How do DTC brands improve customer retention after checkout?

Codee Burton of ShipBob and Mike Fazio of AfterShip follow one order from checkout to the warehouse, the doorstep and the return, and show where brands keep or lose the repeat customer. Eric Dyck asks what to audit at each stage and what to fix first.

See how ShipBob and AfterShip work together: aftership.co/ASxShipBob

WHAT THIS EPISODE SOLVES

• Your delivery date is a guess. Codee explains why a promise built on “5 to 7 business days” fails, and the three inputs that make a delivery date hold: inventory placement, cutoff times and shipping zones.
• You don’t know where your retention audit should start. Mike starts with support tickets. Codee starts earlier, at the receiving dock, with dock to stock, same-day ship rate and pick accuracy.
• Your customers hear about delays from the carrier first. Why the brand should be the first to say something, and how proactive messages turn a late order into a good experience.
• You’re blaming the wrong partner for late orders. How to trace a delay to the warehouse, the carrier or a specific shipping lane before you make an expensive decision.
• Your tracking page is a dead end. How brands use it for care content, warranty registration, product recommendations and loyalty offers, and what one Shopify brand saw in 90 days.
• Returns turn into refunds. What exchange first needs from the warehouse, how returns move from AfterShip to ShipBob the moment they’re created, and incentives that keep the revenue.
• You want to add AI agents. Why clean, connected data comes first, and where agents help today.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Codee Burton is Senior Manager of Client Acquisition at ShipBob, leading the team that works with growing brands when their operations stop keeping up with their growth. shipbob.com

Mike Fazio is Lead Solutions Architect at AfterShip and has worked in post-purchase tracking and returns for eight years. aftership.com

STAY CONNECTED

Get the DTC Newsletter: directtoconsumer.co

SPONSORS

This episode is in partnership with ShipBob and AfterShip.

ShipBob: shipbob.com

AfterShip: aftership.com

The ShipBob and AfterShip integration: aftership.co/ASxShipBob

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 How post-purchase experience impacts customer retention

07:00 Identifying fulfillment issues before they happen

13:00 Using AI to improve shipping and delivery performance

19:00 Turning order tracking and returns into revenue

28:00 How AI agents are transforming ecommerce operations