The science of reordering strategy and customer retention
Vaishali Ravi
·April 17, 2025
Want to make sure shoppers return to your brand after making a purchase for the first time? Then you’ll need to learn the science behind reordering—and discover other ways to reel them in if they weren’t hooked on the first product they tried.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the top strategies for fostering customer retention, which include building a strong repeat purchase strategy, creating a customer loyalty program, and transforming returns into exchanges.
Building a reordering strategy
If you sell a product that customers will need to buy over and over again, then a smart reordering strategy is crucial for driving customer loyalty.
First, consider whether you’re selling consumables (think: toothpaste, vitamins, dog treats, or face cleanser) or seasonal products (kids’ winter jackets and boots, holiday decor, gardening supplies). Your strategy will differ based on the type and frequency of purchase.
Consumables:
For consumables, you can use predictive replenishment to set up a schedule based on when customers typically run out of the product, especially if it’s geared for daily use. Set up timed reminders (in-app, SMS, and/or email) geared to reach customers about a week before they’re likely to run out of the product, encouraging them to re-up before it’s too late.
These types of products are also an ideal fit for a “subscribe and save” program: For instance, you can encourage customers to automatically re-order moisturizer every six weeks in exchange for a 5% discount.
With these replenishment strategies, you can boost retention through reorders, ensuring that your products become part of your customers’ daily habits.
Seasonal products:
With seasonal products, shoppers may not be buying exactly the same product, but they’ll be coming back to the same product categories at predictable points of the year. That gives you the opportunity to build a strong reordering strategy to promote the product categories they’re likely to consider at every point of the year.
Kids’ clothing is a key example. As any parent knows, last year’s rain boots or PJs are this year’s outgrown hand-me-downs—so it’s a great time to promote relevant offers they’ll love when they’re looking for this season’s wardrobe.
To do this effectively, it’s important to collect as much zero-party data as you can, so that you can create a complete customer profile. Zero-party data refers to information that your customer voluntarily shares with you, such as through filling out a form, survey, or quiz.
In this example, you can ask your customer for their children’s birthdates and current sizes. That way, you’ll be able to send personalized, timed messages with specific product recommendations in the right sizes at regular intervals, plus special promotions tied to each child’s birthday.
Other types of seasonal products include warm or cold weather items, such as swimsuits, winter coats, or sunglasses; or holiday-themed items such as Christmas decor, Easter candy, and Halloween decorations. In these cases, you can send timed reminders to shoppers several weeks before the season or holiday in question, featuring personalized product recommendations similar to those they’ve browsed or purchased in the past.
By timing your messages to dates when customers are primed to make a purchase, you’ll be able to boost your engagement and conversion rates.
Using loyalty incentives to boost repeat purchases
While connecting with the customer at the right time can help you boost repeat business through reordering, you’ll sweeten the deal even more if you increase the value of your offer with the aid of a loyalty program.
By rewarding your shoppers for their loyalty, you’ll be able to encourage them to purchase from your brand more consistently. Let’s say a shopper has tried out your shampoo once. While a timely reminder encouraging them to re-stock can help your brand stay top of mind, you’ll be able to increase conversions even more by offering a loyalty perk: For instance, get a free shampoo bottle after your first five purchases.
Rather than tying perks to AOV, providing special rewards after a certain number of shops can help shoppers form new loyalty habits around your brand.
Using personalized upsell and cross-sell messaging in your re-order prompts can also encourage shoppers to test out new products while gaining loyalty points. By sending out automated marketing campaigns that recommend new products that other customers with similar shopping habits have enjoyed, you’ll be able to help them find more products they love, so that they’ll spend more at your store.
Pay close attention to your ordering insights, and you’ll be able to build curated recommendations for what shoppers might buy and when. You can also use this data to recommend discounted bundles, encouraging shoppers to combine complementary product types into one larger order.
The value of repeat purchases
Why is customer loyalty so important? Easy: Repeat customers are worth far more to your business than one-time shoppers, especially in this era of ever-increasing acquisition and operational costs. In fact, returning customers typically spend 67% more than new customers when making a purchase.
In ecommerce, retention rates can vary widely based on industry. For instance, Decile identified these benchmark ranges in average retention volume for 2024:
- Home goods - 15%
- Fashion and apparel - 18%
- Health and beauty - 20%
- Food and beverage - 25%
- Supplements - 43%
Of course, common purchasing habits for each product type are likely to account for a big part of the discrepancy. After all, you might only purchase a new throw blanket once every five years—but if you’ve discovered a shampoo or a magnesium supplement you love, you’re much more likely to continue buying from the same supplier, whether you set up an auto-subscription or simply respond to a timed prompt.
That said, whether or not shoppers are likely to repurchase specific products frequently, you’ll be able to build loyalty to your brand more generally by developing compelling personalized marketing campaigns that offer loyalty perks for repeat purchases over time.
Transforming returns into retention
Building customer loyalty is well within reach when you know the shopper loves the product they purchased—but what if they don’t?
In some ecommerce industries, as many as 30% of your orders may result in product returns. But rather than assuming these customer relationships are DOA when you know the shopper won’t re-order a specific product, it’s a great opportunity to look at other strategies for driving retention.
By using a returns management solution like Loop, you can transform your product returns into another source of customer loyalty.
Loop’s streamlined returns portal makes it easy for shoppers to identify their return-eligible items, and use Instant Exchanges to seamlessly swap that item for another product from your store, even if it’s a different price. You can even offer them Bonus Credit as an extra incentive for purchasing a product that’s higher-priced than their original product, helping you boost your exchange rate and even leading to upsells when the shopper spends in excess of the Bonus Credit amount.
Traditionally, if a shopper doesn’t like the first item they’ve purchased from your brand, they’re not likely to give you a second shot. But by optimizing your post-purchase strategy with Loop, you’ll be able to reconvert shoppers who’ve sent back their first purchase, with personalized product recommendations and a seamless exchange process that will encourage them to try something new.
Your brand can even save money on return shipping costs, with returns customization based on the type and condition of the product. For instance, if a shopper requested a return on an open skin care product, there’s no reason to request the product back knowing that it can’t be resold. Simply use Loop’s “Keep Item” functionality to let them dispose of the original product themselves, while offering them a refund or store credit.
A smart re-ordering strategy can help you drive more repeat revenue from your customers, whether they’re purchasing consumables or seasonable products. And with tools like Loop at your disposal to promote repeat purchases even after a return, you’ll be able to build customer loyalty through the entire post-purchase cycle.
Book a demo
Get started by talking to a Loop expert
See how Loop works
Get an inside look at the Loop experience
In this article
Stay in the loop
Subscribe for product updates and Loop's biweekly newsletter.
2025 Trend Report
Retain more revenue with Loop today
With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.