The customer’s journey with your business doesn’t end at checkout. Because of that, the customer’s post-purchase experience can be just as important as their pre-checkout experience. The post-checkout stage is also when customers are at their most emotional. By purchasing from your online store, customers are delaying the instant gratification they get when purchasing in-store. 

More often than not, your customers’ gratification only comes when the parcel arrives at their doorstep. That means there is a customer experience gap merchants need to fill between checkout and unboxing. Delivery updates play a vital role in filling in those gaps. Updates bring the customer along the delivery journey and let them know where their parcel is and, more importantly, when it will arrive.

However, it’s not as simple as sending notifications each time a parcel reaches a milestone. There needs to be a strategy behind your post-checkout notifications. This strategy can differ from merchant to merchant, but if it’s well-executed, you can achieve a number of important business goals, including:

• Increased customer satisfaction: Customers want to be kept informed about the status of their orders. By sending timely and relevant notifications, you can show customers that you care about their experience and are transparent about your shipping process.

• Reduced WISMO inquiries: By keeping customers informed about the status of their orders, you can reduce the number of WISMO inquiries your customer support team receives. This can free up your team to focus on more complex issues and improve your overall customer service.

• More repeat business: A positive post-purchase experience makes customers more likely to return to your store in the future. By sending personalized and relevant notifications, you build trust, stay top-of-mind, and encourage customers to shop with you again. 

• Upsell and cross-sell opportunities: Delivery update notifications reach customers when they’re most emotional and consistently see open rates of up to 80%. Because they’re so effective, these notifications can be a powerful channel for upselling and cross-selling opportunities.  

What are post-purchase or post-checkout notifications?

Post-purchase notifications are messages that you send to customers after they have placed an order. They can be sent via email, SMS, or push notifications. Post-purchase notifications can be used to inform customers about the status of their orders, provide them with shipping updates, or offer them personalized recommendations.

Top 10 most critical post-purchase notifications (based on our data) 

Based on our internal data, we found that there are notifications that customers respond well to. To help you jumpstart your initiative to create an effective notifications strategy, we compiled a list of the top 10 most effective notifications to include:

Order confirmation

• Confirms that the customer's order has been received and processed by the seller. Starts the customers’ post-checkout experience on a positive note. 

Shipment pick-up

• Notifies the customer that the seller handed the order to the courier service. This gives customers a sense of security that the order is in progress. 

Out for delivery

• Alerts the customer that the courier service has picked up the shipment and is on its way to deliver it. This notification fuels the customers’ sense of anticipation and excitement. 

Successfully delivered

• Confirms that the shipment has been delivered to the customer or a nearby collection point. It lets you maintain engagement with the customer even when the order is complete. 

Parcel Dropped off for Collection

• This email informs the customer that the shipment has been dropped off at a collection point. It gives customers peace of mind and helps them plan ahead for collection. 

Reminder for Parcel Collection

• This email reminds the customer they have a parcel at a collection point. It may also include a deadline for collection and a warning that the parcel may be returned if it is not collected. 

Successful Collection from Collection Point

• This email confirms that the customer has collected their parcel from a collection point. It ends the transaction but lets you jumpstart a new customer journey.

Failed Delivery Attempt

• This email informs the customer the order could not be delivered. By adding details about the next step, you let customers know that you’re aware of the issue and actively resolving it.  

Shipment Delayed

• This email notifies the customer that there is an unexpected delay in the delivery. By letting them know early, you maintain the customers’ trust even when things go wrong. 

Return to Sender shipment

• This email informs the customer that their shipment has been returned to sender for some reason. Use this email to let customers know how to jumpstart the delivery process.

How to create a post-checkout, post-purchase notifications strategy that works

Post-purchase notifications are an essential part of the e-commerce customer experience. By keeping the following considerations in mind, you can build a post-purchase notifications strategy that works for your customers and your business.

• What notifications do you want to send? 

  • Decide what delivery notifications are most important to your customers and what information (and promotions) you want to include in each notification.

• When do you want to send notifications? 

  • Consider the customer journey and send notifications at the appropriate times. For example, you'll want to send an order confirmation email immediately after the customer places their order.

• How will you send notifications? 

  • You can send notifications via email, SMS, or instant messaging platforms. Choose the channels that are the most convenient for your customers.

• How will you personalize notifications? 

  • Use customer or order data to personalize notifications and make them more relevant to each customer. For example, you can include the customer's name in the email and recommend products based on their purchase history.

Use the right post-purchase or post-checkout notifications tool for the job

A well-executed post-purchase or post-checkout notification strategy is essential for your e-commerce business. It can improve the overall customer experience, reduce WISMO by up to 20%, and add significantly to your revenue. However, you must ensure it’s tied to a robust platform that harmonizes tracking data into a single, cohesive standard. Otherwise, you may have to rely on carrier notifications that can be inconsistent across providers. 

The Parcel Perform platform is one such provider. Our platform harmonizes carrier data from 1,045+ carriers and your own internal data, resulting in an ever-growing pool of standardized notification triggers. That means you can customize your notification strategy to send the delivery notifications (in no less than 36 different languages) that your customers expect.

Find out more about how our platform can support your business with industry-leading data and delivery experience. Book a demo with our e-commerce experts for a personalized walkthrough of our platform and discover how Parcel Perform can support your business ambitions.