We've designed this guide to introduce you to various post purchase automations and highlight strategies for collecting user-generated content (UGC), prompting repeat purchases, and utilizing post-purchase automations to assist with managing help desk volume. This article is also designed to help you understand automation performance.
Overview
Messages from post purchase automations inform subscribers of the status of their order and can be used to set expectations around shipping delays, which in turn, helps your brand's support team manage ticket volume.
While post purchase automations are generally informative, you can also leverage them to request user-generated content to repackage for social media or other promotions. Post-purchase is also an optimal time to remind subscribers of loyalty points and request reviews.
Post Purchase Triggers
In this table, you will find post purchase trigger definitions, use cases for each trigger, and automation templates that use their respective triggers. For an in-depth table of automation filters and trigger filters, see here.
| Trigger | Definition | Use Cases | Templates |
| Order Created | Customer has created an order | Order Confirmations, Loyalty Offers, Win-Backs, Upsell or Cross-Sell automations. |
Post Purchase - Thank you & Upsell or Cross-Sell Loyalty Offer - Next Level Incentive |
| Order Delivered | Order marked as delivered via shipping carrier | Request UGC, Review, or Loyalty Points reminder. | Shipping Notifications - Order Delivered |
| Order Fulfilled |
Order sent to the shipping carrier for final delivery |
Shipping Notification/Update automations | |
| Order in Transit |
Order marked en route by shipping carrier |
Shipping Notification/Update automations | Shipping Notifications - Order Shipped |
Types of Post Purchase Automations
User-generated content (UGC) is similar to reviews in that they serve as testimonials from customers and, in turn, can build trust with potential customers who haven't purchased from your brand yet.
In the example above, Braxley Bands subscribers are incentivized to share a social media story of their band for a repost to the rest of their brand followers. This content can be repurposed for paid ads, social media posts, or organic content.
Postscript integrates with several review platforms including Junip, Okendo, Yotpo, and Growave. These integrations allow you to easily request reviews from your subscribers following a purchase.
You may also consider incentivizing subscribers to leave reviews by offering loyalty points, a discount code in exchange, an entry into a giveaway, etc.
Post purchase is an optimal time to notify subscribers that they've acquired additional loyalty points and/or remind them of existing points.
If your brand does not have an official loyalty points program, you can also use your post purchase automation to nudge customers toward taking the action necessary, completing an additional order, to access VIP status.
During the holidays, shipping delays can be commonplace so over-communicate with your subscribers after they place an order. By clearly communicating when a product will leave a warehouse and when it will arrive at the customer's doorstep, you can ensure to keep your customers happy post-purchase.
Use post purchase automations to send regular SMS updates when a product is processed, packaged, and shipped, as well as when they can expect to receive it. These frequent and well-timed communications give buyers confidence in brands, even in the case of shipping delays.
Understanding Post Purchase Automation Metrics
Metrics, or data, help you understand whether the messages you send are achieving the goals you've set. You can view the performance of your post purchaser flows on your Flows Dashboard page or on a specific automation flow page. Simply select an activated flow to view overall performance metrics and metrics by a specific message.
- Sent Messages. View the total number of messages that have been sent.
- Unsubscribe Rate. Your flow's Unsubscribe Rate is calculated by dividing the total number of unsubscribes attributed to a flow message by the number of total messages sent in this flow Note: we attribute an unsubscribe to a flow if the flow message was the last message the subscriber received before unsubscribing.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR).CTR is calculated by taking total clicks on all links divided by the total number of messages sent.
- Conversion Rate. Your flow's Conversion Rate is calculated by dividing the total amount of orders placed within your shop's designated attribution window by the total number of clicks.
- Attributed Revenue. The amount of sales dollars earned from orders created within your shop's designated attribution window after a subscriber receives the automation flow. See your shop's attribution window here.
- Sent Messages indicates the number of this specific message that was sent to subscribers.
- Unsubscribe Rate is calculated by dividing the number of unsubscribes attributed to this message within the flow by the number of Sent Messages recorded for this specific message (e.g. 65,463). Note: we attribute an unsubscribe to a flow if the flow message was the last message the subscriber received before unsubscribing).
- Click-Through Rate (CTR) is calculated by taking the number of clicks on the links included in this message divided by the number of Sent Messages recorded for this specific message.
- Conversion Rate is calculated by dividing the number of orders placed by the number of clicks on the links included in this message (within your shop's designated attribution window).
- Attributed Revenue. The amount of sales dollars earned from orders created within your shop's designated attribution window after a subscriber receives this specific message within your automation. See your shop's attribution window here.
Additional Resources
- Need to kick-start your post purchase automation efforts? Learn how to Send Shipping Updates with Flow Builder.
- Want to turn one-time buyers into repeat purchasers? Create a Cross-Sell Automation Flow.
- Need to brush up on automation flows? Check out our Guide to Automation Flows.
- Interested in understanding how your customer are liking your products? Create a Product Feedback Automation Flow.
Get Support
Have questions? Please feel free to reach out to our wonderful Support team at support@postscript.io or via live chat. You can also submit a support request here!
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