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Are you wondering how you can provide your consumers with a post-purchase experience so memorable that they’ll come back to buy from you?
You’re not alone.
Both market leaders and emerging e-commerce stores have begun investing in enhancing their post-purchase experience, as it can help boost consumer loyalty and increase lifetime value.
In this article, I’ll go over a few actionable tips on how you can improve your store’s post-purchase customer experience, as well as a few tools you can use to do so.
TL;DR
Before you start digging and implementing post-purchase experience tips from this or other guides, you’ll need to know what your existing post-purchase experience looks like.
If I were you, I’d start by mapping out the post-purchase experience with:
➡️ Suppose you don’t have much internal data and expertise on your existing post-purchase experience (e.g., you’re just stepping into your role).
In that case, you can survey your existing customers for their post-purchase experience.
The goal will be to search for their pain points to discover where they believe the issue was with their post-purchase experience.
💡 You might also find out issues that you were not aware of before, such as poor customer service or issues with the carriers.
Accurate delivery communication should be your #1 priority.
Without consumers knowing when their product will arrive, none of your fancy emails and SMS will make sense for them.
In a recent study conducted by us, 59% of people surveyed said they want detailed shipping updates.
If you're using an untracked carrier service, you're likely to receive a high volume of WISMO calls.
You want to:
Some brands then take it to the next level: they use branded tracking pages instead of the typical raw carrier pages that you can find.
Tools like AfterShip and ZigZag Global let you reinforce your brand’s identity and reduce confusion.
When it comes to your return and exchange policy, it should first and foremost meet the UK’s legal rights of a 14-day cooling-off period from delivery notification to cancel, and then 14 days to physically return the product with a refund due within 14 days of receipt.
After that, you can only exceed and make that rule better suit your consumers to improve their post-purchase experience.
You can:
➡️ ZigZag lets you offer free in-store returns via in-store drop-off kiosks that are hassle-free for your shoppers to use in your store.
Our kiosks can help you slash shipping costs, boost foot traffic to your store, and give consumers more ways to get a refund.
It’s also important to mention to consumers if return fees are going to apply if they’re to return their product.
For example, paid returns have recently become a trend, as a means to battle wardrobing and staging.
💡 If you’re going to go the refunds-only route, make sure to process the refunds quickly. The speed and transparency here will help you build trust.
Next up, you want to figure out why some consumers have been returning products in the first place.
You can use your return management software’s return analytics to figure out the common reasons why customers are dissatisfied with their products to the point where they want to return them.
➡️ This will also help you detect suspicious return behaviour from your existing customers and reduce your return count in the long run.
You want to keep your customers engaged after purchasing a product to try and encourage a repeat purchase.
Here are a few reward programmes you can set up to improve loyalty in the long run:
For instance, I’ve seen some UK fashion stores email exclusive discounts to “VIP club” members post-purchase.
💡 Even a simple “10% off your next order” email sent a week after delivery can drive a second purchase.
24/7 customer support has become the norm with many of the large retailers on the market, to the point where having efficient customer service has become the industry standard.
There are multiple ways to approach it, such as setting up a live chat with human reps who will be waiting to handle queries, an AI chatbot that has been pre-trained on some common questions people might ask, or a combination of both.
You can also provide a clear SLA, such as a 24-hour response guarantee, in order to let the consumers know that they can expect someone from your team to reach out to them soon enough.
It’s not just about the software: you also want to create a memorable unboxing experience when the parcel arrives at your consumers.
A branded, gift-like unboxing experience can delight shoppers and better reinforce your brand loyalty.
Instead of just opening a plain box (as if it has arrived at a construction site), it can feel like unpackaging a gift from a dear friend who cares about you and has put the effort in.
You can use custom-coloured boxes or bags, tissue paper, stickers and/or ribbons to create anticipation in the minds of your customers and step it up even further by adding a small personal touch, such as a handwritten ‘’thank you’’ note.
It can also be a coupon for the next purchase to make the customer feel the exclusivity that your brand has to offer.
And the data is here to back this up: studies show that around 40% of consumers share pictures of ‘’gift-like’’ unboxings on social media.
After delivery, you can ask your consumers for order feedback or reviews.
A quick survey, such as “rate your delivery experience,” can help you catch issues early on.
For example, Shipup helps you detect dissatisfaction with post-delivery questionnaires that are sent automatically upon receipt of the package.
The best post-purchase experience tools on the market include ZigZag Global and Shipup with their on-brand tracking, analytics, and return options.
Let’s go over the 2 tools in more detail:
ZigZag Global offers merchant carrier accounts, wide international carrier integrations and advanced returns analytics to help you offset costs and uncover why shoppers return.
Our tool’s custom returns portal and single-click Shopify integration make setup fast and keep capital in the business via return options like free in-store returns, return to store credit, and paid returns.
Here’s what you can expect from ZigZag:
Shipup centralises delivery updates into branded tracking pages and automates notifications across email, SMS and messaging channels.
The platform’s strength is in creating a smooth tracking experience that reduces support tickets and increases engagement.
Here’s what you can expect from Shipup:
Narvar provides an end-to-end post-purchase platform that combines tracking, returns management, and a self-service customer portal to lift retention.
The platform focuses on personalisation, notifications, and detailed reporting to improve post-purchase KPIs. It's not a solution often chosen by retailers in the UK or medium-sized retailers and smaller.
Here’s what you can expect from Narvar:
With Narvar’s enterprise-grade solution also comes enterprise-grade pricing. Discover how the platform calculates its pricing and how much users have reported that Narvar costs in our comprehensive guide.
The post-purchase experience is every interaction a customer has with your brand after a sale, including tracking, delivery, support, returns and follow-up communications.
The post-purchase experience shapes satisfaction, reviews and likelihood to repurchase.
The post-purchase experience matters because it directly affects retention, trust and lifetime value, as poor post-purchase service can lead to lost customers and negative reviews.
The post-purchase experience also creates marketing ‘’moments’’, such as happy customers sharing unboxing, reviews and referrals.
Built for retailers who operate globally, ZigZag offers an all-in-one platform that is designed to take over any online store’s post-purchase experience.
If you’re an e-commerce leader looking for a returns management platform that offers:
Then you can book a demo to learn more about ZigZag Global.
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