The 4-Part Shopper Journey – Post-Purchase

In this 4-part shopper journey, we address how the proliferation and expanding influence of online touch points has increased the complexity of shopping for everyday people.

The final leg of the shopping journey is the Post-Purchase stage and when done well will encourage future purchases shortened by the Loyalty loop. It is critical to drive and engage in an ongoing conversation around relevance and purpose with Hong Kong and Taiwan online shoppers.

1

Brand loyalty under threat

Brand loyalty as we used to know it as singular devotion to a product or brand, patronized with repeat purchases – is under threat. According to Nielsen Global Consumer Loyalty study, it is found that only 8%of consumers consider themselves committed loyalist to their favorite brands¹ . With the variety of choices presented in consumers’ lives today, coupled with rising spending powers relative to product costs, brand switching becomes effortless and less risky. Across the globe, Asia-Pacific consumers are most experimental² and are willing to switch and try new brands and products³ .

However, while loyalty is under threat, not all is lost. In a research conducted in collaboration with media company Oath, it is noted that there are six universal drivers of brand love⁶ , each deeply rooted in unique and functional benefits that brands can offer to consumers.

It is crucial for brands to meet each driver to arouse brand love amongst shoppers and to reignite opportunities for re-purchases, right after the first purchase is being made. By getting key drivers right, it will also improve brand-shopper relationship where brand love will blossom from thereon.

Exceed immediate post-purchase needs

The key driver of brand love is to go beyond the customers’ expectations and to impress them, and the immediate opportunity that arises after each online purchase is product delivery. As with all shoppers, close to half of Hong Kong and Taiwan online shoppers want to remain updated with relevant and proactive updates around issues related to their orders. It is important for businesses to follow-up with customers even after their purchases, to keep them informed and assured that their purchases will be delivered.

Apart from purchase updates, ensure to keep an open channel for shoppers to connect and have a conversation with your brand – be it to share feedback or to pose questions. As discussed in the previous series of our articles (Part 2 Evaluation , Part 3 Purchase ), conversational commerce has gradually become a staple in consumers’ evaluation and purchase stages, in the form of chatbot messaging and livestreaming sessions. Undoubtedly, conversations with customers should continue even after purchases through the same channels. It serves as an opportunity for brands to make things personal with shoppers and to engage them on a deeper level – unwittingly developing brand trust and brand love.

Keep conversations going even in the long run

In the long run, go beyond by proactively sharing information that matters to consumers. An overwhelming majority of Hong Kong and Taiwan shoppers want brands to stay in touch with them and have indicated an interest to receive brand communications from brands. However, instead of the traditional approach where content is created for the general masses, consider publishing personalized content for individuals to increase engagement rates. It is important to consider the type of audience, data and level of personalization needed.

3

Protect and Use Data Meaningfully

In the pursuit to exceed shoppers’ expectations with personalized content, it also presents a tension between brands and shoppers. To be able to tailor content and outreach requires brands to withhold shoppers’ data. However, the possibilities of data breaches and leakages are troubling Hong Kong and Taiwanese shoppers.

Shoppers are becoming more cautious when sharing personal information and data. They have high expectations for businesses to protect them from fraud, with 2 in 5 Hong Kongers wanting retailers to do more to protect them from fraud¹¹ . It is important for businesses to keep shoppers’ data safe and to earn the right to use it by making sure the data is effectively leveraged to produce meaningful outcomes for the shoppers.

With the availability of shopper data, it can either give businesses a ‘permission to spam at scale’ or it can allow the right businesses to engage shoppers in an authentic way¹² . Ensure to use shoppers’ data in an effective manner – analyze their current purchasing behavior to predict future behaviors or to understand what are the critical push factors that drives purchase. In the world of vast information and limited attention span from shoppers, it is important to engage shoppers with meaningful content that will add value. Avoid sharing content incessantly, or otherwise shoppers will become accustomed to tuning it out and eventually to withdraw permission for businesses to access personal data in the future.

Shoppers increasingly understand the value of their data becoming more cautious of it. By proactively protecting shopper’s data privacy and leveraging it in a meaningfully will allow businesses to build brand trust and eventually to develop brand love.

4

Power in Your Hands

Imagine a world where a brand becomes a shoppers’ friend, who understands each unique individual thoroughly. It will always be there whenever shoppers have a question and to keep up the relationship with meaningful articles that are relevant or even to share prompts whenever shoppers need a replenishment of products. In this future, shopping will no longer be a deliberate activity but rather a meaningful brand-shopper relationship, where shoppers would rely heavily on – just like a friend.

In this final leg of the shopper journey, the power lies with businesses to exceed shopper expectations, to build trust and to develop brand love. It is an opportunity for businesses to set themselves apart from competitors to build long term equity and grow customer lifetime value through an ongoing engagement. Develop a purposeful relationship by effectively using shoppers’ data to analyze their current behaviors and to predict future behaviors, and proactively engaging with them. Ensure to also protect shoppers’ privacy and data, and to use their data in a meaningful manner.

By building the relationship well, shoppers will potentially skip the entire evaluation process and purchase directly from a brand, that is already like a friend that they trust and love.