Beyond the Buy Button: 5 Takeaways from the 2025 Post Purchase Forum 

For years, brands have treated the moment of purchase as the finish line. The truth is, in today’s loyalty landscape, your customer relationship has only just emerged from the starting gate.  The post-purchase experience—every delivery update, return, exchange, and service interaction—has become the true stage on which brands earn (or lose) long-term loyalty.  At this year’s Post Purchase Forum by CommerceNext in New York City, one theme rang clear: the moments after the sale are rife with opportunity for building trust, brand affinity, and unlocking long term loyalty. Here’s our top 5 takeaways from the day: 

1. Post-Purchase Is the New Loyalty Battleground 

One of the most resonant slides of the event stated it plainly:  “Post-purchase is the new battleground for consumer consideration — reinforce brand affinity, grow loyalty, and unlock LTV.”  The supporting numbers made the stakes clear: 

• 67% of consumers would abandon a brand after just one bad delivery experience. 
• 40% of Marc Jacobs’ WISMO (“Where Is My Order”) contacts come from “Delivered Not Received” issues. 

Leaders like Chewy’s Shiv Menon and Mattress Firm’s George Hanson shared how they turn these moments into loyalty-building opportunities through proactive communication, surprise-and-delight gestures, and clear follow-through.

2. Post-Purchase Monetization: Turning Loyalty into Growth

Beyond engagement, brands are also finding new ways to drive revenue after the sale. From extended warranties and product protection plans to exclusive upsells, cross-sells, and loyalty program enrollment, post-purchase touch points are increasingly used to monetize the moment of peak attention and trust. Takeaways from two distinct sessions (a panel with Pandora, Fluent Blu Dot, Authentic Brands Group and a fireside chat with our own Carlos Dunlap-Beard of ebbo and FullBeauty Brands’s Ryan Williams) included insights like: 

• Offer add-on services (like free shipping, same-day delivery or extended return windows) for an incremental fee. 
• Introduce membership or rewards programs at the point of delivery, not just at checkout. 
• Embed personalized product recommendations in shipping confirmations and tracking updates. 
• Use returns and exchanges as opportunities to deepen engagement rather than end a transaction. 
• Offering a high-value paid loyalty member offers generate over 3.5x more revenue than retail ad platforms and keep customers within your brand’s ecosystem.  

3. Trust, Transparency, and Empathy Trump Perfection 

Consumers no longer expect perfection—they expect honesty. Three modern loyalty currencies stood out: 

• Trust is the ultimate currency. How brands respond when things go wrong has a bigger impact on loyalty than when everything goes right. 
• Transparency beats perfection. Clear shipping updates, honest return policies, and responsible data practices build more loyalty than frictionless but opaque processes. 
• Retention is the new acquisition. Brands are shifting spefcnd from top-funnel marketing to post-purchase experiences that build trust and keep customers coming back. 

As Sene’s Ray Li put it: “Brands that use AI for empathy, not just efficiency, will be the brands that win.” 

4. Human + AI = Personalized, Scalable Customer Care 

The future of post-purchase isn’t about replacing humans with tech—it’s about amplifying human connection with technology. The closing Next Steps summed it up perfectly:  “Balance digital innovation with human connection” and “Empower teams through knowledge and education.”

AS Beauty’s Scott Kramer and Mattress Firm’s George Hanson shared how AI tools help their teams train faster, respond smarter, and personalize at scale. Meanwhile, Chewy’s 1 million surprise-and-delight gifts each month prove that automation can scale emotional connection, not diminish it. 

5. Data-Driven Personalization Is the Undercurrent 

Another consistent thread: personalization isn’t confined to marketing. It runs through every post-purchase touchpoint. Event speakers emphasized: “Know Your Customer” and “Start Small, Learn Fast.” 

By grounding decisions in real customer behavior—not generic benchmarks—brands can: 

• Refine loyalty programs 
• Manage fraud more effectively 
• Anticipate repurchase timing 
• Personalize communications across fulfillment, returns, and support 

This data-driven loop turns operational moments into high-value loyalty experiences. 

The Future of Loyalty Lives After the Sale 

The message from the day was clear: Loyalty is built—and monetized—after the buy button is clicked. Brands that own the post-purchase experience, lead with empathy and transparency, and blend AI with human connection will drive not only retention but also incremental revenue growth. 

At ebbo, we believe loyalty isn’t a one-time transaction. It’s a series of high-impact moments—and increasingly, those moments happen after the sale. Want to learn how ebbo helps brands turn post-purchase moments into loyalty and revenue? Let’s talk about how to monetize trust without compromising customer experience. Reach out to us today