How do I get more repeat customers on Shopify?
Wes Buckwalter, founder of Seattle Shopify agency SeaMonster Studios, says it starts with about three bucks. He'd rather put $3 of free samples in a customer's box than spend $29 finding the next new one, and a lot of the merchants he talks to never looked at it that way. Then say thank you like you mean it. One brand Wes works with has the owner handwrite a card for every order: "I'm the owner... I actually wrote this card, and thank you."
So if you're asking yourself "Do handwritten thank-you notes actually get customers to buy again?" or "Can my Shopify store get sued if it isn't accessible?", this episode is for you. And if you just want to know why Wes has an employee whose actual job title is Captain Accessible, same deal.
💡 KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
- Why Wes says "it's not about loyalty, it's about affinity," and what earns a customer's second order
- The rule I stole from the founder of Handwrytten about what never goes in your first thank-you note
- How one vitamin brand got Wes to buy five products he wasn't shopping for
- Why nobody brags to their friends about your $50 block of cheese, and what they talk about instead
- Why Wes calls accessibility overlay widgets "essentially placebo," and how they can make your store a lawsuit target
- The AI accessibility tool Wes figures gets a store 50 to 75% of the way there, and why a human still has to check its work
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