Illustrative issue 20 · September 27, 2026
Help them use it before you ask them to buy it again.
Before you increase your second-order discount, check when customers receive the first order and what help they get using it.
Your reorder email may be arriving before the product has had a chance to earn another purchase.
Imagine this sequence. Someone buys a product on Monday. Your flow asks them to buy again the following Monday. Their package arrived on Saturday, and they're still figuring it out.
A bigger discount changes the price of the next order. It doesn't help them get value from the one in their kitchen.
Put three dates next to each other.
Pick one product with disappointing repeat purchases. Start with a small sample of recent orders and read the journey as a customer would.
- Find the delivery date. Use the actual delivery event where you have it. Seven days after purchase isn't necessarily seven days of ownership.
- Find the first useful instruction. Look for a message that helps the customer do something with the product. An order confirmation and a tracking link don't count as usage guidance.
- Find the first request to buy again. Compare its timing with delivery, likely usage and any support questions. Does the request make sense at that point?
Now read a few recent support conversations. If people are asking how much to use, how to set it up or what to expect, you've found questions the post-purchase experience should answer.
You haven't proved why people aren't reordering. You've found a more specific hypothesis than “the discount isn't big enough.”
Give each message a job the customer recognizes.
For a product with a learning curve, test an early message that helps someone get started. A later message can answer a common stumbling block. The reorder invitation can arrive when buying again is plausible for that product.
Keep this useful. “Five reasons our product is amazing” is still a sales pitch wearing a helpful little hat.
If you test a revised flow, compare customers with similar purchase and usage windows. Look at second orders alongside discounts, returns and support demand. A lift in orders can still be a poor trade if you bought it with too much margin.
And if people already use and love the product, this may be the wrong fix. Investigate other barriers, such as replenishment timing, price or the need for another purchase.
Start with one product this week.
Write down when it arrives, when the customer gets useful help and when you ask for the next order. Then check whether those three moments belong in that order.
Our market keeps moving.
These developments caught our attention.
September 21, 2026
Your session metrics may have a new baseline.
Shopify changed session measurement, which can affect conversion rates and other session-based metrics. The update doesn't change order, sales or customer counts. Read Shopify's update ↗
Our take: Mark the change in your reporting before interpreting a sudden movement as better or worse marketing.
September 22, 2026
Shopify has updated how you set up Rollouts.
The revised setup brings timing, traffic allocation, combined store changes and conflicting settings into clearer view. Read Shopify's update ↗
Our take: Before the next promotion, check which store changes are launching together. It helps to know what changed when you explain the results.
September 10, 2026
Checkout can help grow your WhatsApp audience.
Shopify announced a checkout option for collecting WhatsApp marketing opt-ins. Read Shopify's update ↗
Our take: This is worth watching if customers use WhatsApp. Decide what useful messages belong there before adding another channel to your calendar.
We help ecommerce brands improve the experience between purchases. If something in this issue connects with a problem you're working on, hit reply. We'd like to hear about it.