Creating the Post-Purchase Flow

In this week’s episode of the PickaPocket project, we guide you through creating the post-purchase flow for first time buyers from the brand.

PickaPocket's post-purchase flow runs 5 emails over about 3 weeks:

Upsell discount, sent 1 hour after the order
Review request, sent 5 days after fulfilment
UGC selfie competition, sent 4 days later
Content-marketing/blog roundup, sent 7 days later
VIP club discount push, sent 7 days later

‍New buyers are hot, hot, hot, and as such, present an amazing opportunity for upsells, cross-sells, and quite frankly, turning them into a cult supporter of your brand.

Our goal with the post-purchase flow is to ensure customers are valued while simultaneously maximising our capabilities to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

The beauty of the post-purchase flow is that it’s a seamless way to enhance this; considering somebody has already bought from you, they’re incredibly likely to buy from you again.

In addition to this, it provides an ample opportunity to drive reviews, build social proof and migrate customers onto your social media platforms.

Setting up PickaPocket’s Post-Purchase Flow

Here’s an overview of what PickaPocket’s post-purchase flow looks like in Klaviyo.

Screenshot of PickaPocket's 5-email post-purchase flow set up in Klaviyo

The trigger is obviously when somebody places an order.

After that, they are sent 5 automated emails, the first one coming one hour after they placed the order.

Post-Purchase Email 1: We’re preparing your order! While you wait…

Sent 1 hour after customer places an order

The goal of the first email in this flow is to provide a strong upsell opportunity.

People who place an order are extremely receptive to placing more orders; we want to take advantage of this.

A strong discount, in this instance, is acceptable, and can also be considered rewarding to customers.

It acts as a reward for the purchasing customer and can offset any damage to profits back increasing the average order value (AOV) of the initial transaction.

That’s a win-win for PickaPocket & the customer.

And, the design is funky and welcoming - a great way to greet new customers to the brand and warm them up for future emails 😎

Don't Miss: How to Create Post-Purchase Email Flows in DTC Marketing

Email 2: About your recent order from us

Sent 5 days after the order was fulfilled

This is a very simple image, aesthetically. There’s a reason for this: we want a single course of action and to concentrate attention.

In this instance, it’s driving a review on the product page.

Reviews for e-commerce businesses are crucial: 93% of customers say they look at reviews before making a buying decision.

Post-purchase emails are the ideal opportunity to drive more of these. And who better to ask than a customer who has just recently bought from you?

Email 3: Join our selfie competition

Sent 4 days after previous email

PickaPocket's Post-Purchase Email 3, inviting customers to join a selfie competition for user-generated content

Now is the time to inject some fun into the flow. What better way than to get customers to create their own selfies of the products they bought?

Not only does this add more value, but we accomplish two more things:

We migrate our customers over to the social channels where they open up another communication channel with our brand
User-generated content: by far the most powerful weapon in your arsenal for driving referrals from existing customers

Another example of how powerful automated emails can be to drive previously arduous tasks!

Email 4: Get your swag on

Sent 7 days after email 3

The goal with this email is to inject some fun, creative content from the PickaPocket blog that conveys high value and authority to customers.

We picked a collection of blogs from the website and repurposed them as creatives featuring products to initiate click-throughs from readers.

This type of email is an example of how content marketing can be used to drive traffic back to the website. This still has a positive effect on sales, while remaining a bit more subtle and leading with value first.

Email 5: Join the PickaPocket VIP Club

Sent 7 days after email 4

The final email in the flow leads with a sales push, presenting the best-selling products from the store (since they have the highest chance of driving sales).

We are leveraging Shopify’s dynamic coupon feature within Klaviyo to deliver the discount, so it’ll appear different for every customer and won’t be distributed and abused which is an awesome feature from Klaviyo.

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FAQ

What are some real post-purchase email flow examples?

‍PickaPocket's post-purchase flow runs 5 emails: an upsell discount sent 1 hour after the order, a review request sent 5 days after fulfilment, a UGC selfie competition 4 days after that, a content-marketing email featuring blog content 7 days later, and a VIP club discount push a further 7 days after that.

How do you increase review submission rates in a post-purchase flow?

‍Keep the email simple, with one single call to action rather than competing messages, and time it around 5 days after fulfilment so the customer has actually used the product. 93% of customers say they check reviews before buying, so a recently-satisfied customer is exactly who you want asking.

What are some post-purchase flow ideas beyond a straightforward discount?

‍Beyond the standard upsell email, a post-purchase flow can drive user-generated content (a selfie competition that also migrates customers onto social channels), repurpose existing blog content as a value-led email, and close with a VIP club offer using a dynamic, non-shareable discount code so it can't be abused.

How long should a post-purchase email flow run?

‍PickaPocket's flow spans roughly 3 weeks from the order date: 1 hour, then 5 days, then +4 days, then +7 days, then +7 days for the final email — long enough to cover the upsell window, the review-ask window, and a longer-term engagement push, without emails feeling rushed or bunched together.

Conclusion

The post-purchase flow is a powerful email sequence to drive up-sells, cross-sells, and drive reviews as well as user-generated content. Use it to achieve all these goals, and try to stick to one core message per email for best success.

Don’t forget to check PickaPocket out here!