SMS is a great marketing tool. But a good SMS strategy shouldn’t stop when the customer checks out. SMS is also a great customer service and retention tool. Here are some ways that SMS can help customers after the purchase. 

1. General Customer Support

Picture this: Your customer bought a makeup kit, tried it and didn’t like the color. They need recommendations about which palette they should try next based on their skin tone. 

In a retail store, they can ask the person at the beauty counter. But what to do if they are shopping online with the same questions? Assisted commerce provides that experience by offering assistance through chat. 

The first line of defense is a chatbot. Chatbots can process multiple requests simultaneously (AI is 125,000 times faster than a human brain), answering routine inquiries and providing general information.

Chatbots don’t take breaks, don’t need lunch, and can provide 24/7/365 assistance. They can help the customer when the customer is online, regardless of what time of day or night they are shopping. 

As soon as a visitor arrives on your site, a chatbot says hello, and offers any assistance required. They seamlessly transfer the customer to a live agent when more personalized help is needed. 

The live agent then helps the person find the perfect product and adds it to their cart for checkout. 

2. Shipping Updates

Thirty-five percent of people canceled their order because delivery was going to take too long, according to research from Statista (linked above). 

SMS is a great way to keep customers updated on the progress of their shipment. In fact, a survey by Simple Texting found that about 47% of respondents wanted to receive shipment notifications by text, while 50% wanted appointment reminders and 49% wanted to engage by text for customer service.

Sending updates when the order is received and has shipped is a great way to keep customers happy. Including the tracking number with the shipping information allows them to follow the progress, and can build excitement, especially if you include update messages. 

Also, customers want to know where their goods are, and if you don’t tell them, they will clog your customer service lines looking for updates. 

On the flip side, if there are delays, customers appreciate being kept up-to-date on the reason and the expected shipment date. Around holiday time, many purchases are intended as gifts for others, and if it’s going to arrive too late, they need to know to make other arrangements. 

While it’s not great for the ROI, offering customers the option of canceling all or part of an order that has been delayed builds goodwill, and often, customers will be happy to wait.

3. Refunds/Exchanges

Customers returned $428 billion in merchandise in 2020. While e-commerce is convenient, one of the drawbacks is not being able to try on a garment or see a product up close, and even the best photograph has its limits. 

Returns, refunds and exchanges are inevitable in e-commerce, and how you handle the process can build great customer loyalty or sever the relationship.

If customers can start the process via SMS or chat, that can save a number of steps. During this time, you might even try to save a sale by offering alternative options to the product they bought based on the reason they are returning it. 

To make the return go smoother using a messaging channel: 

• A customer can contact a brand via a chat function online (be it website or social). 
• The brand can initiate a refund immediately, including generating a return shipping label.
• The customer receives updates via SMS when return is received and refund or exchange is processed.

Especially during the holiday shopping season, no one wants to wait for their refund before purchasing an alternative or replacement product. Messaging lets customers know where they are in the refund process. 

To sum it all up: Good customer service doesn’t end when the purchase is complete. In fact, how a company deals with customers after the buy can determine whether the customer returns for future purchases.