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"The Art of Finding Winning Products"
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When you first go into the e-commerce business you know that in order to succeed, you need to learn from the big guys- the people and companies who have already made it.
Well, if you're looking for someone to learn from, there is no one better than Amazon- they are not only the most popular online store in the US in 2017, but they also keep raising the bar and reinventing eCommerce.
While most of you probably don't have the resources that Amazon does, there are some tricks and secrets that we can learn from them and realistically implement.
There is one page that Amazon is using as a secret revenue-boosting weapon that you are probably not even thinking about: the thank you page.
You can also check Amazon Ecommerce Analysis
Optimizing the thank you page probably comes as an afterthought to most retailers- the customer has already purchased, and this is seen as an exit door from your store, no point trying to force another interaction.
But post-purchase communication is crucial if you want your one-time customers to become lifelong fans.
Most of us already know the importance of staying in touch with our customers even after their first purchase, but we somehow we missed out on the first few minutes after the customer has purchased, and this is when he reaches the thank you page.
You can turn this blank exit door into a revolving door:
We are going to look at three different ways in which Amazon use their thank you page, and turn it into this revolving door to boost their revenue, and increasing their customer retention.
And guess what? You can do it too!
As seen in the picture above, the biggest section of Amazon’s thank you page is the product recommendations section.
Why do you think that is?
Adding a large section of product recommendations to your thank you page has 2 main advantages:
1. Upselling- the most obvious reason to add product recommendations is to upsell these products to your customers.
The thank you page is an amazing opportunity to upsell to your customers and drive new sales, and it is an opportunity that a lot of eCommerce merchants miss out on.
To be a good marketer, you have to understand a little bit about human psychology, and if you do, you might have heard about the foot in the door technique - this technique refers to the human tendency to agree to a big request from you, if they have already agreed to a smaller one in the past.
The thank you page sees only customers who have recently purchased. They are primed and willing to purchase again, if you put the right offer in front of their eyes.
2. Design- this point might seem unrelated or irrelevant to you, but hear me out on this.
Adding product recommendations keeps the browsing experience from the pre-checkout pages on your store consistent even post-checkout.
This makes the thank you page feel more like an integral part of the shopping experience, rather than an end point.
Scrolling through products is half the fun of purchasing online, and seeing scrollable products gets the customer itching to have a second look at things he might have missed.
If you’re using Shopify, an easy way to add product recommendations to your Shopify thank you page would be using an app like ReConvert, which allows you to not only add product recommendations, but also upsell them with a unique post-purchase discount.
Social media is the new form of word of mouth recommendations, and it is well known that people tend to trust their friends’ commendations much more than they do a brand’s advertisement or testimonial.
In fact, according to Nielsen, 92% of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising.
For this reason, you want to encourage your customers to share their experiences with you, and the simple fact that they purchased from you, with their friends on social media.
When reaching the thank you page, your customers are excited about their recent purchase, and are more likely to agree to share their order with their friends.
So adding a social sharing button to the Shopify thank you page is not something most people talk about when it comes to customer retention, but it has the potential to not only boost your retention rate but also your revenue and AOV.
To increase the chances of them actually following through and sharing the order, you can use two main tactics:
1. Turn it into an integral part of the post-purchase process-
This is the method that Amazon uses, they add the social sharing widget right next to the order summary details, making it feel like a natural next step after reviewing the details and making sure that the order was placed correctly.
They create the message that would be shared on social media or via email in advance, to make it super easy for customers to decide to actually share it, no need to think about it or put too much effort into it.
2. Offer an incentive-
Offer your customers a discount or even cash back for sharing their order on social media, to encourage them to actually take the action that you want.
You can offer an affiliate link that would track the purchases coming in from the customer’s post on social media, offer a discount simply for creating this post, and you can even offer a link with a discount that the customer can share with his friends- this way his friends will get a discount when placing their first order form you through his link.
You don't have to choose one of the two tactics. You can combine the two, making the social sharing an integral part of completing an order, while offering an incentive for customers who follow through on it.
One detail that might seem obvious, but is very important on Amazon’s thank your page, is the fact that their header is consistent with the header that you will see throughout the shopping experience on the website.
Similarly to adding scrollable product recommendations, this keeps the design of the store cohesive throughout the shopping experience, and helps the customer feel like he is not yet finished with it.
Another reason it is important is that it gives you the opportunity to add links and upsells in a “sneaky” way, keeping it simple and looking like an innocent navigation bar.
1. Search-
This is How we all expect and like to look for things. Most of us don't want to look through categories in the search for a specific product, we want to type a search term and have it delivered to us.
So adding search answers the need for any customer looking for a specific product to add to their order, or wanting to find a specific area in your store.
2. Store categories-
This is perfect for any customer who still wants to have a look in your store and maybe purchase something, without knowing exactly what they are looking for.
While search is the perfect fit for customers with a direction in mind, displaying your store’s navigation menu is the way to give customers who don't know what they want yet help with finding a new direction.
3. Logo-
Again, this might seem like it goes without saying, but your logo should be available on the thank you page as well as the rest of your store.
It goes back to the point about keeping the post-purchase pages cohesive with the rest of the store’s look and feel, so that they don't feel like external pages. in addition, it allows customers an easy way to go back to the homepage and start the shopping cycle all over again.
The thank you page is not something most people talk about when it comes to customer retention, but it has the potential to not only boost your retention rate but also your revenue and AOV.
The good news is, you don't have to have Amazon's resources in order to implement the concepts that you learn from them when it comes to the thank you page, you can easily do it in one of two ways:
Whatever method you choose, you should optimize your thank you page as soon as you start getting your first sales.
It’s important to note that the thank you page will not bring a lot of value before you have sales. Since, just like anything else in e-commerce, it is a numbers game. However, when you start building your customer base, you shouldn't wait too long before you make use of this powerful retention tool.
Ruth Even Haim is the Co-Founder and the Head of Content Marketing at StilyoApps and ReConvert. Ruth is passionate about self-development and entrepreneurship, and helping other entrepreneurs grow their business.
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