As with any relationship, first impressions are extremely important. The same goes for business to consumer relationships and confirmation emails. As potentially the first correspondence a customer will receive from you, it’s crucial you make a good impression.
Confirmation emails can range anywhere from newsletter subscription sign ups to account updates and order/payment confirmation to shipping and delivery statuses. Quite often they are heavily overlooked but they actually serve a very important purpose. Not only do theses emails provide vital verification of details for your customers, they also show your reliability as a brand and allow you to build a future relationship with them.
Main Benefits of Confirmation Emails:
- They allow you to build brand awareness
- If users have subscribed to a newsletter or update programme, it gives you the chance to remind them of what they’ll get in their subscription
- If a purchase has been made you can potentially cross sell by promoting related items
- They give you the ability to gain feedback and an insight into customer satisfaction
- They keep customers engaged after their purchase
- Gives you the chance to offer information and advice
John Lewis provide a good example. After making a purchase, their confirmation email is jam packed with information including description of the item, information about delivery times and dates, returns information and support details incase there was a problem. They even include a section of ‘this week’s popular products’ which is a great way of a potential cross sell.
MAC also provide a good purchase confirmation email as the information included is very clear and easy to see at first glance – just as a confirmation should be. They also provide actual images of the products that have been purchased – something I personally really like!
So whether you’re sending to new or old customers, confirmation emails provide a great way to connect with them and continue to nurture your relationship so they definitely need to be high on your list of eCommerce emails you should be sending.
Read more: Email Verification and List Hygiene: Why is it so Important?