Of all the things a small-business owner can allocate working capital funds toward, one of the most under-appreciated aspects includes the customer’s post-checkout experience. What happens immediately following the checkout can be just as important as the moments immediately preceding it. The few seconds afforded to a customer following this transaction can determine whether the individual will return for future purchase or seek out another business.
A customer in a brick-and-mortar store will usually walk away after a transaction with a brief glance at the receipt. However, with an online checkout point, not only will some individuals linger a bit on the page before closing the tab, but the thank you page, the email receipt, the shipping order and the follow-up email all give the business owner a chance to truly stand out from the competition with personalized messages and attention to minor details.
An RjMetrics study cited by Shopify found repeat purchases accounted for 43 percent of a companies’ online revenue. By addressing how you can keep customers’ attention during the brief post-transaction window, you stand a greater chance of increasing your repeat customer base.
Here are five tips for enhancing the customer’s post-checkout experience:
Customize
Ensure the “Thank You For Buying” page that pops up after customers make a purchase stays true to your company’s brand and culture. If you’re a fun and playful company, change the page and email template to reflect this, either by including some tongue-in-cheek references or perhaps a joke. If you run a more serious-minded enterprise, customize the page and template to incorporate this, either by removing pre-set exclamation marks or inserting a more somber theme.
Personalize
Referring to an individual as a customer or a shopper can make the user feel disconnected or too formal. Whenever possible, have your online system refer to the customer by their name. You can either include a text field for shoppers to input their name before the checkout process or extract the name from the payment method, if possible. Personalizing the thank you message and email receipt with the customer’s name creates a more intimate experience with the potential to increase repeat business.
Excise
According to CIO.com, go with the “less is more” mantra when it comes to the thank you page. Excessive images or text can distract the customer and create an unappealing experience for them. Ensure you keep the page clean and organized so shoppers know they just made a purchase, otherwise, they might not be able to discern the message being conveyed.
Synergize
The thank you page, email receipt and package shipping notice all provide prime opportunities for you to synergize these moments to create additional value to the checkout process. Since customers will generally open and read (or at least skim) these emails, you have the perfect chance to include notices of upcoming sales, promotions and discount codes. These also offer a ripe occasion to try and get qualitative feedback from the customer. In addition to these upsells, you can include links for customers to share your company or products on social media outlets.
Optimize
While some owners might think simply wrapping up the product in its packaging and dropping it in the mail is the final step of the post-checkout process, the unboxing/unwrapping aspect can be just as important as the actual purchase. According to CNN, Youtube clips featuring a person unboxing a purchase increased 871 percent between 2010 and 2014. Needless to say, people are paying attention to how you package your products. Ensure you meet customer’s expectations when they receive and open the box, since all too often expectations overshadow reality.
