Use your order confirmation email to sell more

Research has shown that the probability of selling something to a prospect is only about 5-20%, while the probability of selling something to an existing customer is 60-70% (source).

What if you were to take your traditional order confirmation (simply letting customers know the order has been placed successfully) and use it as an opportunity to encourage an already extremely warm lead to buy more?

In this post I will show you how to use your order confirmation email to sell more products/services.

Reduce purchase anxiety

Purchase anxiety typically happened when someone buys a product that is a little too expensive for them or they spend more than they normally do.

The danger here is they instantly get nervous, want to back track and then try to cancel and get a refund.

To combat this continue marketing to them and reinforce their belief they just made the right decision. Include testimonials, reviews/ratings, awards, trust marks etc. in the design of the email.

Cross-sell added value services

Do you sell any complimentary services that instantly support their purchase? A great example I received was from a hotel that linked to services such as car hire, tourist excursions, theatre tickets etc. for that city in the booking confirmation email.

The important point here is to compliment the product, not replace it. Don’t try to get them to upgrade at this stage, you’ll run the risk of undermining what they just bought.

Encourage a referral

Having literally just bought from you, now is the time to trade on their positive sentiment and try for a referral.

Do they know anyone else who might want your services? Set up an easy ‘Click to recommend us’ link within the order confirmation email.

Give them a discount on their next purchase

I wouldn’t go too crazy with this one, maybe just a small amount like 10% when they spend £X to act as a nudge and to get them coming back. I would also time limit the discount to create a sense of urgency.

Get actionable data

If you want to gather feedback on how people find using your website and order process, this is the perfect time to ask!

The whole experience is fresh in their mind, and with a little incentive (e.g. 10% off next order) a lot will be willing to share their experiences via a short survey.

Applying these ideas

I have created a wireframe lay out to show you how you can apply these ideas to your order confirmation email:

Order confirmation email

 


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