Summary
E-commerce may be a relatively new sales channel, but it has already established itself as a real paradise for brands and online stores. As a matter of fact, an increasing number of people are buying online, whether it is for daily or occasional purchases. The secret of its success? Email marketing, a direct and personalized communication method that enables us to develop a close relationship with our customers, and therefore to build customer loyalty.
An email marketing campaign is an essential channel in e-commerce. According to HubSpot, for every dollar spent, the return on investment, ROI is $42. That’s 4200%. This marketing strategy is increasingly used in online retail because acquisition costs are increasingly rising.
The welcoming and onboarding emails sequence
The welcome email sequence is a series of email marketing campaigns sent to any new subscriber from your email list. These are emails designed to help new subscribers become familiar with your company and learn about the products and services you have to offer. The onboarding email sequence also creates a bond between the subscriber and your company, which can promote long-term loyalty.
Welcome emails typically consist of three to five emails, sent at regular intervals during the first two to three weeks after subscription. The content of these emails may vary, but their purpose is generally to help new subscribers better understand your company and use your products and services.
Here is an example of a type of emails sequence that can be sent during an emailing campaign :
In the first email of your welcome sequence, you could start by thanking the subscriber for signing up and giving them what they traded their email address for (promo code, free shipping, etc.).
In a second email, you could share your brand story and purpose. This will allow the subscriber to know more about you and your brand so they can relate to it. But also build trust.
In a third email, you could show the benefits and features of your products. The idea is for the prospect to understand that your products are the solution to his problem and to imagine his life after ordering from you.
In a fourth email, you could talk about the values represented by your brand. It's important to share your values so that prospects identify with your values, and to differentiate you from the competition. People don't just buy for the price of a product anymore, but for the values a brand embodies.
Then a fifth email where you could share customer testimonials. It's essential to show that other people have bought your products and that they are happy with them. This reassures your prospects and builds trust, which is much more conducive to online sales.
Welcome email sequences can be customized according to the type of business model, the industry, or the target market. For example, a welcome email sequence for subscribers of a cosmetics company will be different from a welcome email sequence for subscribers of digital products.
The abandoned shopping cart email sequence
Abandoned shopping carts are a common problem for many online businesses. Most people who drop their cart never come back to finalize their purchase. This can be frustrating, but there are things you can do to recover these orders.
One of the best ways to recapture abandoned carts is to send a sequence of emails. These emails should be as courteous as possible and remind people that they left something in their cart. The abandoned cart sequence is used to remind prospects that their orders are waiting in their carts on your e-commerce site. But also to re-engage with prospects who might have questions about their future orders. And to reassure and give confidence by showing them that you are there for them if they have questions.
Make sure you send the first email as soon as possible after the cart abandonment. This first contact is crucial to re-engage with a prospect.
Don’t forget to show empathy towards your abandoned cart prospects, because you don’t want to annoy them with too insistent or too commercial emails. Remember that if a customer has not completed their purchase among all the products they are interested in, it means that they need to be reassured at least one point, before validating their transaction. Maybe they just need a coupon code to make up their mind?
The goal here is to gently remind them of your existence. This email sequence is essential because more than 70% of shopping carts are abandoned on the Internet. As you can see, this email sequence allows you to limit the damage and recover as many sales as possible.
The post-purchase email sequence
The post-purchase is an email sequence that starts after the customer has purchased a product or service. This sequence is used to maintain contact with the customer, thank them for their purchase, and to offer them further assistance if they need it. Email is often overlooked as a marketing channel, but it is nevertheless an extremely powerful tool, especially in post-purchase. This emailing sequence is an important step in maintaining a quality relationship with the customer and is therefore crucial to the success of a business.
The post-purchase email sequence can be an excellent way to retain your customers, but also to offer them complementary products to their order.
For example, if they bought a jacket, you could offer them a hat, a scarf, or even a pair of gloves. This post-purchase email sequence also serves to ensure customer satisfaction. For this, you could send a form to your customer in exchange for a promotional code to use on their next order. You could also ask them to rate their experience with you on Trustpilot, Trustfolio, or another customer satisfaction platform.
The important thing is to collect customer data to better understand them, and improve their experience, but also to increase the average basket of each order. This post-purchase email sequence is therefore also essential if you want to increase your sales, your customer satisfaction, but also your retention.
To conclude
As you can see, these 3 email sequences are mandatory. As much to welcome your prospect and introduce him to your brand, as to reassure him about his order, as to offer him an exceptional post-purchase experience. Of course, this is not a magic process. You need to create interesting emails that your audience will want to read.
Don’t send generic, non-value-added emails. Otherwise, your deliverability and your delivery rate could suffer the consequences.
Stand out and ask yourself if you would like to receive the emails you send. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. If you think they are entertaining, engaging, and memorable, then go for it!
So, ready to implement these 3 emails sequences for your e-commerce store to see your sales accelerate?
This article was written in collaboration with Steve Toitot, expert in email marketing. With years of experience in the email marketing industry, Steve helps e-commerce stores increase sales through email creation, marketing optimization, and automation.
Find out how Steve can help you with your email marketing.
