Small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses can benefit from lifecycle marketing and a strategic approach to attracting shoppers.
Below is a shopper lifecycle marketing framework for an online store selling niche print-on-demand T-shirts. Each step includes framework and implementation details.
- attraction
- purchase
- fulfillment
- retention
- reorder
attraction
The “Attraction” step is designed to introduce shoppers to your store, products, or unique value proposition in a crowded digital marketplace.
E-commerce marketers may use several channels and features to accomplish this goal, including:
- content marketing. Shoppable videos and engaging blog posts powered by search engine optimization and rich snippets structured data markup.
- advertisement. Programmatic advertising with AI-powered targeting in Google Ads, Meta Ads, and more.
- social media. Emerging Platforms, Influencer Partnerships (Shopify Colabs), X, TikTok, Instagram, and Social Commerce Features reddit.
- market. Presence on Amazon and Etsy. Use social commerce with Facebook Shop, Instagram Shopping, and X Products.
Here are the steps to implement a T-shirt shop:
- Shop identified 4,200 targets using Semrush keyword phrase. These keywords are converted into articles using automation built in Zapier, ChatGPT, and Midjourney. Marketers identify key points, AI drafts blog posts, and humans edit them.
- This store has changed its content management system to improve technical SEO.
- Advertising on Meta, Google, X, and various email newsletters.
- This store used Shopify Collabs to connect with influencers.
- This business is launched on X and Pinterest. Using another Zapier automation, the shop repurposes one article into 15 social media posts, scheduled weeks in advance.
The site includes an email capture on every blog page, so subscriptions are the top performance metric, but site traffic and ad engagement are also measured.
One example of an advertisement that a t-shirt shop uses to attract shoppers. Click on the image to enlarge.
purchase
The ‘Purchase’ step is intended to convert shoppers into customers through a seamless and secure purchasing experience.
In this step, the company collects the customer’s email address, postal address, and, if possible, permission to send text messages.
E-commerce marketers typically excel at this step through the following tactics.
- Optimized online store. User-friendly product pages, streamlined checkout, and mobile optimization.
- Marketplace optimization. Use Amazon etc. to complete the transaction.
- Email. Abandoned cart reminders, limited time offers, and similar features to receive all your orders.
- SMS. We offer text message order confirmation, shipping tracking, and special offers.
For this step, T-shirt shops rely heavily on the e-commerce platform Shopify. The shop can offer various payment and delivery options, email and SMS for all transactional messages. We take an “opt-out” approach to email marketing.
fulfillment
It sounds easy, but it can be difficult. E-commerce marketers need to focus on order fulfillment and the overall purchasing experience. This usually involves communication.
- Set up order confirmation and shipping updates via email or SMS.
- Provide customer support through AI-powered chatbots, email, and phone calls.
- Use social media to respond to customer service inquiries.
The T-shirt shop faced challenges at this stage because it uses a print-on-demand service to fulfill orders. The company has taken several steps to help with this.
- Schedule shipping on every product page and post-purchase email sequence.
- Send incoming messages to a customer support representative immediately.
- AI chatbot will be introduced in 2025.
T-Shirt Shop notifies customers that orders may take up to 10 days to process. Click on the image to enlarge.
retention
The “retention” phase of this shopper lifecycle marketing framework involves engaging customers. After purchase To encourage repeat orders and referrals. Tactics include:
- Receive loyalty program updates and special offers via email and SMS.
- An email newsletter to keep shoppers interested in store content.
- A referral program that encourages shoppers to share products and content with their friends.
- Review requests and encourage testimonials and ratings.
- Social media to develop your community.
The store launches a program that allows customers to earn points through purchases, reviews, and social shares. Shoppers can use their points to make additional purchases. We also send out a weekly email newsletter.
reorder
when she comes back Repeat purchasethe goal is to recognize shoppers and make their orders even better. However, it takes effort to make subsequent purchases a reality.
With this in mind, e-commerce marketers might try the following:
- Retargeting ads to previous customers.
- Personalized, product-focused email marketing.
- Targeted product placement in email newsletters.
- SMS sales and discounts.
- Earn bonus Loyal Points with every order.
This T-shirt shop uses newsletters, ad retargeting, and email promotions to generate second-round sales. When a shopper completes an additional purchase, the store sends an email sequence recognizing the loyalty.
Life cycle benefits
An eCommerce lifecycle marketing framework provides a roadmap for shopper engagement that drives both first-time and repeat sales.
