Post-purchase consumer care isn’t just for retailers.
If you’re a retailer, you might have already heard about paying attention to the post-purchase experience. Especially for online retailers, you can improve customer retention with a little time and resources put into post-purchase consumer care.
But those actions translate to other types of brands. You don’t have to be selling a product to worry about post-purchase experience.
What if what you sell is a service? You still need to worry about customer retention, which is why the post-purchase experience should still be important to you.
First, what do customers want out of their online retail post-purchase experience?
Most of what people worry about after making an online purchase can be relatively easy to predict. Who doesn’t want a timely delivery?
Customers are hoping their products arrive quickly and intact. They’re concerned about having an easy return process, should any issues arrive, as well as some kind of product support or maintenance help.
They also just want a simple thank you for their patronage of your business. What does this break down into?
Timeliness.
Consumers want their needs to be fulfilled as quickly as possible. Without compromising the goods or services, they would like to get what they asked for as soon as they need it.
This makes your goal, as a business, to find out how to follow through on that delivery, even if you’ve already received payment. It can also mean looking for innovative ways to anticipate the needs of the consumer.
Your current customers might truly appreciate your ability to take what their past needs have been and make predictions to help with their future needs.
Promises delivered.
If you said you had an intact radio to sell on your website, customers aren’t going to pleased receiving a once-intact radio that was damaged in the shipping.
You’ve essentially wasted their time and given them a new problem instead of a solution. It might seem obvious, but you shouldn’t market more than you can deliver on, especially if you plan on keeping any customers.
However it gets to them, make sure that it really gets to them as promised. And make it as easy as possible for them to change what they have if they’re unsatisfied. This involves keeping communication clear and simple.
Acknowledgment.
When somebody purchases your brand, they’re playing a role in your business. For consumers, it’s nice for that role to be recognized.
A thank you of any form is a good start. Beyond that, giving customers rewards for their purchases and taking the time to ask them how their experience went can set you apart from the competition and give your customers a reason to return.
Remember, just because you’ve gotten them to buy from you doesn’t mean the relationship is solidified.
You have to keep putting in work and courting even your existing customers so as not to lose out on future sales. With the same suggestions given to online retailers, any type of brand can step up their customer retention.
I Can Help
Need some help with launching an ephemeral marketing program? Leverage our 20+ years of experience and expertise in creating impactful, successful programs.
Contact us — we’re here to help!