Wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically generate repeat purchases? This way, all you have to do is acquire new customers without worrying about constantly bringing them back to your store for additional purchases. This is incredibly tempting when repeat customers are more profitable than unique customers and even when a slight increase in customer retention rates significantly increases profits. In this article, we will explain precisely what reorder emails are and why they are essential.
Reordering activities is a great way to use trigger messages to increase revenue, and they are effortless. The reorder message uses information from the customer’s previous order to encourage them to purchase the item again or purchase new, similar items. Let’s review some tips on how to create effective reorder, reminder, and ordering events.
What is a reorder email campaign?
Reorder email is post-purchase email automation that reminds customers when they need to reorder previously purchased consumables. A typical example is pet food. Someone ordered a monthly supply of dog food and received an email reminding them to order again before the end of the month.
From the customer’s point of view, this helps solve the pain of forgetting to place a new order before realizing that coffee, toilet paper, or other essentials are running out. This is indeed why you want to remind your customers that they need to replenish their stock. They don’t have to be strictly perishable items that people buy regularly. Other items (e.g., kitchenware, auto parts, shoes, etc.) wear out over time and must be replaced. Similarly, products such as chocolate and wine will disappear sooner or later, which makes them good products for sending reminders.
Even services such as haircuts, car care, and beauty can lead to effective reminder email campaigns.
Likewise, products such as books and puzzles can last a lifetime and can also be designed as a reorder activity such as, “Looking for a new book to read/play?”
The importance of reorder emails
Reorder emails are essential for several reasons. First, when someone is about to run out of what they have purchased, the emails will improve the customer experience by sending timely reminders. Second, they improve your bottom line, and, more importantly, they help generate recurring income automatically. We know that reselling to existing customers is about six times cheaper than customers who have never purchased. What better way to get existing customers to buy again than to send them an email reminder when they need a supplement or when your product is about to run out? Considering that reorder emails are timely and relevant, it is not surprising that they have the highest click-to-open rate of email automation. It’s one of the most profitable email automation you can set up. That is if you know what the best practice is.
Best practices for reorder emails
Now that you understand how the reorder emails work and how important they are, it’s time to delve into how to optimize them to generate maximum sales.
The factor that determines the success of the reorder campaign is the time you schedule the email to be sent. Sending an email reminder to reorder the annual supply of fish oil flakes one month after someone purchases fish oil flakes also does not work. The same is true if you wait half a year to remind someone to reorder one month’s supply.
You want your email reminder to be sent before someone runs out of your product (preferably with enough time to allow shipping). While this is relatively straightforward for products that people regularly buy (such as medications and razor blades), it can become tricky when the time to reorder between customers varies greatly. When some customers have two or more dogs and process it twice as fast as others, even products like a one-month supply of dog food can be tricky.
In these cases, the best practice is to review your customer data to understand how often customers reorder products.
Combine this real-world data with your own experience and common sense, and you can get a good idea of when to automate your email.
You also need to ensure that reorder emails are not sent to customers who have recently reordered the product.
- Email optimization
If the email itself is not good, even the most timely email will not perform well. Therefore, it is crucial to keep the following points in mind when creating reorder emails.
- Make reordering easy
It is wrong to think that reorder emails are just a simple way to increase sales. They are also a great way to improve the customer experience. Therefore, instead of just reminding people that it’s time to reorder a particular product, they should also make it as easy as possible to complete the order. This means not just linking people to product listings but linking them to shopping carts that already contain products and are ready to checkout. If the products have different sizes, colors, etc., if possible, you should also pre-select the options that the customer has used before. You can take any measures to reduce the number of clicks those customers need to reorder, which will improve the effect. Putting this into practice will not only enhance your customers’ experiences but will increase your conversion rate.
- Include a clear call to action
When it comes to making it easier for your customers, you need to ensure that your reorder emails include a clear call to action. As with any email marketing, call-to-action can help ensure that customers take the steps you want them to take, thereby increasing your conversion rate. Because of the importance of calls to action, you also need to make sure they stand out in your email design. The easiest way is to design them as a button that customers can’t help but click.
- You don’t need to include coupons
When it comes to making more sales via email campaigns, including coupon codes to motivate customers is a popular choice for many businesses. But remember, your reorder email will be sent to your customers who have already converted (so they don’t need to be so attractive the second time), and they will need to repurchase the product anyway. No coupon codes or other incentives are necessary to get a high conversion rate.
Only include one that will provide profit to customers who will buy anyway.
- Consider including cross-selling
Not all customers who receive your reorder email want to purchase the product. Some people have already restocked in another store, some want to try something new, and some will not be ready to order again.
To keep your emails from being wasted on these customers, it’s best to include cross-selling suggestions for similar or complementary products.
This increases the customer’s chances of buying and helps improve the average order value of customers who want to replenish.
If you have customers replenishing goods multiple times, this is a good indicator that they are attracted. Please encourage them to share information with friends or buy gift cards for friends or relatives. You can do this easily using a recommended banner or callout in the footer of the email.
Wrapping up
Reorder emails are very effective in automatically generating repeat purchases. They can also improve the customer experience when they arrange to ship the goods at the best time before the customer runs out of products. They are suitable for you and your customers.