In Part 1 we mapped an ecommerce lifecycle around the product's lifespan: Onboarding, In-lifecycle and End-of-life. This part covers the automated flows that do most of the work in the first two stages, and that every ecommerce brand should have running.
0–90In-lifecycle
90–500End-of-life
500–1,000
1. Welcome (day 0)
The welcome email is usually the most-opened email a brand sends, so make it count. Send it immediately after a first purchase or signup, and use it to:
- Introduce your brand: what you stand for, what makes you different.
- Set expectations for what you'll send and how often.
- Point to the most useful next step, such as setup guides, your app or customer support.
If you sell in several countries, build the welcome flow in every language you support from the start. It's the first impression in every market.
2. Product onboarding (days 1–30)
Customers who understand their product use it more, return it less and buy from you again. Product onboarding helps them get there:
- Personalise by product. A customer who bought headphones needs different guidance from one who bought a phone. Build a flow for each major product or category.
- Start with an overview, then highlight key features one at a time over the following weeks.
- Adapt by market where features, accessories or support differ.
- Include relevant cross-sells as secondary content: accessories, cases, chargers or complementary products, without letting them overshadow the help.
3. Community invitation (days 30–50)
If your brand has a community, such as a forum, a Discord server, a social group or an owners' club, invite customers once they're settled with their product. Target customers who haven't joined yet, explain the benefits of being part of it, and feature popular discussions or content. Community members tend to be your most loyal and vocal customers.
4. Ecosystem introduction (days 50–90)
Towards the end of onboarding, introduce the rest of your world: companion apps, sub-brands, the wider product range and how products work together. The goal isn't a hard sell; it's helping customers see the brand as more than a single purchase.
5. Cart and browse abandonment (triggered)
Abandonment flows recover sales that are already close. A good starting point is three emails over around 48 hours for each:
- Cart abandonment: for customers who added items to their basket but didn't check out.
- Browse abandonment: for known customers who viewed products without adding them to their basket.
We cover timing, content and the exclusions that stop these flows annoying customers in Cart and browse abandonment flows that convert.
6. Account created, no purchase (triggered)
Customers who create an account but don't buy are warm leads. A short nurture flow can introduce your bestsellers, answer common questions, and share reviews or guarantees to build confidence. Treat it like a welcome flow for people who haven't committed yet.
7. Customer feedback (day 90, then annually)
Automated CSAT and NPS surveys at around day 90, and then annually, give you a steady read on satisfaction. Use the results, too: route unhappy customers to support, invite happy ones to leave a review, and feed common themes back to product and customer service teams.
8. Newsletter (quarterly)
A regular newsletter keeps the relationship going between purchases. For a brand with a long replacement cycle, quarterly is often enough. Include brand news, product updates and releases, and community highlights, with a secondary section of personalised product recommendations based on what each customer owns.
9. Customer anniversaries (triggered)
Anniversaries are small moments that make customers feel valued: a year since their first purchase, or a brand milestone. A thank-you, a look back at what's new since they joined, or a small reward goes a long way, and anniversary emails consistently perform well because they're personal.
Beyond email
Most of these flows work best with more than one channel. SMS and push notifications are well suited to time-sensitive messages like cart abandonment and launch reminders, while email carries the richer content. See Email, push or in-app? for how to split the work.
Two other ideas worth testing once the core flows are running:
- Self-selected onboarding: let customers choose what they're interested in, through a quick preference question, so their onboarding follows a path they've picked themselves.
- User-generated content: invite customers to share photos and stories, then feature them in emails and on social channels.
Measure every flow
Track each flow against a primary goal, such as repeat purchase rate for onboarding, recovered revenue for abandonment or review volume for feedback, and use holdout groups to see what each flow really adds. For campaigns, a simple 10/10/80 test (two variants on 10% of the audience each, then the winner to the remaining 80%) is an easy way to keep improving. More on both in Proving lifecycle marketing works.
In Part 3 we look at the end of the lifecycle: winning the next purchase.