Transactional Emails: A Little ‘Thank You’ Goes A Long Way

Many businesses think of email primarily as a marketing channel, with transactional emails such as purchase receipts and delivery notifications coming a close second. But what about the ‘thank you’ email, the recognition that a customer has taken something out of their day (time, money, attention) to interact with you, and that their generosity is appreciated?

A ‘thank you’ email increases trust and loyalty directly after a sale, especially when it’s unexpected and memorable. Some retailers choose to send theirs separately to order confirmations; others broadcast ‘thank you’ emails to their mailing lists independently of a purchase, just to reward subscribers for being on the list. However you choose to send yours, make sure it's likely to be opened and hit the mark.

As an act, the gesture is inherently social (and therefore inherently important - social is a big concerns for online retailers nowadays) but the benefits aren’t just holistic; they’re financial too. ‘Thank you’ emails can be designed to increase sales and brand interactions. Use them to include links to pages that recipients are likely to find relevant: social networks; contact forms; sale, clearance and related items.

You can even include a link for new customers to sign-up to your newsletter if they haven’t registered already, making the humble ‘thank you’ email even more of a business building tool.

Who said it was just 'polite' to have good manners?