Update to Ecommerce Skills

{
  "description": "Use when someone wants more customers to come back and buy again — \"repeat rate is low\", \"improve retention\", \"get a second order\", \"customers buy once and disappear\", \"what should our post-purchase flow do\" — for any online store.",
  "included_files": [
    {
      "relative_path": "reference.md",
      "size_in_bytes": 521
    }
  ],
  "name": "increase-repeat-purchases",
  "skill_md_contents": "---\nname: increase-repeat-purchases\ndescription: Use when someone wants more customers to come back and buy again — \"repeat rate is low\", \"improve retention\", \"get a second order\", \"customers buy once and disappear\", \"what should our post-purchase flow do\" — for any online store.\n---\n\n# Increase repeat purchases\n\nTurn \"only 12% buy again\" into a ranked backlog. Leave the how-to and the papers in the Depth skills. Several effects show up in retention over years, not in next month's numbers — say so. Every number is what a cited study measured in its own context; do not turn it into a forecast for the user's repeat rate.\n\n## When to use\n\n- The user names repeat rate, retention, lifetime value, or \"second order\" as the goal\n- Reviewing what happens after checkout: emails, box contents, returns, loyalty\n\n## When not to use\n\n- First purchase → `increase-conversion`; order size → `increase-aov`\n- Cart and payment-step UX → `checkout-ux`; abandonment *email* timing stays here via `post-purchase`\n- Review solicitation and complaint handling in depth → `reviews`; referral mechanics → `referrals`\n\n## Inputs\n\nCollect, or state your assumption:\n\n- Product and how long it takes to judge (instant vs weeks)\n- Post-purchase emails: what is sent, when, first question asked\n- Box contents (inserts, codes, packaging)\n- Return and refund policy; loyalty program (opt-in or automatic, tiers, reward type)\n- Abandoned-cart email timing; whether the store replies to reviews\n\n## Procedure\n\nWalk each check; include applicable levers the user didn't mention; list the rest as considered.\n\n1. **Loyalty: automatic, single tier, threshold reward.** Enroll everyone; one rule (\"buy 10, get 1 at no cost\"). Effect is in multi-year retention. Depth: `post-purchase`.\n2. **Feedback request with a positive open-ended first question.** \"What did you enjoy most?\" before any rating. Depth: `reviews`.\n3. **Ask for reviews at 9–13 days**, later for products that take weeks to judge. Measured on review volume, not repeat purchase; it is the delivery vehicle for step 2. Depth: `reviews`.\n4. **Handwritten thank-you note, nothing attached.** A discount on the note cancels the effect. Depth: `post-purchase`.\n5. **Instant refund when the return ships.** Carrier scan, not after inspection, for items that don't need inspection. Depth: `post-purchase`.\n6. **Free, easy returns.** Depth: `post-purchase`.\n7. **Free-shipping membership with a minimum order.** Depth: `post-purchase`.\n8. **Reply to every review** — measured on ratings and volume, not repeat. Depth: `reviews`.\n9. **Abandoned-cart reminder at 24–72 h**, never within the hour. Depth: `post-purchase`.\n10. **Referrals as the next step** once repeat customers exist: friend's benefit as the headline. Depth: `referrals`.\n11. **Rank.** Note which effects are long-horizon (loyalty) versus immediate (email timing, refund timing). Cheap changes ahead of program builds at equal effect.\n\n## Output\n\n| # | Finding | Change | Measured effect (study context) | Horizon | Depth |\n|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n| 1 | Opt-in tiered points | Auto-enroll, single \"buy 10, get 1\" | +29.5% customer value over 5 years | Long | `post-purchase` |\n| … | | | | | |\n\nThen: what already complies. Each effect was measured on its own; don't add them up. Ship the top two or three, measure, then take the next.\n\n## Common mistakes\n\n- Inventing a lift (\"could double repeat rate\") — quote the study's number and its context.\n- Building a replenishment sequence first — reasonable, but not in this evidence.\n- Making the loyalty program visible but still opt-in — the finding is automatic enrollment.\n- Keeping the discount on the thank-you note — it cancels the note's effect.\n- Judging the loyalty program on next quarter's numbers — the effect is in multi-year retention.\n\n## Quick reference\n\n| Lever | Depth | Horizon |\n|---|---|---|\n| Auto-enroll single-tier loyalty | `post-purchase` | Long |\n| Positive open-ended first question | `reviews` | Immediate |\n| Review ask at 9–13 days | `reviews` | Immediate |\n| Handwritten note, no promo | `post-purchase` | Immediate |\n| Refund on carrier scan; free returns | `post-purchase` | Immediate / ongoing |\n| Abandoned-cart email 24–72 h | `post-purchase` | Immediate |\n| Referral ask, friend's benefit first | `referrals` | Next |\n\nEvidence and effect sizes: see [reference.md](reference.md).\n"
}