Thanks for shopping!
If you’re a small business owner, chances are you spend most of your energy getting customers in the door. From running pay-per-click ads for online shopping to building local marketing schemes that drum up in-store visits, the to-do list is neverending.
But if your advertising efforts end at checkout, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to keep your business front of mind. Post-purchase communication keeps the conversation going, so you can continue building strong relationships long after your customers leave the retail store.
Post-Purchase Communication: What it is and Why it Matters
Here’s a not-so-fun fact: over half of consumers say they often or sometimes experience buyer’s remorse after shopping. And whether the regret is caused by unmet expectations, a high ticket price, or a poor customer experience – it’s not great for business.
Post-purchase communication – via e-mail, direct mail, or coupon receipt advertising – keeps customers feeling positive about their decision. You may offer: incentives that encourage return patronage; an easy way to provide feedback; or loyalty perks that make your customers feel valued.
Here’s how retailers win:
- Smartest Use of Marketing Dollars: Acquiring new customers is five to 25 times more costly than retaining existing ones, but return customers are up to 60% more likely to purchase. Post-purchase communication is a simple way to market to your most valuable audience – the people who already love what you do!
- Build Customer Loyalty: Three-quarters of consumers say they favor companies that offer rewards. Create loyalty perks and shopping incentives that boost brand allegiance. Then, use these incentives to capture email leads and social follows, so you can build online relationships and keep customers looped in on future offers.
- Improve Customer Experience: 86% of customers will pay more for a better experience. Offer feedback opportunities with post-purchase promotions to reveal what you’ve done right and where you can improve while incentivizing return visits.
E-Receipt Advertising: How Virtual Tools Reshape Post-Purchase Communication
Historically, post-purchase communication has played out on three key platforms: direct mail, email, and cash register receipt advertising. But the revolution in digital technology is reshaping the paradigm – and e-receipt advertising reigns supreme.
Virtual tools provide retailers with priceless consumer analytics, and easy platforms to create and deploy personalized, automated messaging that works for your business while you focus on other essential tasks.
For small businesses, dynamic receipts are a valuable way to get the most out of your marketing efforts, grow revenue, and drive new sales. Here’s how digital receipt advertising effectiveness surpasses the traditional alternatives:
- Expanded Marketing Potential: Digital receipt advertising is so much more than coupons. Retailers can add dynamic links and QR codes that direct customers to promotional landing pages, social media accounts, referral programs, and more.
- Personalize by Preference: Paper receipts print the same advertisements for every customer. With digital receipt apps, retailers can use consumer analytics to personalize offers and advertisements based on each individual customer’s shopping habits.
- Real-Time Insights & Updates: Digital receipt apps offer ad-to-click tracking so you can monitor your campaigns in real-time. Use what you learned to do more of what works, and less of what doesn’t. When it’s time to modify your approach, watch updates go live instantly and the results roll in.
- Stay in Their Pocket: Most consumers throw away or lose at least half of the receipts they receive. This sends your marketing dollars straight to the trash bin. In contrast, digital receipts (and your promotions!) are stored in their phone or email account until they need them. E-receipt apps take it a step further: with purchasing information organized in a single, secure app, it can’t get lost in a messy inbox.
- Boost Sustainability: Paper receipts are tiny, but they add up! In fact, we consume over 25 million trees worldwide each year to print them. Back up your brand’s sustainability mission and tread lightly on the planet with an eco-friendly alternative.
- Stand Out! The vast majority of consumers want a digital receipt option, but most retailers haven’t gotten on board. Embracing e-receipts keeps you ahead of the competition. (Plus, you can personalize your branding!)
The digital revolution has arrived, and e-receipts advertising is just the tip of the iceberg. Learn more about the digital transformation in retail and how small businesses win.
Marketing Pro Tips: How to Advertise on Digital Receipts
Digital receipt advertising empowers you to get the most out of your marketing efforts. Harness the power of new technology to deliver the most effective message possible and create brand allegiance that lasts far beyond a single sale.
Just getting started? When you build your strategy, keep these pro tips top-of-mind:
- Keep It Simple: Consumer attention drops after 8 seconds, and busy receipts can cause important information to get lost in the noise. Keeping receipts clean and simple helps customers easily locate purchase information, so they can shift their focus to your marketing message.
- Know Your Customer: E-receipt apps like e.pop capture consumer analytics to reveal your customers’ shopping habits. Dig into the data to better understand what your audience is all about. Then, use what you learn to tailor your promotions and marketing approach to their preferences.
- Get Personal: 91% of customers say they’re more likely to shop with brands that provide offers that feel relevant. Rather than putting the same promotion on every receipt, use customer insights to deliver relevant, personalized promotions. With e.pop, you can create dynamic receipt advertisements that change based on the shopping habits of each customer.
- Build Social Ties: 77% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media than one they do not. Use valuable receipt real estate to build your social following, newsletter mailing list, or loyalty rewards programs to stay connected and front-of-mind.
- Track Performance: Don’t just set it and forget it. Creativity is an essential part of any good campaign, but so is understanding your results. Take advantage of performance tracking metrics to continuously optimize your messaging and tie revenue growth to specific marketing campaigns.
- Enable Feedback: Over 80% of customers have taken their business elsewhere due to poor service. Linking to virtual feedback portals and customer surveys on your digital receipts makes it seamless and hassle-free for customers to tell you what you need to know. Go above and beyond their expectations by establishing a clear system for organizing, responding to, and leveraging what you learn.
Harness the Power of Digital Receipt Advertising
Is your small business fully leveraging post-purchase communications? e.pop makes it easy to take advantage of digital receipt advertising and boost sales. Learn more about our mission to help merchants connect digitally with their customers – and sign up today to get your first year free.
Marley Flueger
Freelance sustainability writer working to demystify the climate crisis, connect people with tools for lighter living, and create pathways for us all to push the needle towards a fossil fuel-free and equitable future.
Indeed, what you explained about user’s which convenience should be our utmost priority when strategizing our digital marketing materials to keep them loyal to our brand was so true. For some reason, the owner of my local clinic has been wondering lately if he should develop an app to make it easier for his patient to book an appointment or buy medications. I think he should seek advice from an expert afterwards so the end result will be more than satisfactory.