How online shops can better support customers after they complete their purchases

A “thank you” alone is not enough. Find out here why a thank you page is very important for every mail-order company and how the page can be optimized.

If the customer has completed the payment process and has progressed to the thank you page, this is a clear sign to the retailer that the customer likes their offer. Now the goal must be to continue to hold on to the customer.

What the thank you page means for customers

The fundamental purpose of thank you pages is to inform users whether or not their orders have been placed successfully. It is essential for customers to complete their online purchases with a good feeling. What appears on the screen after clicking the payment button is crucial for them. In the see-think-do-care framework, the customer is already in the care phase once the purchase has been made. The thank you page therefore enjoys particular attention and offers major potential for customer loyalty measures and additional sales (Advidera, 2020 – page in German).

Make thank you pages work for you

The following measures can make a significant contribution to customer loyalty and satisfaction, as well to promoting sales:

Show your customer what will happen next

Simply by clearly outlining the next steps on the thank you page can have a positive impact on customers. This minor measure can contribute to a successful customer experience and to customer satisfaction. The thank you page can refer to a confirmation e-mail that includes the order confirmation and delivery details. This printable e-mail gives customers additional certainty and is very popular. The thank you page can also state directly when the order is expected to be delivered, where the consignment status can be viewed and what options the purchaser has to manage the delivery. The thank you page should also provide the opportunity to contact the sender (Advidera, 2020 – page in German).

The transparency of the shipping process and the ability to receive input from the customer is crucial, as shown by the following three Swiss Post study results.

1. The 2019 recipient customer satisfaction study shows that full-time workers in particular find it very important to be able to choose a delivery time slot. Knowledge about delivery time slots for parcel deliveries is becoming more and more important.
2. In delivery, transparency is more important than speed: groups young and old ranked the following delivery options as very important: track and trace, advance notice of receipt of consignments and delivery on a preferred date (E-commerce trend indicator 2019).
3. Swiss Post customers who use the “My consignments” online service are more satisfied than those who do not use the option. People who use the consignment overview under “My consignments” find out the time slot of a parcel delivery sooner and are more satisfied with Swiss Post overall and with the delivery of parcels than other individuals (recipient customer satisfaction study 2019).

Invite your customers to your members’ area

Despite feelings of happiness about the purchase they have made, customers often experience a phase of doubt or regret after shopping online, especially when high-priced or emotional purchasing decisions are involved. Psychologists often use the term “buyer’s remorse” to describe this feeling (Web Arts, 2017 – page in German). Customers require positive reinforcement to counteract these feelings. This might include a message congratulating the customer on their purchase, or emphasising the advantages of the product. Positive reinforcement by a community can also play a supporting role. The thank you page is a very appropriate place to attract users to a members’ area. Good reasons for membership include special services such as payment by invoice, track and trace, faster subsequent orders, saving size profiles or VIP club access with exclusive offers (t3n, 2014 – page in German).

Invite your customers to submit a review and point them to social media pages

This review is mainly important for the psychological effect it has on customers. If they have consciously confirmed that they are satisfied with their purchase, this will become embedded on their minds. Links to social media channels of the online shop should be provided on the thank you page, with the request to “like” purchases you have made. This can also be made in combination with discount offers, in order to boost the recommendation rate (Advidera, 2020 – page in German).

Show your customers additional products and generate additional sales

If the technical system permits it, the shopping basket value can also be boosted by cross-selling or upselling even after the order confirmation has been sent. Adding complementary products to an order, such as batteries when purchasing a torch, is a particularly promising method. These kinds of combinations can of course be displayed even at an earlier stage on the product page. But there may be situations where this option was not yet relevant at this point in the user’s shopping process. Moreover, the concept can only work if the items added later can still be assigned to the same order. The ability to select express delivery or consignment management is a further advantage (Web Arts, 2017 – page in German). It is also the right time to give a gift. The gift could be a voucher code for the customer‘s next purchase (t3n, 2014 – page in German).

In short: a “thanks” on its own is not enough for a positive shopping experience.

A “thanks” on its own is not enough for a positive shopping experience, but the focus needs to remain on the thanking aspect. No matter what measures are carried out on the thank you page, the main purpose cannot be allowed to be forgotten: the “thank you” and the confirmation of the transaction for customers.

It also does not make sense to implement all of the suggested options at the same time. Rather, the first priority should be to identify which goal to focus on – whether it is promoting sales, increasing familiarity with the online shop or boosting customer satisfaction. And last but not least, layout elements also come into play: an attractively designed thank you page has a positive impact on visitors, while boring, confusing and overloaded pages do not provide an incentive for users to spend any more time on the website.