How to increase repeat purchases

Your first buyers got their order, and then you never heard from them again. To increase repeat purchases on a new store, you do not need a loyalty app or a discount code: you need to know the day each buyer runs out, make reordering take one tap, and write to every buyer yourself before that day. With only a few first orders, each second order is worth as much as a new customer you did not have to find.

Do these three things

About 3 hours today, then 15 to 30 minutes a day. Judge it after 30 buyers have passed their run-out day, not after one month.

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1. 1Today: list every buyer in one sheet with what they bought, the day it arrived and the day it runs out. Then make a one-tap reorder link for each product and put it on a refill card in every parcel.
2. 2Every day: write a short personal email to every buyer whose day has come: "how is it going?" 7 days after delivery, a refill note 7 days before it runs out, and one last note on the day it runs out. Answer every reply the same day.
3. 3Every Sunday: count the buyers who passed their run-out day and how many of them ordered again. Fix the one reason they gave most, and nothing else that week.

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1. List every buyer and the day their order runs out

Put every person who has bought from you in one sheet, with what they bought, the day it arrived and the day it will run out. That date is when a second order can happen, so every other step hangs on it.

Get the list. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers, then Segments, and click "Create segment". Type number_of_orders >= 1 in the query editor, click "Run query", then "Save segment" and name it "All buyers". Copy each buyer into a Google Sheet. Then open Orders and add the product and the day each order was delivered. With the 10 or 20 buyers of your first sales, this takes half an hour by hand.

Take out three kinds of people: your test orders, anyone with an open problem such as a late parcel or a refund, and anyone who asked you not to email them or left your email list. Fix the problems first. A refill note in the middle of a complaint makes people angry.

Work out the run-out day. Use the rule for what you sell:

Then add two more columns: "Day 7" (the day it arrived plus 7) and "Refill note" (7 days before the run-out day). Shopify Community sellers this year report the same timing: remind people a few days before a 30-day product runs out, and ask how it is going about a week after delivery.

Your guess will be wrong for some people. That is fine. In step 4 you ask each buyer if they still have some left, and you change the date from what they say.

This guide is for your own store. If you also sell on Amazon or TikTok Shop, follow each platform's own rules on messaging buyers before you write to anyone there.

• Tool: Shopify's customer segments and a Google Sheet. Free. A CRM can wait until the sheet gets slow.
• Time: 45 minutes.
• You will have: one sheet with every buyer, what they bought and three dates for each: Day 7, refill note and run-out day.
• It worked if: every real buyer is in the sheet with all three dates, and nobody with an open problem or an unsubscribe is.
• Common mistake: using one gap, such as 30 or 60 days, for every product. If one bottle lasts 6 weeks, a note at day 30 asks people to buy something they do not need yet.

2. Make a second order take one tap

Make one link for each product that opens checkout with that product already in it, and put that link on a card in every parcel. Shopify Community sellers this year put "making reorder genuinely easy" near the top of what brings buyers back.

Make the reorder links. In your Shopify admin, go to Products and click a product. Click "More actions", then "Create checkout link". Pick the size or type, and click "Copy link". This needs the Buy Button sales channel, which is included in every Shopify plan; if you do not see the button, add the channel from the Shopify App Store first. Do this for each product and for your most common pair. You can also build a link for two products by hand: your store address, then /cart/, then each variant ID and quantity, with a comma between them, such as /cart/36485954240671:1,31384149360662:1.

Let people sign in without a password. Since 26 February 2026, Shopify's old customer accounts are no longer offered to new stores. In the new ones, buyers sign in with a one-time code sent to their email, see their past orders and can reorder from there. Go to Settings, then Customer accounts, and check that sign-in links are shown on your store. Keep Shop Pay on, as in the abandoned cart guide, so a returning buyer does not type their card again.

Put a refill card in every parcel. Print a small card with the run-out day written by hand, a QR code made from the reorder link, and your name. A real name on the card is part of what makes a new store feel trustworthy. Any free QR code maker works. Use the same card to ask for a review only if you do not already send a review card, so the parcel holds one card, not three.

Thank you, [first name].This [product] lasts about [N] weeks. Yours should run out around [date, written by hand].Scan to reorder in one tap: [QR code to your reorder link]
Questions? Reply to any email from me, or write to [your email].[Your name], [your store]

• Tool: Shopify's "Create checkout link", customer accounts and Shop Pay, a free QR code maker, and card stock. All free except the printing.
• Time: 1 hour.
• You will have: a reorder link for every product and your top pair, saved in your sheet, and a refill card in every parcel from today.
• It worked if: a friend scans the card on their phone and reaches the pay button with the right product in under a minute.
• Common mistake: a link or QR code that goes to your home page. Every extra page is one more place to stop.

3. Write to every buyer 7 days after delivery and ask how it is going

Seven days after each parcel arrives, send the buyer a short email from you that asks one question: how is it going? Buyers who had a problem tell you before they decide not to come back, and you can fix it while it still matters.

Write it by hand, every day. Each morning, open your sheet and find everyone whose "Day 7" is today. Let ChatGPT or Claude fill in the template below for each one from your sheet; you add one true line, such as what they bought or something they said when they ordered. That is about 3 minutes a buyer. Send it from your own email, not from a bulk tool, so it reads like a note from a person, replies come to you, and your email deliverability stays healthy.

Answer every reply the same day, the way you would answer your first users. Write each reply word for word in your sheet. If something went wrong, such as a leak, the wrong size or a scent they did not like, fix it that day: replace it, refund it or explain how to use it. In a Shopify Community thread this August, two clothing sellers said the fit of the first order decided whether people ordered again, more than any email did.

Keep it to one question. Do not ask for a review, a referral and a second order in the same note. Your review app already asks for the review. A referral comes after the second order, when you know they like it. When a happy buyer replies, you can ask in your answer if you may quote them, which gives you testimonials and lines for your product page. A buyer who loves it may also send a photo of it in use: your first customer photos and videos.

If you already run a thank-you flow from the Klaviyo flows guide, it sends the thank-you and the "how to use it" email on delivery day. Keep it. This day-7 note is different: it is from you, by hand, and it asks how the first week went.

Subject: How's the [product] going?Hi [first name],[Your name] here, from [your store]. Your [product] arrived a week ago, so I wanted to ask: how is it going? [One true line: what they bought, or something they told you.]One line is plenty, good or bad. If anything isn't right, tell me and I'll fix it today.[Your name]
[If you'd rather I didn't write again, just say so.]

• Tool: your own email, your sheet, and ChatGPT or Claude for the drafts.
• Time: about 3 minutes a buyer, so 5 to 15 minutes a day at this size.
• You will have: a note sent to every buyer on their day 7, and every reply logged word for word.
• It worked if: at least 1 in 3 buyers replies, and every problem they name is fixed within a day.
• Common mistake: a "10% off your next order" line in this note. It tells a buyer who is happy at full price that the price is negotiable, and it costs you money on an order they may have made anyway.

4. Send a refill note 7 days before it runs out, and one last note on the day

A week before each buyer runs out, email them a short note with the run-out day, a one-tap reorder link and one question: do you still have some left? On the run-out day, send one last line to anyone who has not reordered or replied, then stop.

Send the refill note. Each morning, find everyone whose "Refill note" day is today. Draft the note from the template with ChatGPT or Claude, check the product, the date and the link, and send it from your own email. Put their own reorder link in it: the link for exactly what they bought last time.

Ask if they still have some. The answer fixes your run-out day. If 3 buyers of the same product say they still have half left, move that product's refill note later for everyone. If they say they ran out early, move it earlier.

Send one last follow-up on the run-out day, only to people who have not reordered and not replied. That is three notes in all, counting day 7, which is the most any buyer gets from this guide. Stop at once if someone says no, buys or asks you to stop. Two weeks after the run-out day, anyone who still has not reordered has gone quiet: they move to your win-back email, which asks why they stopped.

No discount. A refill note with money off teaches buyers to wait for the next code, which is the trap in running sales too often. One Shopify Community seller this year found notes about the product did better than discounts. If many buyers say the price is the problem, change it for everyone, as in pricing your product. Your welcome emails and popup should not lean on codes either.

Subject: Your [product] runs out around [date]Hi [first name],Quick heads-up from [your name] at [your store]: if you use [product] most days, yours should run out around [date].If you'd like more, this link puts the same order straight into checkout: [their reorder link]And if you still have plenty left, tell me how much. I'm trying to get the timing right for everyone.[Your name]
[If you'd rather I didn't write again, just say so.]

Hi [first name], one last note from me: today's about when your [product] runs out. Here's the one-tap link if you want more: [their reorder link]. If it wasn't right for you, one line on why would help me a lot.[Your name]

• Tool: your own email, your sheet and the reorder links from step 2.
• Time: about 3 minutes a note, so 5 to 15 minutes a day at this size.
• You will have: a refill note and, where needed, a last note sent to every buyer on their day, and every "still have some" answer written down.
• It worked if: after 30 refill notes, at least 1 in 5 buyers has ordered again within 14 days of the note. Below 1 in 10, read the replies and fix the top reason (step 8) before changing the note.
• Common mistake: sending a fourth and fifth reminder. People mark repeat reminders as spam. After the run-out day, a buyer who has not answered needs a different email, the win-back, not more of the same.

5. Suggest the one product that most often comes second

For buyers who will not run out, or who bought only one of your products, suggest one next product by name, with one line on why it fits what they already have. One clear suggestion gets a reply; a grid of eight products gets ignored.

Find the second product. In your sheet, look at every buyer who has ordered twice: what did they buy first, and what second? Until 5 people have ordered twice, use what buyers ask for in their replies to steps 3 and 4. Their words also show who your product is really for. Pick one next product for each first product:

• Bought one of two products that go together (shampoo but not conditioner): suggest the other one, or the pair.
• Bought something that lasts (a jacket, a bag, a tool): suggest the one thing that goes with it, or care for it.
• Bought a gift: ask who it was for, and suggest the next gift before the next gift season, when holiday gift guides and shoppers start looking.

Say it in the notes you already send. Add one line to the refill note in step 4, or, for products that do not run out, send it as its own note on the run-out day from step 1. Use the same one-tap link from step 2. Making each order bigger with bundles and a free-shipping amount is a different job: raising your average order value.

Since you have [product A], a lot of people pair it with [product B] because [one true reason, in a buyer's words]. Here it is, one tap: [reorder link for B].

• Tool: your sheet and the reorder links. Free.
• Time: 20 minutes to pick, then no extra time each day.
• You will have: one named next product for each product you sell, written into your notes.
• It worked if: after 20 notes with the line, at least 2 buyers bought the suggested product or asked about it.
• Common mistake: suggesting your newest or most expensive product instead of the one buyers actually ask for.

6. Offer subscribe and save only once 5 people have ordered the same product twice

Add a subscription option to a product only after at least 5 buyers have reordered it on their own. Before that, you do not know how often people really use it, and a subscription that arrives too early gets cancelled.

Check that it fits. A subscription suits a product people use up on a steady schedule, such as shampoo, coffee or vitamins. It does not suit clothes, gifts or things that last. If your sheet shows people reorder at very different times, keep the refill notes instead.

Set it up with Shopify Subscriptions, Shopify's own app, which is free. Your store must take payments through Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen or Stripe. Install the app from the Shopify App Store, and create one plan: the product, a delivery every [N] weeks matching the gap your repeat buyers actually left, and the discount. Then add the plan to your product page: in the theme editor, open your product template, click "Add block" under Product information, choose "Subscription widget", and save. Bundles do not work with this app, and the one-tap checkout links from step 2 cannot start a subscription.

Keep the discount small, 10% at most, and check it against what one order leaves you after costs, as in pricing your product. A subscriber who stays raises your lifetime value, but buyers care more that they can skip, pause or cancel any time, which they can do from their customer account. Say so next to the button.

Write to every new subscriber a week before their first renewal, by hand, with the date and a link to skip it. A Shopify Community seller this year warned that subscriptions need ongoing work after launch to keep people from cancelling, which is your churn rate. A note before each early renewal is that work at your size.

• Tool: Shopify Subscriptions, free, and your theme editor.
• Time: 1 hour to set up, then 3 minutes per subscriber before their first renewal.
• You will have: one subscription plan on the product people already reorder, with "skip or cancel any time" shown.
• It worked if: after 10 people have subscribed, at least 7 are still active after their second delivery.
• Common mistake: launching subscriptions on day one with a big discount. You lose money on people who would have reordered anyway, and you guess the timing.

7. Turn the refill note into an automatic email once you pass 50 orders a month

When you get more than 50 orders a month, set up an automatic version of the refill note, so it goes out on time even on busy days. Keep writing the day-7 note by hand for as long as you can: it is where buyers tell you what is wrong.

Pick one tool. If you already send email from Klaviyo, as in the Klaviyo flows guide, build the refill email there, and check your plan allows one more live flow. If not, use Shopify Messaging, which is free for up to 10,000 emails a month on every plan from Basic up. Your abandoned checkout email does not count towards that. Never run both: one buyer should get one refill note.

In Shopify Messaging, on a computer, go to Apps, then Messaging, then Automations. Click "Create automation" and choose "Upsell customers after their first purchase". The wait counts from the order, not the delivery, so set the wait step to your usual delivery days, plus how long one unit lasts, minus 7 days. Click "Edit email", paste your refill note from step 4 with your own words and name, and put the reorder link in the button. Click "Send test", check it on your phone, then click "Turn on".

Know what it misses. This template only follows a first order. Keep writing the refill note by hand to buyers on their second order or later.

One product, one timing. If your products run out at different times, make one automation per product, each with its own wait, or keep writing the refill notes by hand for the product with the fewest buyers.

• Tool: Shopify Messaging, free up to 10,000 emails a month, or Klaviyo if you already use it.
• Time: 45 minutes.
• You will have: one automatic refill email per product, with the right wait, from one tool only.
• It worked if: a test order on your own email gets the refill email on the day you expect, with a reorder link that opens checkout.
• Common mistake: switching off your personal day-7 note when the automation goes live. The automation reminds; only you can hear and fix the problem behind a buyer who does not come back.

8. Every Sunday, count who ordered again and fix one reason

Every Sunday, count how many buyers passed their run-out day and how many of them ordered again, sort the week's replies into reasons, and fix the one reason named most. One fix a week lets you see which fix worked.

Fill in one row. Write down, as running totals: buyers who have passed their run-out day, how many of those ordered again, and how many replied. In Shopify, the Customers segment number_of_orders >= 2 shows everyone who has ordered twice. Once your store has a few months of orders, look for Shopify's "Customer cohort analysis" report under Analytics, then Reports. It groups buyers by the month of their first order and shows how many came back.

Sort the replies into one reason each and use this rule:

Judge by count, not by week. With 9 buyers, one reorder more or less is luck. Judge your notes after 30 buyers have passed their run-out day. Do not chase a percentage from a blog: the published "average repeat rates" come from app makers, use different methods and disagree with each other.

Use the number for your other choices. Once you know how many buyers order twice, you know what a customer is worth over time, their lifetime value, and so how much you can pay to win a first order. Put it next to your cost per customer and your break-even ROAS before you spend more on ads. Until buyers come back, more Meta ads only buy more one-time orders, and retargeting ads to past buyers cost money your free notes already save. If nobody reorders and nobody replies after 30 buyers, the first order may be the problem: work through why people are not buying again. Once a month, add these numbers to your monthly marketing review.

• Tool: your Google Sheet and Shopify's customer segments.
• Time: 30 minutes every Sunday, plus the fix.
• You will have: one row of totals a week, the reasons counted, and one fix made.
• It worked if: after 30 buyers past their run-out day, the reason you fixed is named less often and more of the next buyers order again.
• Common mistake: adding a loyalty points app because second orders are slow. With a few dozen buyers, a refill note and a card in the parcel do the same job for free, and a community around your brand gives fans a reason to stay without points.

Once buyers come back on their own, ask the happiest ones to bring a friend, and keep finding new first buyers every day, on Instagram and in short videos: repeat orders grow only as fast as your list of first buyers. If they stall, find out why growth stopped.

Your repeat purchase checklist for the next 6 weeks

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Step 1 · List every buyer and the day their order runs out

• Make a sheet of every buyer from a Shopify segment.
• Work out each buyer's run-out day, refill note day and day 7.

Step 2 · Make a second order take one tap

• Create a one-tap reorder link for every product and your top pair.
• Check customer accounts and Shop Pay are on.
• Put a refill card with the run-out day and a reorder QR code in every parcel.

Step 3 · Write to every buyer 7 days after delivery

• Every daySend the day-7 note to every buyer whose day has come.
• Every dayAnswer every reply the same day and fix any problem it names.

Step 4 · Send a refill note before it runs out

• Every daySend the refill note to every buyer 7 days before they run out.
• Every daySend the last note on the run-out day, then stop.

Step 5 · Suggest the product that comes second

• Pick one next product for each product and add the line to your notes.

Step 6 · Offer subscribe and save

• After 5 buyers reorder one productAdd a Shopify Subscriptions plan to the product people already reorder.

Step 7 · Make the refill note automatic

• After 50 orders in a monthTurn on an automatic refill email with the right wait.

Step 8 · Count who ordered again and fix one reason

• Every SundayFill in the week's totals.
• Every SundaySort the replies into reasons and fix the one named most.

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