The pre-purchase tools ecommerce brands need in 2026

Best-in-class ecommerce brands understand that every stage of the buyer’s journey is crucial to get right – from your customer’s first interaction with your brand to the last.

In fact, if you play your cards right, there’s no such thing as last: By optimizing your shoppers’ experience at every touchpoint, you’ll be able to build goodwill and brand trust that keeps your customers coming back time and again.

How can you create that flywheel? By focusing on the right technologies and tactics to support both the pre-purchase and post-purchase customer interactions.

We’ve previously talked about the post-purchase experience at length, but in this piece, we’re drilling down on how to create a pre-purchase experience that builds consumer confidence in your brand, increases your conversion rate, and boosts your profit margins. Here’s what you should know.

What is the pre-purchase experience?

Generally speaking, “pre-purchase” refers to everything that happens before the customer clicks the “buy” button. And naturally, “post-purchase” encompasses everything that happens after that point, from order tracking to delivery to returns.

Pre-purchase focuses on the brand discovery, evaluation, and decision-making phases – all the interactions that help a shopper become comfortable with a brand and make the decision to select a product from them over their competitors. The process typically includes:

• Brand discovery and awareness. A shopper may become aware of a brand through their ad campaigns, social media, an in-store display, a product review, or via word-of-mouth. It often takes more than one encounter to pique a new shopper’s interest and help them become comfortable with your brand, so they may stay in this stage for weeks or even months.
• Consideration and research. Once you’ve caught a shopper’s attention, they’ll want to evaluate your brand and products in more detail. Building trust here is key: They’ll likely look at product reviews, both from your customers and on external sites, and will spend time browsing your website and social content to learn more. It’s important to note that your return policy is actually a key part of the pre-purchase evaluation process: 66% of shoppers regularly review retailers’ return policies before making a purchase. They also want to understand your shipping times and costs, and may choose to look elsewhere if your delivery times and costs don’t match their needs.
• Decision-making. Finally, they’ve landed on a product they love and are ready to make a purchase! A lot of transactions stall out here, however: The average shopping cart abandonment rate hovers around 70%. Focus on providing a streamlined ecommerce experience with a clean UX, multiple payment options, and minimal data input required to get your customers over the finish line. If the experience is too complex, or the total price is higher than they anticipated, they’re likely to back out.

Creating a compelling pre-purchase experience for your customers can help you build trust, reduce friction, and increase conversion rates. By optimizing your pre-purchase interactions with the right technologies, you’ll be able to create a streamlined customer experience that generates more revenue.

Your pre-purchase toolkit

To convert more customers, you’ll need to start out with a solid marketing strategy. Build awareness and drive engagement through your ideal mix of social media marketing, display and video advertising, content marketing, and referral marketing. Tools like Klaviyo and Kustomer can help you create and deliver highly targeted campaigns that maximize engagement among both new and existing customers.

But what about once they arrive on your site and are weighing up whether to place an order? Now, it’s more important than ever to build confidence in your brand and ensure their commitment. Luckily, Loop has the tools that can help you do that. Namely, these include:

• Returns workflows
• Delivery Promise
• Checkout+
• Package Protection

In the next section, we’ll look at each tool in more depth and explore how they support the pre-purchase experience.

How Loop’s tools support pre-purchase

While Loop offers many tools to support the post-purchase experience, our pre-purchase solutions are equally important. With the right pre-purchase experience in place, you can deliver a seamless customer experience that builds brand confidence and boosts conversions, with additional revenue-generating capabilities.

Customized returns policies (Workflows)

As we mentioned, two-thirds of shoppers scope out a retailer’s returns policy prior to making a purchase. So rather than offering a one-size-fits-all policy, take the opportunity to offer a customized experience using Loop’s Workflows to define conditions around returns. You can set up Workflows to apply to specific products, categories, sales events, or even customer types. For instance, if a shopper is a member of your VIP rewards program, you might automatically grant them 90 days to make a return instead of the standard 30. By delivering personalized returns options that fit your customers’ needs, you’ll be able to win over more shoppers who might have otherwise looked elsewhere.

Accurate shipping estimates (Delivery Promise)

After confirming that your returns policy works for them, the next thing shoppers are likely to look at is your shipping policy. They’ll want to know:

• Will my item arrive by the time I need it?
• How much will it cost to ship, based on the time estimate?

Using Loop’s Promise product, you can easily answer both of these pressing questions. Even before your customer reaches the check-out page, they can enter their zip code to see an accurate ETA for any product’s arrival, along with shipping costs (including both priority and ground shipping rates, if offered). This intel gives them the confidence they need to feel secure that their order will arrive on schedule, at a price they’re happy with.

Streamlined and affordable returns (Checkout+)

Hopefully, your customer won’t have to return a product – but if they do, they’ll want the experience to be as hassle-free as possible. Enter Loop’s Checkout+, a shopping cart add-on that gives shoppers the option to pay a small fee upfront to unlock free returns later. That gives them peace of mind that they’re not going to struggle with the returns process – and it unlocks extra revenue for your brand that you can use to cover the cost of your return logistics fees and software costs. (Unlike other solutions, Loop lets you retain full control of your revenue stream from consumer-paid returns.)

Insurance for lost or damaged items (Package Protection)

Once you’ve set up Checkout+, you can also add an option for shoppers to pay an additional small fee for package protection. By adding package protection, shoppers can guarantee that they won’t be charged for products that are lost, damaged, or stolen en route to their homes. Shoppers are able to easily file package protection claims by either using a self-service resolution platform or by contacting your customer support team. As soon as the claim is verified by our partner, Seel, the full refund value of the item is paid out. With 90% of claims being processed automatically with no need for manual review, this option gives your shoppers extra peace of mind around issues relating to the delivery process.

Pairing pre- and post-purchase technology

When it comes to ecommerce, the most successful brands recognize that no single touchpoint defines the customer experience. Pre-purchase technology gives shoppers the confidence to convert, while post-purchase solutions – such as branded order tracking pages and streamlined returns and exchanges – boost satisfaction and build brand loyalty.

By pairing the right pre-purchase tools – like customized returns policies, real-time delivery promises, and checkout add-ons – with post-purchase solutions that streamline returns, automate exchanges, and keep customers engaged, you can transform one-time buyers into lifelong advocates. Beyond elevating the experience for your shoppers, you’ll generate higher retention, stronger margins, and sustainable revenue growth for your brand.

Discover how Loop can help you optimize your shoppers’ experience from start to finish. Book a demo.