Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How One Brand Uses Post-Purchase SMS to Double Repeat Rate
Transcript
- Lucas: So we get a lot of questions from listeners about the channels that actually move the needle on repeat purchases. And one I keep coming back to is post-purchase SMS. Luna: Really? Because I feel like SMS is this channel everyone talks about but few execute well. Most brands just blast a promotional text and call it a day. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the problem. Post-purchase SMS is different. It's not about selling — at least not first. It's about timing and utility. I want to walk through a specific case from a DTC apparel brand that overhauled their post-purchase flow and doubled their repeat purchase rate in about six months. Luna: Double? That's huge. What did they change? Lucas: They added two SMS touchpoints. The first goes out 24 hours after delivery confirmation. It's purely transactional: 'Hey, we hope your order arrived okay. Here's a link to track returns or exchanges if needed. Reply HELP for support.' That's it. No promo, no upsell. Luna: So they're basically affirming the delivery and lowering anxiety. Smart. Lucas: Right. And the second message goes out exactly seven days after delivery. That one has a soft ask: 'Loved your purchase? Here's 15 percent off your next order. Use code THANKS15.' But the key is that it also includes a link to their loyalty program sign-up. Luna: And those two messages alone doubled repeat rate? No other changes? Lucas: That's what they attribute it to. They A/B tested it against their existing flow, which was a single email at day three. The SMS sequence had a 34 percent click-through rate on the day-after message and a 23 percent conversion rate on the seven-day offer. Their repeat purchase rate went from 18 percent to 36 percent over the test period. Luna: Those numbers are insane. But I have to push back a little — doesn't SMS feel intrusive? I know some people get annoyed by text messages from brands. Lucas: It can, absolutely. But this brand solved that with opt-in. They only send SMS to customers who explicitly opted in during checkout. And the content is strictly value-first. The first message is genuinely helpful — it's about returns, which is a top customer need. The second offers a discount. Neither is spammy. Luna: So the consent piece is non-negotiable. And the timing — 24 hours and 7 days — feels very intentional. Why those specific windows? Lucas: The 24-hour window catches the moment when most customers have unboxed the product and might be thinking about fit or quality. If they're happy, that's a positive brand touchpoint. If they're not, you're making returns easy. The seven-day window is when the initial excitement has worn off but the product is still top of mind. It's the perfect moment to nudge a second purchase. Luna: It also gives the customer time to actually wear or use the product before receiving a discount offer. That makes the offer feel earned, not desperate. Lucas: Exactly. And here's another thing — they measured incremental lift by comparing the test group against a control group that received no SMS at all. The control group's repeat rate was 15 percent. The SMS group hit 36 percent. So the lift was real, not just seasonal or coincidental. Luna: That's a 21 percentage point lift. Most email programs would kill for that. What did they do about message fatigue? Did they cap the number of messages per customer? Lucas: Great question. They limited the sequence to just those two messages per purchase cycle. No follow-up after that unless the customer opted into a separate promotional stream. And they also suppressed anyone who had purchased within the last 30 days, so they weren't hitting frequent buyers with the same sequence. Luna: That makes sense. You don't want to reward your most loyal customers with a 15 percent discount — that just trains them to wait for a coupon. Lucas: Right. So they actually excluded customers who had made three or more purchases in the last 90 days. For that group, they sent a different message — something like 'We noticed you're a regular. Here's early access to our new arrivals.' No discount, just access. Luna: So they're segmenting by purchase frequency and tailoring the offer accordingly. That's the kind of nuance most brands miss. Lucas: Absolutely. And the results show that nuance pays off. Their overall customer lifetime value increased by about 28 percent for the sms exposed cohort compared to the control. Luna: Alright, I'm convinced. But for a smaller brand without a big tech stack, how do they actually set this up? What tools are we talking about? Lucas: You don't need a bespoke platform. Most email service providers — Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend — have SMS add-ons now. The key is to set up a triggered flow based on delivery confirmation. If you're using Shopify or WooCommerce, there are apps that integrate directly. You can be up and running in an afternoon. Luna: And what about compliance? TCPA and all that? Lucas: Big one. You need express written consent. That means an unchecked checkbox at checkout, not pre-checked. And you need to provide clear opt-out instructions in every message — 'Reply STOP to unsubscribe.' The brand we looked at had a 0.3 percent opt-out rate, which tells me the messages were well-received. Luna: Low opt-out is a good proxy for value. If people aren't leaving, you're probably doing it right. Lucas: Yeah. And they also tracked something called 'negative sentiment' — messages like 'stop' or 'unsubscribe' in replies. That was under 1 percent. Compare that to email, where unsubscribe rates for promotional campaigns can be 2-3 percent. Luna: So SMS, when done right, can actually feel more personal and less annoying than email. That's counterintuitive but I buy it. Lucas: It's because SMS has higher expectations. People guard their phone number more than their email. So when you send a text that's genuinely useful, it stands out. That's why the click-through rates are so much higher than email. Luna: Speaking of which, I know our listeners love concrete numbers. What was the average order value for the repeat purchases from that SMS sequence? Lucas: It was 22 percent higher than the average first order. So not only did more people come back, they spent more when they did. The discount didn't cannibalize margin because the repeat customers also had a lower return rate — 8 percent versus 14 percent for first-time buyers. Luna: That's the real story — retention customers are better customers across the board. Higher spend, fewer returns, lower acquisition cost over time. Lucas: Exactly. And the beauty of this is that it's almost entirely automated. Once you set the flow, it runs on autopilot. That's why I think this is such a high-leverage play for any brand selling physical products. Luna: And I want to double down on something you said earlier — the first message being purely transactional. So many brands try to sell in that first touchpoint and it backfires. Lucas: Yeah, that's a common mistake. The first post-purchase message should never be a pitch. It should be service. The brand we studied actually tested a version where the day-after message included a 'complete the look' recommendation and the click-through rate dropped to 11 percent. People are in service mode, not shopping mode. Luna: That's a great data point. So the principle is: earn the right to sell later by being helpful first. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a principle that applies way beyond SMS — it's true for email, push notifications, even direct mail. Luna: You know, for a show that's all about retention marketing, I think this is one of the most actionable episodes we've done. The barrier to entry is low, the ROI is measurable, and the execution is straightforward. Lucas: I'm glad you feel that way. And I think it's worth mentioning — if these conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own business, that's exactly why we keep the show ad-free. Listener support is what makes that possible. If you've gotten value from episodes like this one, you can toss a coffee our way at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it genuinely helps us keep doing deep dives like this. No pressure, just if it's made a difference for you. Lucas: Alright, back to the tactics. One more thing I want to mention — they also tested a third message at day 30, a 'we miss you' type, and it didn't move the needle. The lift came entirely from the first two. So don't over-engineer it. Luna: That's a good lesson. Sometimes less really is more. So the optimal flow for most brands would be: day 1 service message, day 7 offer, and then stop unless they opt into a newsletter or something. Lucas: Exactly. And measure everything. Use UTM parameters, unique promo codes, and compare against a holdout group. Without the control, you won't know if the lift is real. Luna: Alright, I think we've given listeners a solid framework to test. Any final tips? Lucas: Just one: make sure your SMS provider supports two-way messaging. If a customer replies with a question, you want to be able to respond. That builds trust and reduces support tickets. Luna: Good point. Thanks, Lucas. I'm definitely going to recommend this to a few brands I work with. Lucas: Anytime. And if any of you listening try this, let us know how it goes. We'd love to feature your results on a future episode.