How Replenishment Email Campaigns Increase Customer Engagement

It’s no secret that it costs less to retain an existing customer than to find a new one. In fact, according to Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can yield a profit increase of between 25% and 95%! This is particularly relevant for products or services that users need to replenish on a periodic basis.

When customers are reminded of their need to replenish, they’re more likely to come back and do business with you again. This article will describe what an email replenishment campaign is, how to build a cohesive email replenishment campaign–including data configuration and email design–and conclude with a description of tools offered by Zeta Global’s email marketing platform that can help you craft a replenishment email.

What is an email replenishment campaign?

A replenishment email campaign is an automated email program that sends messages to customers at predetermined intervals with offers for replenishment of their product or service. This is especially useful for businesses selling consumable products such as food, beverages, pet care, beauty and health items, etc. The replenishment emails are designed to remind the customer that they need to replenish their product before it runs out, so they don’t have to do without. These emails should also make it easy for the customer to make a purchase, with clickable links or buttons.

Why replenishment campaigns are so important

Replenishment campaigns are important for businesses because they help to increase customer loyalty and engagement. They show the customer that you care about their satisfaction, not just your own bottom line. They also allow businesses to capture data on how often customers replenish certain products and can be used to optimise replenishment cycles in order to improve sales and profits. Finally, replenishment email campaigns make it easier for customers to order replenishment items and reduce the amount of effort required by them to do so.

Recent eCommerce statistics further illustrate the importance of replenishment campaigns to businesses. Key figures include the following:

• 41% of the average eCommerce store’s total revenue comes from only 8% of their customers (who are likely repeat purchasers).
• Repeat customers–those who have made at least two purchases from your store, are nine times as likely to purchase again than a first-time customer.
• Repeat customers also spend triple the amount on average than first time customers.

These numbers further emphasise the notion that retaining existing customers pays off much more than targeting new customers. Repeat customers are where serious profits can be made.

How to build a cohesive email replenishment campaign

Building a cohesive email replenishment campaign involves configuring data triggers for when the email should be sent and designing the content of the message itself.

Configure your data

The first part of configuring your data is to configure your triggers. Set product-based replenishment pipelines by setting replenishment triggers based on product categories, sales history and even customer preferences. For example, you can use data to determine how often customers normally purchase the product. This will help you schedule replenishment emails for times that are most relevant to your customer’s predicted purchasing habits.

It’s also important to ensure these emails only go to customers who have purchased a product but have not yet repurchased the same product.

Design your replenishment email

When designing the message itself, make sure to clearly explain why replenishment is necessary and how it will benefit the customer (e.g., convenience or savings). The goal of replenishment emails is to remind customers they need to replenish their product and make it easy for them to do so. To accomplish this, ensure all replenishment emails clearly identify the product and its replenishing needs as well as providing a clear call-to-action, such as a link or button customers can click on to purchase the product.

Include an image of the product in the email itself so customers can easily recognise what item it is they need to replenish. You may also want to include customer reviews and testimonials for the products being replenished in order to build trust with customers who may have purchased the product once but are still not super familiar with it.

By including time-sensitive promos or discounts, replenishment emails will give customers an extra incentive to replenish the product now rather than later. Also look for any upsell or cross-sell opportunities. For example, if customers replenish a shampoo product, you could suggest they replenish their conditioner at the same time.

Replenishment email best practices

By applying the following best practices and using the right replenishment email tool, you can ensure success in your replenishment email program and increase customer engagement.

• Identify products that are replenishable: Determine which of your products need replenishment and at what frequency.
• Set replenishment schedules: Set replenishment reminders for each product based on how often customers replenish them.
• Always make sure to use customer-centric language in replenishment emails. This will help customers feel like they are being taken care of rather than being bombarded with sales messages.
• Personalise replenishment emails by using real customer names.
• Make it easy for customers to recognise which product is being replenished by including an image or description of the product.
• Include special promos and discounts to incentivise replenishing now rather than later.
• Test and adjust: Monitor customer engagement to see how effective your replenishment campaigns are and make adjustments as needed.
• Choose the right replenishment tool: Find a replenishment email solution that allows you to customise your replenishment emails, so they have the greatest impact.

Improve your Email Marketing Performance with Zeta Global

By leveraging replenishment email campaigns, businesses can easily increase customer engagement and improve their bottom line. Zeta Global’s email marketing platform provides the tools to craft replenishment emails that are personalised to each customer’s needs and preferences, as well as A/B test capabilities to make sure these replenishment emails are effective. You can even utilise your data points from your Customer Data Platform (CDP) to create a clean replenishment funnel.