In an online world that is dominated by expectations of Amazon-level customer service, pricing & shipping times, it's incredibly important to keep your customers in the loop throughout their entire journey.
While that level of service is unrealistic for most small brands, here's a comprehensive guide on how to keep in constant contact with your customers to assure their buying journey on your website is a complete success!
Before the Sale
A lot of communication can happen before the sale even takes place. And I don't mean cold outreach, begging for customers to buy your product.
Use the following methods on your website to make it clear to customers what to expect when buying from you (while incentivizing them to checkout quicker).
Newsletter Popups:
Offer a one-time % off your products in exchange for an email address. It's a win-win situation, as you get their email address (and can continue to market to them for years to come) and they get a discount code to use right away! Two apps we use and love are Privy & Seguno
Live Chat - This is an incredibly effective way to chat with customers as they are directly on your website, answering questions live and helping them through the checkout process. Shopify has their own Live Chat app that we strongly recommend.
Product Page Banners:
Underneath the "Add to Cart" button, we like to insert banners clarifying expectations (such as "free shipping for orders over $50" or "Ships within 1 business day"). See an image example beneath this bullet list.
Welcome Email Series:
This one goes hand in hand with a newsletter popup. We recommend a 3-email series welcoming people to your brand, each with a discount code that gets slightly bigger the longer people don't purchase. For example, the first email could be 5%, the second 10% & the third 15%. Use these emails to build your brand and personal connection to the customer. We recommend using Shopify's Email App to make this happen!
Increase Cart Value with Free Shipping:
A great way to increase cart value is by offering free shipping after a certain threshold (such as $50). You can display real-time updates on this threshold using an app we developed called X Away from Shipping!
During the Sale
Quick Fulfillment:
Needless to say, fulfilling your products quickly can help big time with customer retention. People love getting that "Shipped" notification as quickly as possible. It validates their purchase and lets them feel another sense of dopamine before the "buyer's remorse" kicks in.
Provide updates on delays:
Obviously, if there is a delay of any kind, email your customer immediately. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting and waiting for that shipping email, only for it to never come. People are more understanding than you may expect, and a personal touch goes a long ways to let them know you're aware of the delay and that you're doing everything you can to fix it.
Order Shipped Email Series:
This is built into Shopify, but having an "Order Shipped" email funnel is an easy, automated way to keep your customer up to date. It provides them with a shipping notification or tracking number, giving them a better idea as to when their new purchase will arrive.
Speaking of shipping, we love Pirate Ship, a free shipping solution that integrates seamlessly with Shopify. Their rates are incredible, the process is easy and allows you to quickly bulk print, edit and much more.
Auto Opt-In Customer Emails for Newsletter:
If you haven't already, we like to make sure our customers are automatically opted in to email marketing when they check out. This will help your newsletter grow substantially while providing great value to your customers.
You can learn how to do this with the following video tutorial:
After the Sale
Review Email Series:
Send a custom review email series to customers after they've made a purchase asking for a review. Not only will this bring people back to your website, but it will also get you more reviews, and some people even choose to attach additional discount codes in these emails, meaning you get even more sales! Make sure to send these emails (we recommend 2 - 3 or until your customer leaves a review) 2 - 3 weeks after your product has been received by the customer.
We recommend using Shopify's Email App to send these emails!
Winback Email Series:
Like the Review Series above, we recommend sending a series of emails several months after an initial purchase is made. This helps remind people that you still exist, asking your customers to come back for more!
Of course, we again recommend using Shopify's Email App to send this series.
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It's highly unlikely you're going to fulfill orders as quickly as Amazon, or have the customer service capabilities of Zappos. But by clearly clarifying expectations and keeping your customers in the loop throughout their buying journey, they'll feel heard and important to your brand.
We build all of the above funnels for brands who hire us to build their website. Interested in hiring BrandStack to build your website? Let's talk!