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An interesting thing happened while I was completing a purchase at Urban Outfitters recently. The cashier asked if I would like to have my receipt either printed or emailed to me. Without giving it much thought, I asked for a printed receipt. And then I got to thinking: Why would a retailer want to email a receipt? I’m probably way behind on this trend, but apparently it’s one that is gaining steam among retailers. No longer reserved just for the travel industry, self-service DVD rental stations and the like, emailed receipts are infiltrating the mainstream and becoming a part of the typical checkout vernacular. What may feel unfamiliar to someone like me who hadn’t yet heard a retailer offer to email a receipt could rapidly become as mainstream as asking a customer to complete an online survey regarding his checkout experience. To make emailed receipts an effective part of your customer engagement strategy, consider them as opportunities to up-sell as well as solidify your brand with customers. Much like transactional emails that are generated as a result of online sales, point-of-purchase emails that result from in-store transactions have the potential to generate additional sales among recipients who are already engaged with your brand. These emails need to follow all the rules of transactional emails, too, namely: Deliver the email promptly. Customers want to see that receipt right away, especially if they have any reason to return or exchange an item. Use an engaging subject line and design. Just because your email is primarily informative in function doesn’t mean it can’t go beyond the basics. Customers will be more likely to open the email if they get a sense that you’re offering more than just an order confirmation. Add value. This is your chance to offer a special promotion, invite the customer to join your social network fan base and email list (don’t add them to list without their permission, even though they’ve agreed to an emailed receipt), cross-sell other products and services, and generally engage the customer beyond the purchase.  Beyond simply saving paper, emailed receipts have the ability to gain extra mileage from every transaction. Use them to extend your brand, build your email list and gain a loyal following, and soon your emailed receipts will become a vital part of your marketing strategy.

Today’s social media platforms represent enormous opportunity as well as enormous risk, as users increasingly share their opinions about businesses they frequent. If you aren’t paying attention to what your customers are saying about you online, then you’re leaving yourself open to their negative comments, while also potentially losing opportunities to react to positive reviews. To help manage your online reputation proactively, it’s imperative that you reach out to customers and ask for their testimonials. You can then use these positive reviews to implement reputation management strategies that attract positive attention for your brand. For instance, incorporate user review features on your Website that allow your customers to review products they purchase from your company. When a customer makes a purchase, send a follow-up email, allowing enough time for the item to ship and the customer to receive it, and ask for a review. You can then post the reviews on Facebook and Twitter as well as incorporate social features on your site that let users share their reviews, “like” your products and so on. If you fail to nab these opportunities, then you’re leaving it to your customers to post their opinions in their own social pages, where you likely won’t have an opportunity to respond to their comments. You also risk having these comments dominate in search engine results, as opposed to having the positive outweigh the negative. With proactive reputation management, you’ll create a positive impression with your customers. You’ll also have a better chance of getting more customers, as prospects read the good reviews and make their buying decisions.

Getting buyers to your Website is only half the battle in terms of your online marketing efforts. Once they’re there, you want them to buy — not click elsewhere or, worse, get nanoseconds away from a purchase only to abandon their shopping carts. It’s these abandoned carts that can be the most baffling. How could they get so close to buying and then simply click away? The answers are complex, but there is hope. Try out these five simple strategies, and start increasing your ecommerce conversions today: 1. Keep it simple. How many people do you know who like filling out long forms? Probably not many. Limit the first page of your checkout page to requesting the customer’s first name and email address. The reason is twofold: You’ll keep the customer engaged and moving quickly through the checkout process, and you’ll also have his or her contact information in case that customer abandons the cart. That way, you can initiate an abandoned cart nurturing campaign via email if necessary. 2. Follow up quickly. Re-engage with abandoned-cart customers right away, at least within 24 hours, to reinforce the reasons they wanted to buy your product in the first place. The more you can remind them of the connections they had with your brand and your products, the more likely they will be to revisit your site and complete their checkout. 3. Be helpful. Don’t assume your customer abandoned the cart because of price. Instead, follow up with an email expressing concern that a technical error may have prevented the customer from completing the order. Use it as an opportunity to highlight your competitive advantages, such as above-and-beyond customer service and unbeatable quality. Include a customer service phone number in case the customer wants to speak with someone or needs help completing the checkout. 4. Make a special offer. Your first or second follow-up email can include a coupon as an incentive to complete the purchase. Doing so will increase your conversions, particularly if the customer abandoned the cart based on pricing.  5. Be persistent, but not pesky. If your initial first or second emails don’t result in conversions, try offering more information about the product or your company. For instance, it’s a good idea to have some customer case studies and testimonials in your back pocket from customers who have raved about your products. Gently remind customers about your business without overwhelming them, as too many emails could mean opt-outs. By addressing multiple concerns in your abandoned-cart email campaigns, including shipping concerns, product benefits, pricing considerations and more, you’ll be more likely to touch on the reasons that a customer clicked away. These automated messages can prove priceless for your conversions.

If you’re regularly sending emails to your customers, then you might already know the value of email campaigns. With a low capital outlay required and a high potential for return on investment, email is one of the lowest-cost marketing mediums you can employ. There are, however, special considerations for email marketers hoping to capture the attention of users viewing their emails on mobile devices. If you don’t how many of your recipients are viewing emails in this way, then you could be missing out on sales from a critical segment of the population. By following the simple tips below, you’ll engage mobile users and convert them into buyers — thus broadening your customer base beyond the traditional email inbox. Offer both HTML and text versions of your emails. This is the simplest way to ensure that all users are able to view your messages. Survey recipients from time to time to determine their preferences for either HTML or text emails. Restate your offer or subject line within the body of the email, preferably as the first line of the message, right before “If you can’t view this message, click here.” Users will be more likely to read and act on your message if they can instantly understand your offer. Side note: Make sure your subject line is concise and that it clearly conveys your offer. Track responses. Measure which recipients are opening your messages on mobile devices, and segment them into a special group if they represent a significant portion of your audience. Incorporate social media. Customers who use smartphones likely access Facebook and Twitter and would be interested in following you on these social mediums. Include your social media URLs or icons on every email so that you’ll build a social media fan base. With consumers increasingly using their smartphones to access information, mobile marketing must be a key element of your email marketing campaigns. The good news is, it doesn’t take much to incorporate it into your business strategy and begin reaping the rewards.