Top 3 hidden leaks in your customer journey that kill repeat purchase
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Most DTC shoppers aren’t loyal by default; they become loyal when every step of their purchase experience feels seamless, rewarding, and personal. But many Shopify Plus brands unknowingly leave cracks in their post-purchase customer journey.
And those cracks are costly.
The average repeat purchase rate in ecommerce is just 28.2%. That means nearly three-quarters of customers never come back for a second order. To increase that number, you need to identify and fix the friction points that are quietly causing churn.
In this blog, we’ll uncover 3 of the most common post-purchase leaks that sabotage repeat purchases. More importantly, we’ll show you how to fix them.
What are the advantages of repeat purchases?
Before we dive into the hidden leaks, let’s talk about why repeat purchases are so important for your Shopify brand.
Consider this: If your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is $5 and each customer only ever spends $15, you’re left with a profit of $10.
Now, imagine that same customer makes repeat purchases and their total lifetime value (LTV) increases to $40. Your profit then jumps to $35, a significant improvement for the same initial investment.
Even more, if you decide to spend more on acquiring higher-value customers, say $10 CAC for a segment with a $75 LTV, you’re still making $65 in profit.
The more often a customer buys, the more return you get on every dollar spent acquiring them. That’s the power of increasing your repeat purchase rate.
Repeat buyers also signal product-market fit. They become loyal brand advocates, spreading the word through reviews and referrals. And when you can count on 40% of your customer base to return each month, forecasting gets easier and less stressful.
So, let’s identify the leaks that may be standing in your way, starting with not having a post-purchase experience.
1. Lack of or bad post-purchase experience
What happens after a customer checks out can make or break their decision to return. And yet, most brands either go silent or send messages that miss the mark.
You only get one chance to make a strong second impression. If your post-purchase experience is nonexistent, or worse, irrelevant, it quietly drives churn.
This can look like:
- No follow-up at all: Customers receive their order and hear nothing more. No thank-you, no onboarding, no value reinforcement.
- Generic messaging: Everyone gets the same follow-up email, regardless of product, purchase behavior, or customer history.
- Poor timing: Sending a discount code the day after a high-ticket purchase, or trying to upsell a customer who just canceled their subscription.
When your post-purchase experience is poorly executed or missing altogether, it causes confusion and disappointment. Customers are left wondering what to do next or why they should stick with your brand.
Similarly, your customers shouldn’t need to copy/paste codes from emails, dig through their inbox, or log in just to redeem rewards.
When the experience feels clunky, they don’t feel valued; they feel like they’re doing all the work. It also signals that you don’t truly understand their needs, which weakens trust.
Most importantly, it wastes an important chance to guide a one-time buyer toward becoming a repeat customer.
How to fix poor post-purchase communication
Start by segmenting your audience and building post-purchase flows tailored to each customer type.
- First-time buyers should receive a warm welcome and education about your products.
- Members need reminders about their perks and how to use them.
- High-AOV shoppers appreciate surprise gifts or early access.
- Lapsed customers benefit from re-engagement incentives.
You can use tools like Klaviyo, Attentive, or Mailchimp to automate these follow-ups based on behavior, timing, and purchase history. Just ensure that each message includes helpful content, clear next steps, and a subtle invitation to return, whether it’s to explore more products, activate store credit, or join a community.
You can also integrate perks directly into their experience: automatic discounts, one-click redemptions, or visible points balances at checkout.
Let’s move on to the next big mistake: failing to give customers a reason to return. Because even if you do the communication right, if customers don’t get value out of your brand, they’ll not buy again.
2. Lack of value beyond the first purchase
The direct-to-consumer market is booming, projected to grow from $196.12 billion in 2023 to $571.34 billion by 2031. With so many new brands entering the space and shoppers constantly exposed to competing offers, relying on a great product alone no longer guarantees loyalty.
Shopify brands, in particular, need to create compelling reasons for customers to return; otherwise, they’ll shop elsewhere. You need to create an experience that draws them back, builds momentum, and rewards loyalty.
How to create value post-purchase
Introduce a membership program that builds repeat behavior. This could include:
- Monthly store credit (prepaid value they want to use)
- Early access to new drops
- Exclusive bundles or perks
- VIP styling tips or experiences
These benefits create stickiness. And when combined with regular reminders and a frictionless redemption process, they drive predictable repeat behavior. We’ll explore more about how you can build memberships easily later in the blog.
But first, let’s look at the last and most overlooked leak that reduces the repeat purchase rate.
3. Competing against yourself on other channels
Your customers may love your brand, but if they can buy the same product cheaper or with more convenience elsewhere, like Amazon, Ulta, or other retail marketplaces, they often will.
That’s because these marketplaces usually offer strong incentives like fast shipping, easy returns, and memberships that include other exclusive perks. For instance, Prime members get access to steep discounts before anyone else during Amazon’s massive annual sales event.
This makes it more likely for customers to default to these channels, even when they prefer your brand, because of perceived value and convenience.
How to fix DTC competition
Make your DTC store the obvious first choice for your customers. That means offering things they can’t get on marketplaces—like exclusive member benefits, personalized offers, early access to new drops, and store credit that adds real value.
When customers understand that shopping directly with your brand gives them better perks, more tailored experiences, and a stronger sense of belonging, they’re far more likely to skip the marketplaces and come back to you instead.
But even if you know how to fix these hidden leaks, most brands struggle to execute these changes because of time or resource constraints.
That’s where we help.
Subscribfy is a custom retention strategy platform that helps you implement the right retention strategies quickly and effectively for your Shopify brand without needing a massive budget, a big in-house team, or months of work.
Fix customer journey leaks with Subscribfy
Subscribfy is built for Shopify Plus brands who want to drive more revenue from the customers they already have. Here’s how we help you plug the gaps:
- Smarter post-purchase flows
We integrate with Klaviyo, Attentive, and Mailchimp to create personalized journeys based on AOV, repurchase frequency, product type, and more, so every message you send out is relevant and tailored to your shoppers’ journey.
These automated email flows ensure new customers feel seen, supported, and nudged toward their next purchase.
- Store credit & memberships that build habits
Instead of relying on one-off discounts that hurt margins, our store credit model builds a reason to return. We help you design memberships that reward repeat visits, drive habit-forming behavior, and create a consistent revenue stream that grows over time.
- DTC-only value
Subscribfy makes your DTC experience worth choosing. We help you create member-only perks, early drops, and brand-specific benefits that make your store feel like the VIP destination, giving customers a reason to skip other marketplaces.
- Fully managed setup and strategy
You don’t need to hire a new team or stretch your internal resources. From strategy and creative to setup and testing, our team gets your program live in weeks and optimized for long-term success.
Want to learn about what leaks you may have in your process?
Subscribfy helps you identify and fix the post-purchase gaps that kill your repeat purchase rate.
Book a demo today and see how we turn one-time buyers into loyal brand champions.
Explore more insights and guides from our experts
- How to create a membership program for your Shopify brand?
- Product Subscriptions vs. Memberships: Which is right for your Shopify brand?
- Industry-leading membership programs and what your Shopify brand can learn from them.
- How to increase customer lifetime value by 2–4X in Shopify using memberships
- Customer retention strategy for Black Friday: What to do before the holiday rush hits
- 5 reasons why your ecommerce loyalty program isn’t working (and what to do instead)