It's been estimated that e-commerce companies typically see repeat sales to between 20% and 40% - with the rate being about 27% in 2020 (source).
Put another way, 73% of first-time customers don't repurchase, which is a significant and often over looked opportunity for online store owners to drive up their sales easily.
There are many explanations for this, but it has been proven that simply saying thanks, to form a closer bond between your customer and your brand can make a huge impact.
Effort vs Impact of saying thanks
The more personal and authentic your "thank you" is, the more likely it will help you drive up sales.
In the chart below we have identified some of the common ways Shopify store owners say thanks to their customers.
As you can see "saying thanks" can be done in many ways. Here are our favourites:
Ignite Post
Ignite Post sends robotically handwritten thank-you notes to your customers after making a purchase. The handwritten cards are written using an actual ballpoint pen in a specific human handwriting style.
So their printing is indistinguishable from handwriting, and the process is automated. It's a really neat idea, and they have some fantastic customer reviews.
Effort - low
Impact - Ignite Post claim they provide a 9.7x higher conversion rate than email
Cost - $3.99 per handwritten card
Refer A Friend Loyalty App
Refer A Friend helps you create a template based campaign for referrals offers that your visitors can share with friends. These allow your customers to build a referral campaign that encourages them to refer business to you.
Effort - low
Impact - low to medium
Cost - starting at $19/month with a free plan available
CX Video
CX Video enables you to record and send 1:1 thank you videos to your customers. They offer a mobile app and fully automated process, ensuring all you need to spend is 30 seconds to a minute to say thanks per customer.
Effort - medium
Impact - high, and claim 40% increase in repeat purchase rates
Cost - starts at $12.90/month including a free trial
Better Thank You Page
Enables you to build a richer thank you page after your customer has checked out. You can promote your social sites and get customer ratings surveys after their purchase.
Effort - low
Impact - low
Cost - free
Autoketing
Run sales pop email & send automated thank you emails to your customers through their email marketing platform.
Effort - low
Impact - low
Cost - $7/month with free plan available
Manually call or write a handwritten note
You can also simply call or write a note to your customers, just like you would normally, so no app required!
Effort - high
Impact - medium/high
Cost - your time, but it's comparatively quite a lot slower than CX Video
You could also throw in a voucher postcard, which is very low effort, but often it's not hugely impactful - and discounts eat away at your margins.
As you can see, there are many ways to thank your customers who have bought from your Shopify store.
We hope these ideas help you grow your business.
And one final thing - thank-you for reading!