What is Post-Purchase Flow?
A post-purchase flow is a sequence of automated communications and experiences delivered to customers after they complete a purchase. It typically includes order confirmations, shipping updates, review requests, cross-sell recommendations, and loyalty program invitations.
Understanding Post-Purchase Flow
The period immediately after a purchase is one of the most underutilized opportunities in e-commerce. Customers are at peak engagement with your brand: they have just committed money, they are excited about their upcoming delivery, and they are most receptive to further interaction. A well-designed post-purchase flow capitalizes on this window to build loyalty, collect reviews, generate referrals, and drive repeat purchases.
The anatomy of a typical post-purchase flow starts with a transactional foundation: order confirmation, shipping notification, and delivery confirmation. These functional emails have the highest open rates of any e-commerce email type, often exceeding 60-70%. Smart brands use this high-engagement real estate to include cross-sell recommendations, brand storytelling, and care instructions alongside the transactional information.
Review collection is one of the most valuable components of the post-purchase flow. The timing of the review request matters significantly. Sending it too early, before the customer has received or used the product, results in low response rates and superficial reviews. Sending it too late means the excitement has faded. The sweet spot for most products is 7-14 days after delivery, though this varies by category. Consumable products might warrant a shorter delay, while products with a longer "discovery period" like skincare or fitness equipment might need 3-4 weeks.
Beyond reviews, effective post-purchase flows include educational content (how to get the most from your purchase), loyalty program enrollment, referral program invitations, and carefully timed replenishment reminders for consumable products. Each touchpoint should feel helpful rather than pushy, providing genuine value while advancing business objectives like retention and lifetime value.
Why Post-Purchase Flow Matters for E-Commerce
Acquiring a new customer costs 5-7 times more than retaining an existing one, yet most stores invest the vast majority of their budget on acquisition and neglect the post-purchase experience. A strong post-purchase flow transforms one-time buyers into repeat customers and brand advocates. It drives review collection (which fuels social proof for future customers), increases customer lifetime value through repeat purchases, and generates word-of-mouth referrals. Stores with optimized post-purchase flows typically see 20-40% higher repeat purchase rates than those with only basic transactional emails.
How Eevy AI Helps with Post-Purchase Flow
Eevy AI includes automated post-purchase review collection via email and SMS. The platform handles timing optimization, template design, and follow-up sequences to maximize review submission rates. Collected reviews feed directly into your genetically optimized review displays, creating a virtuous cycle: more reviews provide more social proof, which drives more sales, which generates more review opportunities.
Related Terms
Review Velocity
Review velocity is the rate at which a product or store accumulates new customer reviews over a given period. It measures not just the total number of reviews, but how quickly new ones are added.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total net revenue a business can expect from a single customer account throughout their entire relationship. It accounts for repeat purchases, average order value, and the duration of the customer relationship.
Review Management
Review management is the end-to-end process of soliciting, collecting, moderating, responding to, analyzing, and strategically displaying customer reviews across all channels where a business has a presence.
Social Proof
Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people look to the actions and opinions of others to guide their own behavior, especially in situations of uncertainty. In e-commerce, it manifests as reviews, ratings, testimonials, purchase counts, and user-generated content that signal product quality and trustworthiness.
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