E-Commerce Basics: Shipping Is A Personalized Marketing Tool

If you are not taking advantage of your shipping process being a marketing tool, you should. What better way to get in front of your customer, than when they open the box to get their item. Your audience is temporarily captive and they will be less likely to throw your marketing materials away without at least looking at it briefly (unlike email marketing).

Besides the item(s) that you are shipping, here are some additional things you can include with your packaging materials to encourage repeat business:

1. Include a coupon for a customer to redeem on their next visit (Its cheaper to market to existing customers than to find new ones). A test shows that 30 day coupons work best as there is a sense of urgency to act on the coupon before it expires.

2. Have samples? If so always include one. Even if they don’t use it, it gives the perception of added value as customers like freebies. Sometimes I include lower valued products that I have not been able to move successfully as a free gift. It helps me free up warehouse space and helps make an impression on my customers.

3. A copy of your last newsletter if you have one. What better way to promote your email newsletter than to print out a copy and include it with your shipment. If it provides value, you may find your newsletter mailing list increasing in size over time. Sometimes seeing what they get before they sign up helps eliminate a customer’s fear of being spammed.

4. Include an article or tutorial if it applies. One example of this that I experienced as a customer was a how-to article someone included when I ordered a GPS runner’s watch. It was a 3rd party article that helped show me some extra features of the watch that I may not have took the time to learn about. It reenforced the sale. As a customer, I appreciated it. It supported my decision as a buyer and possible helped prevent against buyer’s remorse and a possible return.

5. A hand-written thank you note. Write these out in advance and include them with your package. It will set you apart from 99.8% of the other online merchants.

6. An invoice with your logo on it. Its just another way for the customer to burn an imprint of your business name in their brain. Its amazing how many invoices I receive that do not have a logo on it, or even the company name.

Anytime you correspond with a customer, especially when you ship product to them, take advantage of the situation and over time you should see some improvement in your repeat customer retention rates.