eReceipt Buying Guide: Top 10 Considerations for Maximizing Your Investment
Transactional communications are one of the most effective ways for brands to engage with their customers. According to Litmus, 64% of consumers consider transaction confirmations as the most valuable messages in their inbox. In fact, Experian reports that transactional messages have 8x more opens and clicks than any other type of email and can generate 6x more revenue than other emails. With such high consumer interest and attention, merchants offering eReceipts stand to reap significant benefits including boosts in customer loyalty, retention, and sales.
Selecting the right eReceipt vendor for your business will allow you to generate the greatest possible return on investment. Here are the ten most important factors to consider when evaluating an eReceipt solution.
Be sure your eReceipt provider offers:
#1 – Brand-Right Messages
According to Salesforce, 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. Brand-right transactional communications provide a consistent experience and reinforce consumer affinity and trust in the brand. Ensure your digital receipts match your brand persona and are consistent with the look and feel of your brand so that customers consider your eReceipts as a natural extension of your brand.
#2 – Dynamic Personalization
Today’s consumers expect to receive relevant communications. According to lnfogroup, 44% of customers are willing to switch brands if that brand does a better job with personalization. Ensure your digital receipts include dynamic, personalized content based on who the customer is, what they have purchased, and what they may be likely to purchase in the future. Doing so will drive more engagement and incremental sales.
#3 – Rich and Responsive HTML Emails
Flat email receipts with PDF attachments or standard eReceipts containing little interactive and personalized content suppress conversion rates and prevent merchants from capitalizing on engagement opportunities. Also, eReceipts not designed with responsive HTML prevent customers from responding to them on mobile devices. According to a survey by BlueHornet, 70% of consumers delete emails that don’t render well on mobile devices.
#4 – Multi-language Support
Retailers today operate across a number of countries and continents. In the United States alone, 13% of the population speaks Spanish (according to Babbel) and 20% of U.S. residents’ first language is something other than English. Providing eReceipts in multiple languages can help merchants engage the broadest possible audiences with their post-sale messages.
#5 – Delivery in Seconds
Customers are accustomed to receiving receipts instantly. eReceipts delivered minutes or even hours after the customer has requested it results in a poor experience. When choosing a provider, confirm the speed at which their eReceipts are delivered. Engaging customers with personalized, brand-right content immediately after the sale is also an important factor in the overall success of the program.
#6 – One Solution for All Transactional Communications
eReceipts are just one of several important transactional communications your customers receive. Solution providers able to automate personalization across printed receipts, packing slips and e-commerce notifications allow merchants to engage customers in more consistent and progressive ways, which lead to better results. One solution means one vendor and a single, unified strategy for all your transactional touch points.
#7 – Scalability
Whether you have 30 or 3,000 stores, finding an eReceipt vendor that can dynamically scale up or down with your business is critical for long-term success. Scalability ensures a consistent post-sale experience for every customer no matter what store they visit.
#8 – A Fully-Managed Option
Your team’s time is limited and valuable. A fully-managed option means that your eReceipt program is actively monitored and optimized by experts to meet your goals. With a fully-managed program, you only need a single point of contact and timely check-ins to ensure your eReceipts remain in sync with your other marketing.
#9 – A Direct API with your Point of Sales System(s)
Direct API access allows for the seamless and secure transfer of multiple levels of deidentified purchase data which translates into more ways to personalize your messages. Selecting a vendor with direct native Integration partnerships will allow you to be up in running in weeks versus months. Native integrations also ensure a speedier checkout process for customers. So, with 65% of consumers now willing cut ties with brands over a single poor customer service experience, it’s not worth the risk.
#10 – The Ability to Expand Your Audiences
A recent survey by Profit Well reveals that the cost of customer acquisition is going up. Vendors that proactively look for ways to connect your POS data with your marketing efforts to help you retain the customers your just acquired can help to stabilize CAC (customer acquisition costs) by keeping them as an active customer verses messaging to them as a new customer.
CONSIDER FLEXENGAGE
flexEngage helps turn standard receipts, packing slips and e-commerce notifications into personalized marketing channels that drive loyalty and revenue. Let us build sample receipts for your brand.