The Ultimate Guide to Thank You Notes for Ecommerce

Quick question.

How often do you send simple thank you notes to your ecommerce store customers?

Wait, don't tell us…never?

Well, what if we told you that by simply saying thanks to your customers, you can completely change the way your brand is perceived. Heck, you can even supercharge your ROAS in the process.

Yeah, you read that right. It's good 'ol fashion customer service at its best.

The most basic thank you notes for ecommerce go a long way in delighting your customers—and delighting your customers mean they'll remember you.

Now imagine what a personalized, hand-written thank you note can do. On a minimum, it'll make your customers feel truly loved and appreciated. Combine a thank you note with a custom envelope, and you've got a first impression that simply cannot be bettered.

In this article, we'll explore the power of a simple thank you note and how it helps increase customer loyalty, brand affinity, and even generate word of mouth.

Ready? Let's dive right in!

The Simple Power of Thank You Notes

Emily Post, the queen of etiquette, describes the power of a handwritten thank you note in this day and age:

"In an increasingly informal digital world, continuing to pull out pen and paper is a way to distinguish yourself. The handwritten thank-you note speaks volumes simply as a medium and sends the message that you care enough to invest yourself personally in acknowledging another."

Many of us wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for the guidance, support, and good-will of others. It's their input that keeps us going and makes our lives a tad bit bearable. If you're in the ecommerce space, those "others" are none other than your customers.

Here's the thing: you wouldn't have made half the strides you've made today if it weren't for the continued support and input of your customers. It's that simple.

Part of what makes ecommerce thank you notes so powerful is their inherent ability to roll the elements of surprise and delight into one beautiful package. It takes customer experience to a whole different level.

When your customers know they make a noteworthy difference in your brand, they feel super empowered. It increases their emotional investment in you and makes them feel like they're family. And as you probably know by now, modern buyers—a whopping 83%—are more likely to purchase from a brand they have an emotional connection with.

Now, a thank you note can be a simple postcard acknowledgment or an even more special handwritten card. It's what you write in there that matters. Personalize it with a well-thought-out message, and you'll be well on your way to winning your customers hearts (and you know what they say about a person in love?).

Just a few ways your company benefits from delighting customers with a simple thank you note:

A chance to standout. Facts: there's very little gratitude in the DTC realm.

Customer loyalty. According to the Harvard Business Review, loyalty is costly to buy. So why not retain the customers you already have instead?

Repeat sales. When a customer feels truly appreciated and loved, they're more likely to buy from you again (and again).

More profitable customers. Satisfied customers spend more on average—at least that's what research says.

An opportunity to passively advertise your brand through word-of-mouth marketing. Buyers will almost always talk positively about a brand that appreciates them. In fact, 92% of customers consider recommendations from friends and family as the most credible forms of advertising. Guess what that means? More leads and higher referral rates, of course!

So far, so good. Let's now shift gears and look at how you can implement thank you notes for customers today (it's no rocket science, we promise).

Four Tried-and-Tested Ways to Implement Thank You Notes for Customers

While creativity and personalization set the stage for delight, at the end of the day, you'll still need a few ideas to act on.

Fret not—we've got plenty of those. Here are four ways you can implement thank you notes for ecommerce:

1. Use them to welcome new customers

New customers are a tricky lot. One wrong gesture and they quickly turn their back on your brand like they've been waiting for it.

Save yourself all that hassle by sending personalized thank you notes that, first, thanks them for their initial commitment, and secondly, rubberstamps your intention to guide them through them the whole process. Nothing fascinates a new client quite like a warm, from-the-heart note that's been sent early on in the purchase journey.

This is especially true for high-value customers who—dare we say?—love attention. They want to know that you care and that you'd do everything possible to retain (and impress) them. And they want that VIP treatment from the get-go. Now, you wouldn't want the next big fish in your purchase "net" to swim away simply because you couldn't make the bait enticing enough, would you?

2. Can be triggered or included directly in a package

You do your own fulfillment, have an awesome product, and even got some stunning packaging to match. That's great. But what else could your ecommerce brand do to make your customers go gaga about your offering?

That's right—include customized thank you notes with your packaging. Even better, set them up in such a way that they can be triggered from all your favorite apps when, say, a customer makes a purchase from your online store. And for less than the cost of attracting a new customer.

3. Use them to appreciate VIPs

Every DTC business has those extra-special, extra-valuable, VIP customers. They're the ones who've hit lofty thresholds (i.e. made over X purchases, spent over $Y) and the ones worth rolling out the red carpet for.

In the digital world, though, red carpets are a mere fantasy. So what's the next best thing to do? Sending ecommerce thank you notes, of course! They're sweet to the core and are probably the only thing missing in your VIP customers' otherwise stacked, emotion-deprived mailboxes.

4. Send them in form of swag

People say it's the thought that counts. Clearly, those people weren't talking about swag. It's the perfect way to express gratitude to your customers without actually putting pen to paper. And if you thought swag is expensive, you thought wrong. While it's inherently not as cheap as sending thank you notes, it's not expensive either.

Best of all, the swag you give out will most certainly make its way out of your clients' office (think: a customized water bottle, an executive pen, or a brand-inspired backpack). In an age where customer referrals are the magic wand of marketing, swag goes a long way.

Ecommerce Thank You Notes Examples to Show Customers You Truly Care

All said and done, we'd remiss if we didn't show you a few brands that truly walked the talk.

To that end, we've hunted down five examples of customer thank you notes from top ecommerce brands and analyzed what make them great. Use them to inspire your own DTC marketing to do one thing and one thing only—craft ecommerce thank you notes that keep customers coming back for more.

Drumroll, please…

1. Thank You for Your Order Example—ZULZ Bag Co

Sometimes, the best way to say thank you is by skipping the fluff and going straight to the point. And that's exactly what ZULZ Bag Co do with their ecommerce thank you notes. Their cards have a simple yet distinctive "Thank You" inscribed boldly at the front, and boy do they get the job done!

2. Thank You for Your Purchase Example—John's Crazy Socks

What better way to say "Thank you for your purchase" than placing a handwritten thank you note right inside an order? Ecommerce giant John's Crazy Socks understands the value of building legitimate customer connections from the onset, and they manage to pull that off countless times with their personalized handwritten thank you notes.

Thank you note
Thank You for Your Purchase Example—John's Crazy Socks

Their notes read something like:

"Thank you. I hope you loved the socks."

(Insert signature here)

This is the perfect tone to strike in a thank you note for customers: appreciative, succinct, and authentic.

3. Thank You for Your Ongoing Support Example—Stride

Once your customer has become a staunch follower of your brand, that's surely the end of the story, right? Not quite.

If you're able to send subsequent thank you notes, do just that. A simple "thank you for your ongoing support" postcard can serve as a subtle reminder of your unwavering appreciation for your client. And who doesn't love a sweet I-am-thinking-about-you note written from the heart?

Thank You for Your Ongoing Support Example—Stride

This note from Stride is a great example of an ongoing support thank you note done right. It starts with "Howdy," and goes on to say nice things like "You = Awesome."—complete with a smiley face.

Here's the note as it first appeared to the customer:

"Howdy

Just sending a note to let you know

That we love you. Thanks so much

for being a Stride customer!

You = Awesome

If you ever need anything, give us a holler

Much love,

The Stride Crew"

4. Milestone Thank You Note Example—L'Occitane

Another essential type of ecommerce thank you notes is those that celebrate your customers' milestones. After all, nothing says you appreciate someone like a personal message on their special day. A perfect example of this would be this personalized birthday note from skincare brand L'Occitane:

"Happy birthday, Jared. Working with you has always been a pleasure. May all your dreams come true! We're looking forward to continuing our relationship with you this year. Cheers"

It's short, sweet, and doesn't attempt to go overboard with fluff-filled wording or dry jokes. So, if you are sending milestone thank you notes to your VIP customers, you already know where to start (wink!).

5. Package Inserts Thank You Note Example—Frank Body

Frank Body brand is bold, to the point, and all about beautiful bodies. It includes a package insert with its body scrum orders that reinforces the brand and puts it top of mind for customers.

"to be frank, I'm a simple coffee scrub

and I can't wait to be on you

get naked, get dirty

get rough, get clean

here I am, the original frank, soak up

all of my essential oils, minerals, and

my special coffee blend.

to be used morning or night at your

leisure, I'll target dry, flaky skin

as well as cellulite, stretch marks,

and other skin imperfections.

are you ready, babe?"

How about that for a package insert that kills two birds with one stone?

Remember that you need to customize each one of these ecommerce thank you note examples for your specific situation. But they should help if you're stuck.

Surely, that's all there is to know about the subtle art of not creating mediocre thank you notes, right?

Wrong.

There's one more thing you need to know. One more.

And that's the fact that you can't get it right—the first time—without the right thank you note automation partner on hand.

So esteemed DTC marketers, meet PostPilot, your secret weapon for crafting WOW, ROAS-pumping ecommerce thank you notes. Friends, it's now or never.

How to Implement & Automate Your Thank You Notes With PostPilot

Think of PostPilot as your own personal robot secretary.

A robot, you ask?

Heck, yeah!

Our cards are handwritten by our proprietary robots. Not printed. Not copy-pasted. Not shipped from way back in time. It's all human, all natural, all real. We use real pens with real ink to write your cards exactly how you'd want them. Here's the cherry on the icing: even the envelope itself is handwritten. Yep, you read that right.

And it all happens in 3 easy steps:

• Upload your recipients or connect to Shopify store or CRM

• Pick stationery from our designs, upload your own, or have our pros create a complimentary custom branded design for your business

• Type a personalized message, and leave the rest to our able robots (You can save it as a template so it's always handy).

The end result is a string of irresistible business outcomes:

Tons more leads and sales—handwritten notes have a 96% open rate. Email? Not even worthy to lace handwritten notes' boots.

• Countless, memorable moments—expect your brand's name to spread around like wildfire the moment you contract us

• Repeat business, revamped—repeat purchases=consistent profit stream=repeat business=massive customer LTV. And that's what we do best here at PostPilot. Don't believe us? Check out our case studies to learn how Ezra and Boom used our solution to drive 2,600% ROI.

That's not even the best part. We offer printed postcards and handwritten cards that can both fully automated to send thank you notes based on behavior, such as when a customer makes their 5th purchase or spends over $500 in total. Put delivering a delightful, VIP experience on autopilot.

Try our postcard marketing automation platform today, risk-free!

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