We all have clients who have purchased once or maybe twice, but then have yet to become loyal customers. According to several studies by marketers, this number can vary from 25% to even 60% of the entire database of an online store. Reactivation automation identifies those customers and helps you re-engage with them.

When discussing the Reactivation sequence, we focus on the customers who placed an order recently but didn't re-engage after. We are not yet checking if they open your emails, but focus on the fact that they didn't place any orders. Therefore, the Reactivation email should be adjusted to your brand's specifics and marketing practices.

If you sell high-value products, you should focus more on new customer acquisition. If you sell products people buy frequently, you'd better start looking for customer loyalty techniques.

The reactivation sequence is offered as one of the standard flows in Omnisend. So, instead of changing the trigger manually, you can just select this sequence from the menu.

To set up your workflow, go to the Automation tab → click Create workflow → find the Customer Reactivation flow → and click Customize workflow.

Once you've chosen the sequence, you should proceed with a couple of standard steps to adjust your automation to your goals. In the instructions provided below, we will walk you through the setup process and share some recommendations.

By default, this workflow is triggered by the event 'Placed Order'. Unlike any Segment-based automation, this event carries the data about the order the customer placed. However, since it is not crucial to add the information about the order as it may be for the Order Confirmation or Shipping Confirmation emails, you are free to change this trigger.

On various ecommerce platforms, specific order statuses are required to trigger the reactivation email sequence. When an order transitions to one of the statuses listed in the table, the automation will be activated. Subsequent changes to the order status will not affect the performance or flow of the automation.

You may also target your automation based on your customers' profile data (Country, Gender, Tag, etc.) and their belonging to a specific Segment.

The customer Reactivation sequence has the default exit condition set to Order Placed, meaning that the customer exits the flow in case they re-engage with your store or receive all emails from the sequence. However, you may also cancel the flow under certain conditions, for example, when the customer purchases a particular product or depending on the country they specify at the checkout page.

In the Trigger settings, you may also choose not to trigger the sequence for contacts who have already been in this automation. With the Order Placed trigger in place, this sequence will be triggered every time the customer places the order.

However, as this automation life cycle is durable, you may leave this option disabled.

With the Conditional Split block, you can send different messages based on the customer's profile data or engagement with previous messages of the same flow, as shown in the screenshot below. 

Setting the appropriate delay is one of the most important factors in the success of your Reactivation sequence. By default, the automation includes a 30-day delay, giving customers enough time to place a second order. The first message is sent only if no additional orders are made within that 30-day window.

It’s important to strike the right balance. Sending messages too soon can feel intrusive, while waiting too long might reduce engagement. Take time to evaluate your store’s average reorder cycle and customer behavior to determine the optimal delay for your business.

You may add as many blocks of messages to your sequence as you want, and you are not limited to one channel only. Apart from a regular email, you may also add an SMS or a Push Notification.

The settings of the block with the message you add will depend on the channel. If you are adding an Email, you will need to specify the Subject Line, Preheader, and Sender's email address. In case it is SMS, you need to add the content of the message.

What is common for all message blocks is the option to pass non-opted customers to the next workflow step. By adding a checkmark, you prevent the whole series from being canceled for contacts who are non-opted-in to some of the channels. For example, the customer who is not subscribed to the SMS channel will pass to the next stage and receive the Email instead of being stuck at the SMS block.

We've previously mentioned that the primary intent of the reactivation automation is to push your customers to another purchase and not just remind them of your brand or stay visible. Therefore, this message should be different from the regular newsletters you are sending. But how can we make it different?

The reactivation email, unlike the abandoned series or the Cross-sell, is not triggered by an external event, so sending a regular Email might not be enough. In this case, the SMS channel may help you attract more attention and retain your email subscribers.
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The right timing and message are what make your customers purchase. They will be more likely to respond to exclusive incentives that create a sense of urgency. Limited times and quantities.

Go ahead and create engaging content for the email. Our free templates and design themes will help. Be bold, make it personal, and wake your dormant customers up!

Yes! The preset automation has the retrospective trigger activated automatically. After you enable reactivation emails, Omnisend checks the most recent purchases at your store and sends reactivation emails to customers who haven't bought anything from you for a specific period of time.

For example, today, you have set up a reactivation series with three emails to be sent after 30, 40, and 50 days. If your customer purchased 20 days ago, the first reactivation email will be sent 10 days from today.