In this guide 6 sections
Customers rarely reorder because the store forgets them after delivery. A cleanser, serum or shampoo runs out on a date you can calculate from pack size and daily use. Send a reminder before that date, bundle items that finish together, and keep the data that makes both possible.
A cleanser runs out on a date you can calculate
Take a pump bottle of cleanser. Divide the volume by the amount per wash and the washes per day, and you have the days it lasts. The same sum works for a serum dropper or a shampoo bottle used three times a week, though the answer differs from one product to the next.
That date is the moment the customer decides. If your store stays silent, another brand’s advert, a pharmacy shelf or a supermarket offer makes the decision instead, and you never learn why. Many stores never work the date out. So nothing is sent.
The sum also exposes slow movers. A pot of mask used once a fortnight lasts for months, so a reminder after thirty days is simply noise.
Where the reminders go missing
Look at what a first-time buyer receives. Usually there is an order confirmation, a shipping notice and a newsletter that ignores what was bought, then silence until the next campaign. Nothing counts the days left in the bottle.
Timing errors add to the problem. A reminder counted from the order date lands too early when the courier is slow and too late when the buyer chose the large size. Count from delivery, using the pack size.
Check it on a live account. Order from your own store with a fresh email address, then log every message that arrives, with the day it came and whether it names the product.
- No reminder tied to pack size and daily use
- Reminder counted from order date, not delivery date
- Same message for a travel size and a refill pouch
- No second nudge when the first is ignored
- Out-of-stock batch not flagged, so the link leads nowhere
Routine bundles fall apart when the cycles differ
A cleanser, serum and moisturiser sold as one routine rarely finish on the same day, because each bottle has its own size and its own dose. The serum ends first. Ordering one dropper alone feels like too much effort, so the customer waits, and the wait becomes a lapse.
Bundle by cycle instead. Pair products that run out within a week or two of each other, and offer a refill pouch in place of a full bottle. Hair routines need the same care. Shampoo, conditioner and mask finish at different rates, so each needs its own reminder rather than one message for the set.
The data the store needs to send on time
Reminders depend on four facts per product: pack size, amount per use, uses per week, and the customer’s own answer about how often they use it. Ask that last question once, on the thank-you page or in the first message after delivery, and let a one-tap answer set the cycle.
Record consent and channel for each customer. Email suits a long cycle. WhatsApp or SMS suits a short, urgent nudge. Use them only where the customer has agreed to receive messages, and keep a record of when and how that agreement was given. Take the delivered date from the courier feed, not from dispatch, because a parcel held at a depot starts no one’s countdown.
- Pack size and amount per use for every product
- Uses per week, with the customer’s own answer overriding the default
- Delivered date from the courier status
- Channel and consent for each customer
- Routine step: cleanse, treat, moisturise or protect
Test one best seller before you build anything
Pick your best-selling cleanser or shampoo. Pull every customer who received it long enough ago to have finished the bottle and did not reorder, then ask each one a single question about why. Answers fall into four groups: the bottle ran out and they forgot, the skin reacted, the result disappointed, or the item was out of stock.
Each cause needs a different fix. Irritation needs a patch test warning on the page, and no reminder. A stock-out needs a back-in-stock message. Forgetfulness needs the refill nudge. Start by exporting last quarter’s buyers of that one product, sorted by days since delivery, and write to the group past its supply date.
Reorder cycle sheet
One row for each product. The columns are pack size, amount per use, uses per week, days of supply, first reminder day, second nudge day, refill option, bundle partner and consent channel. The sheet ends with a tally box for the reasons people give for not coming back, so next quarter’s plan starts from replies and not guesses.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
When should the first reminder go out?
Before the bottle runs out, not after. Aim for the final fortnight of supply. The parcel then arrives with time to spare. A slow delivery area should push the date earlier.
Should a customer who had a reaction get a reminder?
Not yet. Tag complaints and returns with the reason, then hold every reminder for that product and for that customer until someone has replied to them. A nudge to a customer who broke out feels careless. It can draw a formal complaint.
Is a subscription the fix for low reorder rates?
Only for items used on a steady cycle. A cleanser suits it. A treatment mask used now and then does not. Offer it as a choice at checkout. Never make it the default.
What if we do not know how much customers use?
Start with the dose stated on the label. Then send a one-question survey after delivery, and adjust each product’s cycle once enough answers have come back, because people rarely follow the printed dose to the letter.