Great Post-Purchase Communication Is Essential

Post-purchase communication is a key to continued customer patronage as well as to long-term brand loyalty. Poor follow-up can be quite detrimental to customer relationships. So, how can we do better?

Alexandra Sheehan, writing for Shopify, offers several observations and tips to enhance post-purchase communication:

“Post-purchase communication is an essential facet of any marketing and customer retention strategy. 50% of consumers feel buyer’s remorse after a purchase; so this is your opportunity to help rationalize the purchase and ease their worries. Focusing on and building relationships with your existing customers is a cost-effective way to boost sales. Acquiring new customers costs five times as much as it costs to retain existing customers. A new customer is 5%–20% likely to make a purchase, while existing customers are 60%–70%. Increasing customer retention rates by 5% leads to an increase in profits of at least 25%.”

“Effective post-purchase communications contribute to higher customer retention rates. It keeps the conversation going with your customers after they leave your store, strengthens the relationship with your brand, and helps inspire brand loyalty. From E-mail receipts to customer support, here are some post-purchase communication strategies and examples you can steal for your business.”

 
Click the image to read Sheehan’s many suggestions for energizing post-purchase communication and building stronger customer relations.
 

Image Credit: Get Vero

 

Posted in Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

2017 E-Commerce Holiday Shopping Forecast

E-commerce is once again expected to have good growth for the 2017 holiday shopping season — with Amazon accounting for one-third of all U.S. online holiday revenues!!!

Here are a slideshow (click the image to access it!!!!) and a year-to-year sales forecast regarding the 2017 holiday shopping season from NetElixer.
 
 


 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How Shoppers React to Bad Social Media Comments

What happens when consumers complain on social media?

According to eMarketer:

“Data from social media analytics and monitoring service Sprout Social revealed that many US internet users believe social media has given them more of a voice to expose unfair treatment from brands and be more critical of them in general. The study, which surveyed 1,003 US internet users ages 18 to 64 in July 2017, found that eight in 10 respondents said social media helped to uncover instances of brands treating people unfairly. And seven in 10 said that it helped encourage transparency.”

For the most part, dishonesty and bad customer service led many internet users to complain about brands on social media. But those weren’t the only reasons. Troubles with a bad product, brands being too political and a lack of responsiveness also triggered some respondents to air frustrations about companies on social media.”

 

Click on the chart below to read more about how online consumers react to social media complaints.


 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment