You are wasting your time on win-back flows
Spend more time on onboarding.
Hi there,
Most startups lose their customers in the beginning, often for D2C brands only 20%-25% of customers come back for a second order. That is a lot to lose.
Sure, building habit loops can prolong retention, but win-back flows can have only a small lift.
Credit: Created together with Thorsten Strauss
Someone who is already out the door ready to leave isn’t as likely to buy again. It will have some lift, but not as much as you might hope.
So what can you do instead?
Focus on providing value in the onboarding process, you’ll not only reduce short-term drop off, but also build long-term trust and loyalty that reduces long-term drop off and churn.
But how can you optimise phase 1 to strengthen long-term retention?
1. Improve ease of purchase and sign-up
Let customers pay with platforms that allow for saved bank details (e.g. Paypal, ApplePay, Klarna), and reduce how much information they actually need to enter when registering if your product is a digital app.
2. Increase speed of wow moment
Indicate value at all stages, from the product page, to the welcome email - and as soon as possible once they’ve purchased your product.
3. Load your email communication with social proof
To reduce purchasing regret and tutorials and guides to help them use the product easily.
4. Create a fun onboarding checklist—either in the app or via email—that includes things to help them get started. This will make a new product less overwhelming and help them know exactly where to start.
Remember, this doesn’t mean you should neglect Phase 2 and 3 of retention. It just means that what you do in phase 1 is more important than you’d think.
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Recommendation
Valentin Radu wrote a great guide on e-commerce user onboarding for DTC brands so has four additional tips for you to continue to improve that stage 1 of retention.
There is so much content out there on onboarding for B2B brands I couldn’t help but get excited when I saw he wrote one for e-commerce brands.
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I always compare a new customer experience to dating. I even got carried away and at one point wrote a whole article on 8 dating mistakes in post-purchase flows. So if we continue the analogy with win-back flows… It's like begging someone who has ghosted you for a while to give you a second chance.
Even if you manage to understand why they ghosted in the first place (which is hard), another date? Even harder.
So first focus on that stage 1 and getting that right, then see if you can get un-ghosted.
Chat soon,
Daphne