by BrooklynSkyDesign

Created on: May 22, 2008   Last Updated: September 27, 2011

Do you want to sell one product to a customer just one time - or do you want to sell a lot of products to that customer over time?

THE fundamental principle of successfully selling anything, on-line or off, is repeat customers. Let me repeat that: repeat customers.

And if you want more repeat customers, make sure your "confirmation emails" are both useful - and great!

"OK," you're thinking, "convince me that confirmation emails are really that important for creating more repeat customers."

The primary reason is this: after customers leave your website, a confirmation email is your best - & likely only - opportunity to:

1. Communicate your value (i.e., reinforce/remind the customer about what you have to offer).
2. Provide a critical and valuable service (i.e., effectively communicate the current transactions that have occurred between you and your customer).
3. Strengthen and enhance the relationship with your customers (i.e., show them you care).

Confirmation emails are those emails that communicate the transaction(s) that have occurred between you and your customer. You may be surprised - if not outright shocked - by the number of different types of "transactional emails" that you could send out:

+ order and service confirmations
+ shipment notifications
+ reservation confirmations and e-tickets
+ available-now notices
+ billing and payment notices
+ cancellations, returns, refunds, rebates, and bonuses
+ information-request responses
+ government responses
+ customer service messages
+ failure notices
+ registration and account information

What to do

"OK," you're saying, "I'm convinced, but now I'm also overwhelmed & confused - exactly how do I make sure my confirmation emails are both useful - and great!"

To start, an international team of usability experts, lead by Jakob Nielsen, studied the usefulness of various transactional email messages, and they came to a conclusion that you may not find that surprising - they found that reading, filing, and responding to email is time consuming:

"When users check their email, they're dealing with multiple requests for their time, including messages from their boss, colleagues, and family. People just want to be done with most email, and quickly move past anything that is not absolutely essential." (Nielsen J., Molich R., Snyder C., & Farrell, S., E-commerce User Experience, Nielsen Norman Group, 2001).

Nielsen et al., (2001), found that effective transactional emails fulfill three goals:

1. They are not mistaken

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