Receipts have been around for hundreds of years. What used to be a simple written display of a transaction has evolved into a unique opportunity for merchants to increase their sales. Open rates for email receipts are much higher than your average marketing email, like 70.9% higher. With a clickthrough rate that large, the potential to further sell to a customer that has already purchased from you is extremely likely.
It’s long been said that acquiring new customers costs more money than retaining existing ones and there are plenty of studies to back that up. This one from Econsultancy says that 70% of companies say it’s cheaper to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. So, you need to do everything you can to encourage a repeat sale, like utilizing email receipts to their full potential.
Email receipts also allow you a high level of customization. You can control the branding of your receipt by uploading your logo, including your contact information (this helps reduce chargebacks) and social links, as well as write a custom thank you note.
Below are four different ways a merchant can increase sales with email receipts.
Social Sharing
Consumers love to share what they’ve purchased. It actually been scientifically proven that a little “retail therapy” does indeed make us happy. In an article entitled Why We Shop: The Neuropsychology of Consumption, it is explained that shopping releases a dose of Dopamine, a natural feel good chemical your body produces that makes you instantly happy.
After a customer has purchased from you, chances are they are going to be experiencing this shopping high. You can use this to your advantage; ask them to share their purchase on their social networks.
In her book, Friendfluence, Carlin Flora explains the value of friends and just how much they impact our lives, so much so that we are extremely influenced by the decisions they make. So its only natural that we would appreciate and be influenced by the purchases they make. This is why it’s extremely important to encourage social sharing as it can refer consumers friends and family back to your store.
This friend referring can result in major sales. According to a study by the Wharton School Of Business, referred customers spend 16% more than those who visit your store without a recommendation. With a 16% increase in the average order value you cannot afford not to implement this.
Here is an example using Payfirma social receipts.
Cross Selling
1. “Would you like to make that into a combo?”
2. “Would you like to supersize your meal?”
Which would you say is a cross sell? People tend to get cross selling and upselling confused all the time. Cross selling is a sales tactic that you would use to entice your customers to add on to a purchase.
Upselling is the sales tactic of convincing a consumer that they need to purchase an upgrade that usually has more features and is more expensive.
So which tactic is cross selling? If you guessed 1 you would be correct. You see this on eCommerce stores all the time. Toronto Flower Company, an online flower shop, does a great job of cross selling.
Notice that in addition to bouquets, Toronto Flower Company suggests additional add ons such as a fuller bouquet, a vase, balloons and even chocolates.
You can think of cross selling as an “online sales associate” suggesting items to go with the product your customers are already purchasing. Sometimes a customer purchases the cross selling suggestions and sometimes they wont. However, if a customer decides to hold off on purchasing the suggestion, that does not mean the cross selling has to end there.
If a customer has had a good experience buying from you chances are they will return again at some point. Encourage them to come back by cross selling right on the receipt! Perhaps they wanted to purchase a cross sell but needed a bit more time to think about it. Placing items on the receipt might be the gentle push they need to return.
An example of this great tactic can be found by Receiptful, an email receipt software.
Discount Incentive
Who doesn’t love a discount? I used to work in retail and around the holidays the company I worked for would run a promotion that if a customer spent over a certain amount they would receive a coupon card that they could come back and use during a window of time in January.
It was to fight the after holiday slump that retailers despise and by implementing this strategy they were able to combat that slump. Not all customers came back but a large percent did, resulting in repeat customers.
Relying on a discount to entice customers to come back may seem a bit counter-intuitive as you want customers to spend as much as possible. However, even with a discount you have the possible advantage of a customer spending more. Repeat customers spend 67% more money than a new customer.
You want to create brand loyalists and can do this by using discounts to show gratitude to your customers for purchasing from you. It could be for a dollar discount, percentage-based amount or free shipping.
Feedback
Does customer service really effect sales to the point where you want to ask for feedback on a receipt? Absolutely.
Your customers are the backbone of your business, without them your business wouldn’t even exist. Every customer wants to feel appreciated, especially when they are parting with their hard earned money. There are two reasons why you would want to ask for feedback right away.
Studies show that 89% of customers have stopped doing business with a company because they experienced poor customer service. You need to address an issue right away, you do not want a bad experience to escalate. This could lead to bad reviews being spread about you across social media and review sites.
A good experience however results in the exact opposite. You want your company to be known as one that offers exceptional customer service. This kind of reputation earns you new customers, creates repeat customers and increase sales. 66% of consumers will spend more money, 13% more on average, with a company that provides great customer service. So, if you know you’re giving your customers great service, ask them to tell others!
Takeaway
As a growing business you don’t want to leave any stone unturned and email receipts are definitely a new and unique way that you should be taking advantage of to increase sales.
What email receipt tactics have you used in the past? Have you had any success with them? We want to know!