5 ways to turn new holiday shoppers into loyal brand advocates

The BFCM season—and the entire holiday season in general, really—is the time of year when you spend big money promoting your business to bring in new customers.

Across all verticals, brands brought in around 50% new customers during BFCM 2024, according to Klaviyo insights. The same research found that brands see more buyers during this time than the prior 3 months combined.

With so many shoppers actively seeking out new brands and products, you don’t want them to become one-time or seasonal buyers who lose interest in your business after the hype of the holidays. These shoppers can become lifetime customers as long as you nurture them correctly and use personalized post-purchase strategies to maintain their interest in your business.

The good news? You likely already have everything you need. Holiday traffic leaves behind a goldmine of behavioral data—from browsing patterns to order timing—and Klaviyo Marketing Analytics helps you turn those insights into smarter segmentation and more effective follow-ups.

Here’s how to turn new shoppers from BFCM and the holidays into repeat purchasers—and even loyal customers—by creating thoughtful experiences that extend beyond the sale.

1. Make sure your immediate post-purchase experience is seamless

Especially during the high-stress, high-stakes holiday season, the moments immediately after a customer places an order—from order confirmation to shipping and delivery—are make or break for brands.

A global consumer survey from Statista found that almost half of consumers are looking for tailored follow-up messages after they make a purchase. This is your chance to reinforce your relationship with your customer, deliver a great customer experience, and encourage them to make another purchase in the future.

Here are a few ways to provide a quick, personalized post-purchase experience:

• Use AI customer agents for post-purchase questions. According to Klaviyo’s 2025 AI shopping index, nearly 9 in 10 consumers are open to AI managing order tracking and 84% are open to AI handling reorders. Offer AI customer agents to answer questions about orders, handle simple post-purchase tasks like return initiations, and help connect customers to human agents when necessary.
• Provide a self-service customer hub. Empower customers with a self-service hub that allows them to manage their entire order, from tracking status in real time to updating personal information and modifying subscriptions, to getting help from AI and human agents.
• Automate transactional messages. Set up proactive automated messages like order confirmations, shipping notifications, and delivery updates across email, text messaging, WhatsApp, and mobile push that clearly explain order status and next steps.

Real-world example: Jewelry brand Caitlyn Minimalist previously received lots of requests for status updates post-purchase, especially for personalized orders. Now, the team sends automated transactional emails with clear production timelines, contributing to a drop in customer service outreach about orders in progress.

Caitlyn Minimalist also offers customers a personalized, signed-in account experience where they can access order tracking, rewards, support, and more—all without ever leaving the ecommerce site.

2. Make returns easy, and view them as a retention opportunity

Returns are inevitable, but they don’t have to be the end of a customer relationship. A customer might be returning something simply because they purchased the wrong size, not because they dislike your brand. When handled right, returns can actually strengthen brand loyalty.

According to a 2025 report from the NRF, retailers estimate that 17% of holiday sales will be returned this year, and 82% of shoppers credit free returns as a major consideration when making a purchase (up 8% year over year). Plus, 76% of shoppers say they’re more likely to choose a return option that offers an instant refund or exchange.

Here are a few ways to strengthen your returns process to encourage purchases during the holiday season:

• Outline clear return policies. Make your return window, process, and any holiday-specific policies visible on product pages, confirmation emails, and FAQ pages.
• Keep communication transparent. Send updates when you receive a return, process it, and when the refund or exchange is complete. For holiday purchases, proactively explain how returns might be affected because of increased volume or shipping delays.
• Alert customers when return windows are ending. Send automated reminders 1–2 weeks before a return window closes to reduce customer frustration, especially for items bought during BFCM.
• Follow up once you know someone’s reason for returning. If someone returns a holiday gift because it was the wrong size or color, send personalized recommendations via email or text message for similar items in the right specifications. This turns a negative experience into a relationship-building moment.
• Offer self-serve returns. Customer Hub and AI customer agents can answer questions and handle post-purchase tasks instantly, even during the holiday rush when support teams are stretched thin.

And here are a few ways to transform returns into repeat purchases:

• When they’re initiating a return, allow customers to reorder a different product directly from a customer hub or in their chat with an AI customer agent.
• Offer incentives for exchanging rather than returning, with the option to drop off returns at a local spot where they can also schedule a pick-up of the new item.
• Use integrations between your return management system and your CRM to automatically alert customers when they have credit to spend.
• Start conversations by sending a product recommendation quiz in return confirmation messages, asking the customer to “help us find something you’ll love.”

3. Segment and prioritize high-value new customers for re-engagement

Not all holiday shoppers are the same. Some purchased from you because you had the best deal, while others may have genuinely wanted your product, and the discount helped them finalize their choice.

Without a plan to keep them around, most holiday shoppers will be gone in a few months. In fact, research from Bluecore shows that 60% of second purchases happen within the first 100 days.

With Marketing Analytics, identifying high-value customers becomes simple. Drill into campaign performance, RFM status, cohort behavior, and purchase drivers from BFCM to see exactly which customers are likely to buy again—and how to reach them.

To identify potential high-value customers, look for:

• Big spenders: first-time buyers who spent over your average order value (AOV) during the holidays
• Full-price buyers: customers who bought at regular prices during the holiday season, even when discounts were everywhere else
• High engagement: buyers who engaged with 3 or more messages, posts, or notifications before purchasing, and are not impulse shoppers
• Multi-item purchasers: new customers who bought multiple items—or came back for a second purchase—during the holiday window
• Category explorers: shoppers who browsed or bought across multiple product categories during the holidays or sales windows

Once you find those potentially high-value shoppers, send them VIP offers and messages like:

• Exclusive New Year’s flash sales: Offer VIP-only sales on products that complement holiday purchases, like 25% off a serum for someone who bought a high-end moisturizer during BFCM.
• Challenges to earn permanent VIP status: Make it a game. Think “Make one more purchase by February 21 and keep your VIP perks all year long.”
• Early access to spring collections: Give these shoppers 48–72 hours of early access to new launches. If they bought winter gear over the holidays, spring arrivals are a natural next buy.
• Product education series: If holiday shoppers found you through deals, nurture that relationship with a 4- to 6-week education series that can show your expertise, like a cookware brand offering tips on how to master your new kitchen tools.
• Birthday recognition: Capture birthdays in your welcome flow, then send birthday perks when applicable. This gives you a natural reason to reach out after the holidays.

Real-world example: To increase AOV, repeat purchase rate, and message engagement, luxury makeup brand Patrick Ta ran an 8-day BFCM promotion that rewarded customers who spent $150 with a complimentary gift with purchase, worth $96: an eyeshadow palette, a lip créme, and a mini tote. This approach incentivized higher-order values and encouraged product discovery.

In the month before BFCM, Patrick Ta sent several email campaigns highlighting their loyalty program perks, including early access to their holiday promotion. By segmenting their audience, they created distinct messaging for subscribers with accounts and without. This helped them boost repeat purchase rate during the holiday weekend (and drive hundreds of new loyalty account sign-ups, too).

4. Personalize post-holiday follow-up outreach for other segments, too

Your VIP segment is covered. But the bargain hunters, the browsers who finally converted, and the gift-givers each need a unique approach to turn into repeat customers, too. Brands that excel at personalization are 71% more likely to report improved customer loyalty, according to a Deloitte study.

Beyond VIP perks, here are a few ways to personalize your post-holiday messaging for shopper segments that may have different motivations:

• Share content that shows your value. Demonstrate why your products are worth the full price with ingredient or material sourcing stories, customer testimonials, or comparison guides that prove your products outperform cheaper alternatives.
• Show social proof. When a discount-dependent shopper from BFCM browses your site in February but doesn’t buy, trigger an abandoned browse email that says “Still thinking about [product]? Here’s why customers say it’s worth it” with 3–4 customer reviews.
• Set up automated replenishment reminders. Rather than setting your replenishment flow to go out after the same amount of time for everyone, use a customer’s AI-predicted next order date to nudge them to remember their product might be running low and encourage them to repurchase.
• Reach customers on their preferred channels. Use AI-powered channel affinity to see where customers actually engage. If a customer shows a clear preference for text messages, for example, follow up with them there, then move to their second-highest preferred channel.
• Gather valuable data with quizzes and post-purchase surveys. Ask “Was this a gift or a treat for yourself?” or “Love what you gave? Here’s 15% off to try it yourself” to learn more about a customer’s past and current shopping intentions. Then, use product quizzes to help holiday shoppers discover what’s right for their own needs, not what they thought would work as a gift.
• Suggest the “next best purchase.” Cross-sell with AI-driven product recommendations based on a customer’s unique browsing and purchasing data.

Real-world example: Clean beauty brand Jones Road Beauty strategically personalized their customer communications in the days leading up to BFCM to promote the limited-time drop of their Mini Miracle Balm. Those who took their shade match quiz but never bought anything received messaging about trying multiple shades to find their perfect match, while VIP repeat buyers received a message centered on gifting their favorite product.

By taking a more personalized approach, the Jones Road Beauty team grew their Klaviyo-attributed BFCM revenue 167% YoY, and their Miracle Balm was a top-selling product on Shopify during Cyber Monday.

5. Use reviews to build—or rebuild—trust

Reviews are an opportunity to both solidify a relationship with a new customer and influence new purchases. According to Klaviyo’s 2025 BFCM forecast, more than a third of shoppers say reviews are one of the top 5 most important factors when deciding where to buy gifts for themselves or others for the holidays.

Staying on top of customer reviews creates a system where customer service insights automatically improve your marketing, and marketing efforts reflect the feedback that needs attention.

Build the customer service to marketing loop by:

• Using AI to track sentiment: Automatically alert your customer service team when someone leaves a low-star review. Suppose a holiday shopper complains via review that a product arrived damaged. Your service team can reach out within hours to send a replacement and turn a negative experience into a loyalty moment.
• Using negative review patterns to inform product messaging: If multiple holiday shoppers mention the same issue (like confusion about sizing), update your product pages and marketing messages to address those concerns upfront.
• Turning resolved complaints into marketing opportunities: When your team successfully resolves a complaint, follow up a week later, asking the customer to update their review. These “we made it right” stories show that you stand behind your products.

On the flip side, build the marketing to customer service loop by:

• Requesting reviews at the right time: Send review requests 7–10 days after delivery or after the AI-predicted usage period. This gives items the time they need to show results and catches customers when they have fresh opinions.
• Personalizing follow-up messages: If someone leaves a positive review on a candle from your winter seasonal collection, follow up with a cross-sell campaign promoting other items from that collection.
• Highlighting real customer feedback: Use dynamic review blocks in your marketing messages to create social proof that reassures customers they’re buying the right product.

Real-world example: Fragrance brand Happy Wax uses a sophisticated review follow-up flow to maintain customer satisfaction. If a customer leaves a review with less than 3 stars, for instance, the flow pings the internal customer service team to reach out and offer a new scent, free of charge.

Happy Wax also A/B tests dynamic review quote blocks, which use AI to select and highlight the review quote most relevant to each customer (like a testimonial about the SKU they just abandoned). So far, both flow versions with review blocks are driving more clicks and revenue per recipient.

Make the most of your first impression on holiday shoppers with Klaviyo

Even as a small business, you can elevate post-purchase experiences and build trust through exceptional customer experiences with Klaviyo. Here’s how:

• Marketing Analytics: Insights into which campaigns, products, and customers drove BFCM success—and how to re-engage them for repeat sales.
• Klaviyo Customer Hub: Turn shopper signals into revenue and build customer loyalty with a personalized, on-site destination for self-service that makes it easy for customers to purchase all year long.
• K:AI Customer Agent: Drive purchases and overcome buying barriers with an always-on AI assistant built to resolve customer issues during any season.
• Automated flows: Set up post-purchase nurture sequences, replenishment reminders, and win-back automations that keep buyers interested long after BFCM ends.
• Advanced segmentation: Identify high-value holiday shoppers, gift buyers, discount-dependent shoppers, and other key segments to personalize your re-engagement strategy.
• Klaviyo Reviews: Collect, manage, and show off customer feedback to build trust with new shoppers while creating a loop between customer service insights and marketing messaging.