Creating a Positive Customer Experience in Ecommerce

Want to turn one-time buyers into loyal customers? Create a post-purchase experience that keeps them coming back for more. Most brands focus all their energy on getting that first sale. But the job isn't done after you've earned their business. In fact, it's just getting started. Here's how to optimize your post-purchase experience to turn new customers into lifelong fans: 1. Optimize Your Thank You Page The thank you page is prime real estate. Don't waste it on a generic "Thanks for your order!" message. Instead, use it to reassure anxious buyers, engage excited customers, and even drive additional sales. Here are a few ideas: → Showcase happy customers and UGC → Highlight the cause (or team) their purchase supports → Offer a no-brainer upsell or cross-sell opportunity → Give them a pre-written way to brag about their purchase on social media 2. Dial In Your Transactional Emails Your transactional emails get way higher open rates than promotional messages. Take advantage of that attention. If you're still sending a generic order confirmation email, you're missing a huge opportunity to build rapport and increase customer lifetime value. These emails should always: ✓ Set clear expectations for next steps ✓ Build hype during the time between their order being placed and their product being delivered ✓ Check in to make sure everything arrived okay ✓ Provide helpful resources to ensure they get maximum value from their purchase ✓ Make it dead simple for them to get help if they need it 3. Ask For A Review At The Right Time A week or so after delivery, ask for a review. But don't just send a generic "please rate your purchase" email. → Remind them of the great experience they just had → Provide thoughtful prompts to help them get past their writer's block → Make leaving a review as frictionless as possible → Consider offering them a valuable incentive or token of your appreciation 4. Ask Them To Refer A Friend Humans are social creatures. We tend to hang out with people who share similar interests and values. That means that one happy customer probably knows 5-10 other people who would be a perfect fit for your product. Don't be afraid to ask for referrals. If you've done a great job up to this point, advocating for your brand should be an easy "yes." What's the overarching trend here? Make it personal and on-brand! Customers who see the same cookie cutter templates immediately go into autopilot. If you really want to maximize your customer lifetime value, you need to customize and personalize every step of the post-purchase experience, so you leave a lasting impression. One that not only creates loyal fans, but also inspires them to bring their friends along with them.

Retention issues in ecommerce aren’t caused by bad products. They’re caused by lazy flows. Everyone’s running the same post purchase sequence: 1. Order confirmation 2. Shipping info 3. Review request And then silence. Here’s what to do instead: → Day 0 Add “what to expect next” with estimated delivery + helpful info on usage/care. Reassurance = fewer support tickets. → Day 3 Send a use case, demo, or testimonial: “Here’s how X used it while traveling”. You're reinforcing buying confidence before it arrives. → Day 10 “Here’s how to get the most out of your purchase”. Video, tips, storage, cleaning. Don’t assume they’ll read the instructions. → Day 20 Customer is warm. Don’t pitch a second product yet, ask them to show it off or refer a friend. They’re still in the “love bubble”. → Day 30 Now pitch. But make it personal. “Because you bought X, you might need Y” → Day 45+ Keep showing lifestyle applications. Rotate between customer stories, transformations, and tips. You’re not selling a product anymore. You’re selling continuity. Retention starts after the sale. Don’t automate yourself into irrelevance.

Ever had a purchase that made you feel like you were stuck in a sitcom? Imagine that you’re excited about your new purchase, counting down the days until it arrives. Then … "We'll be there between 1-5 PM," they said. At 4:59 PM, my phone buzzed. Cancellation #3. Who knew an accent cabinet could become the star of its own customer experience comedy special? Spoiler alert: I wasn’t laughing. As a marketer deeply versed in customer experience, I found myself living a textbook case of "what not to do." It was like watching a sitcom where I was the unsuspecting main character. → Three scheduled appointments → Three last-minute cancellations → One very frustrated customer (yours truly) I had a front-row seat to the impact of poor post-purchase care. This comedic saga reinforced a crucial principle: ↳ The customer's journey doesn't end at checkout. ↳ If anything, that's where the real show (and relationship) begins. For those of you directing the customer experience sitcom, here are some script notes to consider: 1.     Communication is Key Keep your audience (customers) engaged. Don’t leave them hanging during commercial breaks! Implement a robust system for regular updates. Whether it’s order status, appointment confirmations, or delay notifications, keep customers in the loop. An informed customer is a happy customer. 2.     Empower your Service Team Give them the best lines and let them improvise when needed. Provide your frontline staff with the authority and tools to resolve issues on the spot. When a customer service rep can say, “Yes, I can fix that for you” instead of, “Let me check with my manager,” it’s a game changer. 3.     Anticipate Needs Be the writer who knows the plot twist before it happens. Use data and customer feedback to predict common issues or requests. Then, proactively address them. It’s like offering an umbrella before it starts raining. 4.     Follow Up Every good episode needs a “previously on …” recap. Implement post-purchase check-ins. A simple, “How’s everything working out?” can catch issues early and show customers you care beyond the sale. 5.     Learn and Adapt Use the audience reactions to refine your next season. Regularly analyze customer feedback and complaints. Use this data to make tangible improvements to your products, services, and processes. It’s continuous improvement in action. We often put so much focus on casting new customers, but what if we gave our recurring cast members (existing customers) the star treatment? It’s not just about a one-episode cameo. It’s about creating fans who’ll tune in season after season. In today's world, the customer experience isn’t just part of the show – it IS the show! Now, for some audience participation: ↳ What's your “customer experience gone wrong” sitcom story? We’ve all got at least one! CFW Marketing #CustomerExperience

One of the most impactful practices I’ve come across recently is something Stripe’s Katie Dill calls “walking the store.” In the comments, I've provided a link to her 2023 appearance on Lenny Rachitsky's podcast, in which they covered this practice in detail. Think of walking the store as a performance review for your product. At a scheduled interval, a team dedicates time to experience the product like a customer and record their findings. Here are the specific steps: 1. Identify the critical user journeys in your product. For example, account setup, billing/conversion, and inviting new teammates are all common user journeys. 2. Make sure a team is responsible for maintaining the quality of each critical user journey. 3. Create a process for each team to walk the store, keeping a “friction log” of anything that feels confusing, cumbersome, or inconsistent along the way. Since quality can be subjective, each team should score key aspects of the experience and create reports to document insights. 4. Calibrate across teams: To ensure consistency in scoring and measurement, teams calibrate their findings across all user journeys. Ideally, this process should occur before planning the next big cycle of work so that any improvements can be implemented quickly. This practice may seem tedious at first, but I'm always blown away by what I find. A couple of weeks ago, I went through the account setup process for the first time in a while and found twenty-two things we could improve. Another member of our customer support team (Disha Mungra 👏) recently evaluated our billing experience and provided tons of insightful feedback for the team. As products grow and become more sophisticated, it’s easy to lose sight of these critical journeys in favor of shiny new features. But ultimately, trust is built (or lost) in the details of those everyday user journeys. Have you tried something similar? I’d love to hear how you approach product quality in your company.