29% of ecomerce businesses fail because they run out of cash, says a recent study. They fail not because their product is not good or because sales are bad. They fail because they don’t manage their cash flow properly to continue working.

Ecommerce is a dynamic business – money moves fast and metrics change daily. Cash flow should be planned and executed carefully to avoid shortages and disruptions of operations. Especially with the coronavirus impact on ecommerce, owners should exercise cash flow discipline to keep the lights on. Data shows it’s possible as determined DTC brands get about 60% of their sales from repeat customers, meaning a stable inflow of cash every month.

The post-purchase experience can often be an afterthought in ecommerce, and yet it’s one of the most valuable opportunities you have to tell your brand’s story.

This is because there are not as many touchpoints where you can interact with customers when compared to brick-and-mortar stores, so it’s important to make the most of what’s available.

An easy win? Customizing your packaging. How your product is presented plays a huge part in brand perception. A study found 40% of online shoppers say branded packaging makes them more likely to recommend a product to friends, while 61% say custom packaging makes the brand seem more high-end.

Ecommerce has grown so much and there are all kinds of new models, new products and new ways of shopping. Sometimes our clients need help navigating all innovation. How does a curated monthly subscription works? Can you order items outside of it? How do you sign up for a meal plan to go with the hi-tech lunch box? And many more questions people might have for your products and services need answers from the beginning.

Onboarding emails can fill in those gaps so people understand how to buy from you. This will make the customer journey easy and pleasant, bringing you conversions and increased customer retention.

Sales tactics for beauty brands should inspire repeat orders. Our recent report on ecommerce metrics for beauty brands found that they enjoy around 23% retention rate on average. That’s not awfully lot. We decided to look into another ecommerce product category with an average repeat purchase rate of 31% for successful tactics to steal.

Why can beauty brands learn from food ones?

Because food is a staple and it’s the most shopped category of products. Plus, people are very attached to some brands out of habit or childhood nostalgia.

Order frequency rate is an important ecommerce metric that says a lot about your brand. The drive of people to shop again and again measures how loyal they’re to the brand, how essential your product is for their lives, how often they can afford it and if you’re a first choice or a substitute.

Huge brands like H&M and Zara churn out new models a few times a month exactly to drive frequent orders. Their strategy is to make people visit their (offline and online) stores often to see what’s new. No need for complex marketing campaigns, just the excitement of finding something interesting every time makes people buy more often. You don’t need to sell fast fashion, to do the same.

DTC brands are increasingly relying on customer retention strategies for growth. Why? Because they see how retention impacts the bottom line and gives them room to breathe, invest in new products and expansions. Scaling at a loss is no longer an option. Retention gets you revenue without the marketing budget.

In a recent survey among ecommerce companies we work with, we found that the average retention rate is about 28%. But it strongly varies across product niches – from 21% for tea to 36% for CBD products. Other retention metrics like revenue share from repeat orders, time between orders, number of orders per customer, LTV and AOV also vary across industries.