eCommerce, Post-Purchase Experience, Retail Shipping, Shopper Experience

Post-Purchase CX : 8 Strategies to Implement in 20229 min read

9 minutes

As an ecommerce brand, you put a lot of time and effort into your customer experiences (CX) to make them hit buy. But have you thought of what happens later? 

The warehouse to your customer’s doorstep is only 50% of the order experience. The CX journey continues post-purchase with shipping, tracking, delivery, returns, reviews, and more.

However, what’s surprising or rather shocking is the fact that this phase is often unwittingly left out by brands who assume the customer journey to end with the ‘buy’ button. 

This lack of effort by brands in the post-purchase leads to a big post-purchase gap coupled with carrier errors, customer anxiety, complicated delivery, and returns experiences. All of this takes a toll on your CX and ultimately your wallet.

The Big Post-Purchase CX Gap in Online Retail (And What It Really Means to Your Business)

The Big post-purchase CX Gap

The post-purchase CX gap (as it is called) is a result of businesses like yours losing control over the experience you provide to your customers after parcels have been handed over to third-party shipping carriers/partners, who may not share the same level of commitment towards ensuring a delightful and frictionless delivery experience.

This gap in turn creates a domino effect and can have a huge impact on your customers, resulting in far more consequences.

The Impact of Post-Purchase CX Gap on Consumers

  1. High customer anxiety before order delivery – The average customer tracks their order 6-8 times during delivery
  2. A surge in the volume of WISMO calls – Over 40% of customer support tickets created are SHIPPING, DELIVERY, or RETURNS related
  3. Customer frustration over order delays – 1-in-3 customers abandon a brand after just ONE bad delivery OR return experience
  4. Your brand’s reputation takes a massive hit – 86% of people hesitate to do business with an ecommerce store if it has negative reviews online  
  5. Lost opportunity to drive repeat sales during order tracking moments – 8 to 10 customer engagement and revenue growth opportunities are LOST during the post-purchase customer journey