Good Transactional Emails...and a Series You Do Not Want to Miss
It’s the most e-commerce-y time of the year. Very likely as I write this, your inbox is groaning under the weight of Black Friday promos - from companies you love as well as companies who don’t bother to get in your inbox unless they have something they want you to buy. Or, in the case of 2020, to tell you what their response is to COVID19.
Seriously, who knew you were on so many email lists?
But I digress…back to those promos.
Once you start sifting through the noise to find the deals that do it for you, next up in your inbox should be a steady stream of transactional emails.
Those are the emails companies send out to you in response to an action you’ve taken.
Bought something——-> order confirmation.
They shipped your widget ———> shipping confirmation.
You get the idea (but I am still surprised by how many e-comm companies don’t have any, let alone, good transactional emails in place).
So as a nod to the season, today we’re going to do a little transactional email round-up of some of the good, better, and best transactional emails that have landed in my inbox recently.
Let’s keep the sheer volume of these purchases just between us, shall we?
Etsy
If there’s some reason you aren’t familiar with Etsy, it’s an online marketplace for makers…and for people who have an eye for curation. Through Etsy, I learned that my personal style is called High Millennial. I am neither high, nor a millennial…but I do like rattan, things made of brass, foo dogs, and blue willow pottery. And I buy a lot of these things off Etsy.
It’s got to be a delicate balance to create a cohesive voice for such a diverse group. You can’t risk offending or alienating your shop owners and I think Etsy does a great job keeping buyers informed from order confirmation to their “it’s here!” delivery confirmation. They keep the email copy clear and the visuals add to the excitement about where your purchase is in the journey to your door.
I’ve never gotten an email about a purchase directly from a shop; however, I often get handwritten notes inside my boxes…which is proof that direct mail ain’t dead yet. These inserts often have coupon codes or joint venture offers…or just a sweet thank you.
Overall, I think Etsy does a great job handling the transactional emails for the shops.
2. Bark’s BarkShop
The pack at Bark literally writes some of the best customer service emails in the business. Whenever I’ve had to reach out to them…like the time Reese lost Pearl the Ball and I was in a mad panic to replace it, the Happy Team at Barkbox sent one of the best emails I’ve received in response to a seemingly ridiculous customer inquiry.
So…I’m always a little sad that they send out these overproduced transactional emails. I know they are on-brand tonally, but I love hearing from the humans at Barkbox so much.
That said, I feel like Bark could fetch a little more personality for the order confirmation itself.
3. Huan
Huan is a “nationwide, automatic lost and found network designed specifically for pets.” And they currently have some Facebook ads running. Since my other job is semi-professional standard poodle wrangler, you can imagine that I see a lot of pet-focused ads in my FB feed.
Intrigued, I signed up for Huan’s email list. I give them props for following the best practice of the double opt-in and then for personalizing the confirmation page. They thank me for my sign up and remind me what the company is about with an image of the founder and his cute pooch…plus, they let me know they will be back in my inbox.
5. Carvana
I’m still on the fence whether it was a wise move to become a one car family…so I am often on Carvana scoping out wheels. We’ve purchased from Carvana before and it was a rather pleasant experience. Right now, I’ve got my eye on an impractical black Mini convertible that someone else has their eye on.
So I filled out a web form…in case my Mini nemesis decides to back off the buy.
Carvana delivers a clear confirmation page and then they send an equally clear opt-in confirmation to the inbox. Nice subject line, too. I know what the email is about, it gets me excited about the possibility of stowing that Mini in the garage, and what the next steps will look like.
Great communication.
But, I’ve saved the best for last. I’m about to share a truly binge-worthy email series from women-owned bra company, ThirdLove. This is one to put in your copywriting file as it can be (and should) be adapted for almost any type of brand or business.
Y’all, I love everything about this:
From the warm welcoming email from Ra’el Cohen that says so much and does so much heavy lifting…to the order confirmation to shipping notification to delivery confirmation…this is pure perfection.
The welcome email sums up the company’s mission, return policy, and commitment to customer service in 100 words.
Ever since Oprah revealed to us that we’ve all been wearing the wrong bra size…we’ve been trying to remedy that. There is always measuring and awkwardness…so the idea that you could have a successful bra buying experience online is powerful for a lot of people with breasts.
And just like the welcome email that said so much, each of their confirmation emails is better than the last. I am so excited that I’ve potentially found a replacement for the holy grail of minimizer bras…and I love the whole you’ve got great taste messaging and the “good things for your bra drawer”.
It’s informative and fun.
Personality plus. They don’t miss a single opportunity to delight me.
But really, you so very rarely see an email like what comes next in the series for a physical product…
It’s a beautifully designed welcome email for my bra. Remember, most people don’t really know how a bra is actually supposed to fit, feel, or function. ThirdLove creates a simple email to explain how to assess my new bra and how to get a replacement if it turns out the one I’ve got isn’t quite right.
Everything about this sequence is just so well done. No matter what you sell, you should be taking a page from the ThirdLove playbook.
They hit every high note and are proactive and customer-focused in every email.
It’s exquisite. And in case you were wondering, my bra is as great as their copy.
I could say, “‘tis the season for transactional emails,” but the truth is…every season is transactional email season.
If you aren’t taking the opportunity to delight your customers whenever you get the chance to interact with them, make a commitment to start. When you focus on creating well done transactional emails that inform and delight, you increase the lifetime value of your customer list by improving conversion, connection, and customer loyalty.
Before I head outta here, I checked with my CPA and despite using my shipping confirmations to create legitimate work product, he assures me that I can’t write these purchases off ¯\_(ツ)_/¯…so would you do me (and my marriage) a favor and email me any really great transactional emails that hit your inbox?