10 best practices to improve your post-purchase communication

Once payment of online order is made, there will be a rupture between you and your customer. In fact, before the payment, the buyer controls and decides everything. After the payment, the buyer is waiting and this loss of control can quickly lead to worry or even stress. It is therefore essential to send the buyer the right information at the right time. Otherwise, your customer service will be clogged.

Here are 10 situations where appropriate communication improves the quality of the customer experience during the post-purchase experience.

1 – Delay during the (parcel’s) preparation

Your customer expects to receive an email informing them of the shipment of their order. It will therefore be desirable to inform him of this delay rather than leaving him without information.

2 – Order shipped

When the order is shipped, you must send a notification containing:

• the carrier's tracking number,
• the estimated delivery date (promise of delivery date),
• the contents of the order,
• a link to a tracking page.

We do not recommend using the carrier’s page. Instead, create a tracking page on which you can share adapted content or product recommendations.

3 – Delay in delivery

Several scenarios are possible: the package was not scanned during delivery or the information is not yet available on the carrier side.

This delay information may be sent when the delay in delivery is noted or if a stage of the delivery has not been honored on time.

4 – Incorrect Address

Even if an address problem is reported by the carrier, the delivery is not necessarily compromised. The recipient the possibility of rectifying its address. The carrier can also do research to complete an address. 

5 – Parcel returned by the carrier

Reasons are multiple :

the carrier did not find the delivery address the pick-up point guard time has expired the damage to the package is too important for it to be delivered the sender has requested the return of the package In those cases, you must inform your customer and ask what he wants : re-shipment or refund.

6 – Damaged package

 In this case, you must warn your customer so that he carefully examines his package upon receipt.

7 – Parcel refused by the customer

In this specific case, it is necessary to send an email to your customer to ensure that he has actually refused the package and that it is not a carrier error. Then, you have to know causes of refusal (via a short customer survey) and if your customer wishes a refund or an order modification.

8 – Parcel arrived at pick up point

You should directly inform your customer about the progress of the delivery.

9 – Parcel delivered to a third party

You must inform your customer as soon as possible. If not, he will wait unnecessarily for its package with a negative effect on customer satisfaction (WISMO calls).

10 – Parcel Delivered

Once the package has been delivered, it is the right time to submit a satisfaction survey to the customer. Response rates are better when it is sent on the day of delivery. It should remain simple; no more than 5 questions.

WelcomeTrack helps retailers reduce their WISMO calls with delivery tracking page and proactive notifications.