirmation email had no brand personality or tone of voice and only had the company logo. It also didn’t include upsells, special discounts, social media links or surveys/ customer feedback.
- There was no company branding on the package.
2. Stirling Sports
The Good
- They sent a confirmation email shortly after the checkout process was completed.
- Their customer representative called me on the same day the item was ordered to verify the delivery address.
- They sent the shipping confirmation email on the same day which contained the tracking information and customer service information.
- They delivered the item the day after the order date – overnight!
The Bad
- There was no name of the company on the package.
and The Ugly
- Similar to Sports Distributors, their confirmation email had no brand personality or tone of voice and only had the company logo. It also didn’t include upsells, special discounts, social media links or surveys/ customer feedback.
- There was no company branding on the package.
3. Torpedo7
The Good
- They sent a confirmation email shortly after the checkout process was completed.
- They also sent the shipping confirmation email on the same day. It contained the tracking information and the brand’s social media channels.
- The company name was on the package.
- Inside the package, there was a thank you note with a $10 voucher code for online purchases over $99.
- An email asking for feedback was sent five business days after the order date.
The Not So Bad (how they quickly turned the bad to good)
- It was indicated in the shipping confirmation email that the order will be delivered within 1-2 business days but it was delivered after five days from the order date.
- So, I sent an email clarifying why the item wasn’t sent the next day. Their customer service representative replied immediately apologising for the delay and explained what happened. She also included a free voucher worth $7.50.
- They sent another email a few days later asking for feedback on how to improve the shopping experience.
and The Ugly
- The confirmation email contained a call-to-action (CTA) to return to the site. While repeat purchases are the ultimate goal of online retailers, it’s important to consider the right timing as customers may not be ready to buy again after they’ve made a purchase.
- Their confirmation email had a better layout than the previous online retailers but there is still room for improvement. The copy can be improved by making it more positive rather than simply saying “thank you for the order”.
- Shipping confirmation email had the the email subject line ‘Invoice from Torpedo 7 Ltd’. It would be good for the subject line to explicitly state that the email was about the shipping or delivery of the item.
- There was no company branding on the package.
4. Rebel Sport
The Good
- They sent a confirmation email shortly after the checkout process was completed.
- They sent an email the day after order date that there was a delay in locating the item. These things happen and it’s good that they gave an update. The next day, they sent another email indicating that the order has been dispatched and the estimated arrival date.
- The company name was on the package (sticker).
- Invoice contained the customer service information, return instructions and return form.
The Bad
- There was no thank you note inside the package.
and The Ugly
- The confirmation email had no brand personality or tone of voice and only had the company logo. It used small fonts that made it quite hard to read.
- It also didn’t include upsells, special discounts, social media links or surveys/ customer feedback.
- There was no company branding on the package.
5. Hart Sport
The Good
- They sent a confirmation email shortly after the checkout process was completed.
The Bad
- There was no indication on the confirmation email nor on their website on the estimated arrival time of the ordered item.
- There was no shipping confirmation email received.
- There was no thank you note inside the package.
and The Ugly
- The confirmation email had no brand personality or tone of voice and only had the company logo.
- It also didn’t include upsells, special discounts, social media links or surveys/ customer feedback.
- There was no company branding on the package.
Now what?…Summary and then some
The five sports equipment ecommerce sites we looked at do the bare minimum around post-purchase customer experience. There are a lot of common bad and ugly practices that they need to improve on such as:
The item was not delivered on time (as indicated in the shipping information).
This can be really frustrating especially if I needed the item right away or I had other things to do than wait for the item to be delivered. What’s worse is not notifying me of delays in delivery. To avoid this, properly indicate the expected arrival date in your confirmation emails and on the website.
The order confirmation email had no brand personality or tone of voice.
Having unbranded and impersonal confirmation emails is a sure-fire way of raining on the parade of your new customers. With first-time purchases, it is important to not only keep them excited and confident about the purchase but also make them a part of your brand.
There was no shipping confirmation email.
Personally, as soon as I receive the order confirmation email, I look forward to getting an email that my order has been shipped. That gets me excited! And I’m pretty sure a lot of online customers feel the same way about receiving their items too.
So why not keep the customers excited that their order is on the way? Be sure to send shipping confirmation emails with useful information such as links to the tracking site or courier company, tracking number, expected delivery date, customer service information and return policies.
The order and shipping confirmation emails didn’t include upsells, discounts, social media account links or surveys/ customer feedback.
Tempt your customers back to your site but do it subtly. Including a call-to-action (CTA) in your confirmation email to continue shopping is an outright hard-sell and might not be a good time right after your customers have made a purchase. Instead, focus on micro-conversions like asking them to follow you on social media or asking for reviews. You can cross sell products but do it it a nice subtle way without being too pushy by adding a ‘you might also like’ recommendation section. Additionally, use discounts and promotions sparingly as this can negatively affect your company’s integrity.
Poor and boring copy on the confirmation emails.
Creating good copy that reflects your brand tone of voice and shares your customers happiness and excitement can reassure them that they made a good decision of buying from you. Include some nice visuals and give them a glimpse of your brand’s humor, these can go a long way to get them in the habit of opening your future emails.
No company name on the package.
Really? Please put your company name on the package as your customers might not be keen on guessing where the package was from.
Again, really?
No company branding on the package.
Gone were the days where shipping and packaging was simply a way for your customers to receive an item ordered online. Today, more and more companies are considering shipping, packaging and presentation to all be part of the post-purchase customer experience. For these companies, it is an effective way to differentiate themselves from the competition and a way to deliver an experience on top of the product. So why not impress your customers and exceed their expectations by providing them a memorable unboxing experience that reflects your overall brand experience.
No thank you note inside the package.
Although you have already said thank you in the order confirmation email, it won’t do any harm if you have another thank you note inserted in the package. You customers would appreciate (I know, I would) that over having just the item invoice and return & exchange form inside the package. This thoughtful gesture can be effective in building customer loyalty.
No return information or return form inside the package.
Having the return information or return form inside the package doesn’t mean that you’re encouraging your customers to return the products. Offering free and convenient returns is actually a good way to persuade first-time customers to buy again. How? If customers know they can return items easily if they change their minds, there are high chances they will buy from you again. It all comes down to making it easy for your customers.
Surely, ecommerce businesses can do better than this?
Do sweat the small stuff… because they matter
Giving proper attention to the little details that matter to your customers can transform your business from good to great. If you’re interested in a digital strategy that considers all aspects of the marketing mix for your product, give us a call today at +64 9 9201740 to discuss how you can deliver amazing customer experience. You can also quickly fill out the form at the bottom of this page and someone from our team will contact you.
