+15% LTV and +20% repeat purchases through systematic retention approach

How can personalised communication become a driver of long-term sales? MAUDAU replaced conventional CRM marketing with a customer-centric approach and achieved remarkable growth across key metrics.

In this case study, working with Serhii Doroshenko, Retention Team Lead at MAUDAU, we demonstrate how the team built a loyalty-focused retention strategy through personalised scenarios, triggers, omnichannel communication, and segmentation.

About the Project

MAUDAU is a Ukrainian online marketplace that serves nearly 1.7 million monthly users. Customers purchase everything from groceries to personal care, home goods, children’s items, and pet supplies. The concept is straightforward: eliminate routine shopping trips through an efficient online service.

The Challenge

Despite maintaining stable traffic and a broad user base, MAUDAU’s team recognised that sustainable business growth depended not just on acquiring new customers, but primarily on driving repeat engagement. Many customers vanished after their first purchase, while others weren’t fully utilising the platform’s potential.

The company needed a strategy to build authentic customer relationships—helping, guiding, re-engaging, and gradually increasing lifetime value.

Key marketing objectives included:

• Capture quality contacts from the first visit and implement immediate segmentation.
• Create compelling initial experiences that convert to first purchases.
• Drive second purchases through personalised post-purchase engagement.
• Adapt communication to real-time customer behaviour patterns.
• Re-engage inactive customers effectively.
• Build sustainable long-term customer lifecycle foundations.

The Solution

MAUDAU implemented a comprehensive retention strategy centred on actual customer behavior and needs. Rather than focusing on campaigns, they prioritised customers, their lifecycles, and optimal engagement moments.

The approach follows a structured relationship-building framework:

1. Capture attention from the first visit through subscriptions and personalised offers
2. Create memorable first purchases via welcome workflows, bonuses, and seamless experiences
3. Nurture post-purchase relationships with personalised recommendations, behavioural triggers, and relevant offers
4. Maintain loyal customer connections through appreciation, personalised rewards, and habit recognition
5. Re-engage lost customers tactfully through anti-churn sequences and targeted omnichannel outreach

Before discussing implementation, it’s important to understand how MAUDAU approaches customer experience development. They view retention as a systematic interaction that evolves following romantic relationship principles.

Sign-up is like an introduction. First purchase resembles a first date—timing and emotional connection matter. A second purchase signals genuine interest. From there, success depends on care, attention, listening skills, and maintaining connection. MAUDAU believes that brands seeking long-term customer relationships must build them through authenticity and an understanding of needs, not manipulation.

Stage 1: First meeting

First contact occurs when potential customers evaluate the brand—assessing trustworthiness, purchase convenience, and value proposition clarity. MAUDAU compares this stage to first dates: one misstep can prevent continuation.

Success requires avoiding pressure tactics while being relevant, attentive, and slightly anticipatory. MAUDAU ensures initial relationship steps are effortless and reciprocal, offering choices, respecting user attention, and providing tangible value.

This stage addresses several critical elements:

• How to encourage contact sharing.
• How to guide users through first purchases.
• How to inspire return visits.

Subscription Forms as Relationship Invitations

MAUDAU uses adaptive subscription forms to initiate new user dialogue. Visitors choose their preference—discount or free shipping—and immediately receive relevant promo codes after email submission.

The widget then presents two options:

• “Use promo code”—direct product selection access
• “Want another gift”—second flow step requesting birth dates for promised personalised birthday offers

This approach avoids unnecessary demands and pressure. Each progression depends entirely on user choice—the brand simply creates convenient, gradual interaction opportunities.

Subscription forms generated +79% database growth, with 56% of users redeeming received promo codes.

Want your widgets to become drivers of audience growth? Book a demo

Another acquisition tool—floating widgets with offers that MAUDAU places on category pages.

They don’t interrupt user experience and offer timely relevant actions. For example, in the alcohol category, this format delivered +14% page views, +15% cart additions, and +19% transactions within just two days.

Creating Strong First Impressions

MAUDAU never abandons new customers post-subscription or purchase. Initial emails immediately convey brand personality: warm, caring, and playfully engaging.

Post-subscription welcome emails thank users for their interest and introduce the service as a marketplace for “essential items.” The brand highlights benefits, delivery options, value maximisation tips, and invites deeper product exploration.

After the first orders, transactional emails congratulate customers, compare the moment to “crossing the equator,” promise thorough order verification, and provide support contact information.

Simultaneously, additional trust-building mechanisms activate:

• Immediate order confirmations
• Clear informational communication
• Initial personalised recommendations based on category selections

Technical data collection—order composition, product quantities, category types—forms the foundation for future segmentation and individual lifecycle development.

If a customer returns, it enables a long-term retention transition. Non-returners trigger reactivation sequences.

Essential Post-First-Purchase Metrics:

• RPR new—percentage of new customers making second purchases
• Average categories per first/second purchase
• Second purchase timeline—average interval between first and second purchases

These metrics reveal how effectively brands convert new users into regular customers.

Driving Second Purchases: How MAUDAU Motivates Repeat Actions

Following the first purchases, MAUDAU actively supports customers rather than waiting for organic returns. The goal is to provide compelling reasons for repeat engagement.

This is the moment when there’s an opportunity to analyse customer behaviour: whether they’re satisfied with their choice, received expected emotions, and are ready to continue their brand journey. It’s important to understand their needs and preferences to offer something even more personalized in the future.

MAUDAU uses data collected after first purchases to invite customers for repeat "visits." They employ promotional campaigns, personalised recommendations, and trigger messaging. For example, after placing an order, customers receive emails with personalized product collections and promo codes.

Stage 2: Behavioural Adaptation

Customers interact with brands uniquely—some order regularly, others sporadically; some read morning emails, others only respond to Viber messages. MAUDAU embraces these differences rather than ignoring them.

Content, timing, and channels are individually selected based on historical actions—orders, opens, engagement patterns. This approach maintains relevance while reducing noise from generic mass messaging.

Favourite category segmentation produced exceptional results—retention campaign metrics improved 3x across ROI, retention revenue, and repeat purchase income. When brands acknowledge personal preferences, every invested unit returns significantly faster.

Interested in segmentation that actually drives profit?

Book a demo

Action-Based Triggers: How MAUDAU Maintains Interest at the Right Moment

Not all customers respond immediately. Some delay decisions, others forget, and some simply aren’t ready. MAUDAU addresses these scenarios with behavioural trigger sequences serving dual purposes:

• Rekindle interest
• Deliver offers at optimal moments

These include abandoned cart sequences, browse abandonment campaigns, and separate messages when prices drop on abandoned or viewed products. All messages contain personalised product recommendations based on previous actions.

The campaigns use omnichannel sequences—MAUDAU communicates with users through email and Viber.

Results demonstrate consistent trigger effectiveness: conversion rates from clicks within these scenarios range from 8-14%, and revenue from these campaigns comprises about 15% of total retention results.

Stage 3: Loyal Customer Engagement

Regular purchasers require different interaction approaches. Rather than constantly creating new impressions, brands must maintain consistency and meet established expectations.

MAUDAU engages loyal customers through personalised appreciation, rewards, and purchase history consideration. Trigger messages incorporate previous experiences—product preferences, purchase frequency, promotional responses. Individual offers focus on relevance over discounting.

Consistency proves critical at this stage. Brands maintaining communication standards, quality levels, and promise fulfilment retain customers. Those failing risk losing even loyal supporters.

MAUDAU follows key principles:

• Never compromise service standards for existing customers
• Avoid trust abuse—only send valuable communications
• When problems arise—apologize and rectify quickly

While these actions may seem minor, they determine long-term customer retention.

Stage 4: Inactive Customer Recovery

MAUDAU recognises churn as natural in any relationship. However, their long-term interaction strategy and proactive retention marketing don’t just track losses—they restore interest.

Anti-churn sequences target inactive customers, aiming to either rekindle interest or gather rejection feedback. Campaign results prove even lost customers can return through gentle, personalised approaches:

• +25% direct revenue value from anti-churn campaigns
• ~50% open rates across Viber and email for inactive segments
• Up to 0.5% lost customer conversion rates
• Up to 10% of returning customers make additional purchases

MAUDAU avoids desperate retention tactics. Instead, they create compelling return conditions through transparent communication, an understanding of why the user left, and providing clear comeback incentives.

Results

MAUDAU’s systematic retention strategy delivered immediate results from first contact onwards.

Subscription forms added +79% new contacts, while category floating windows instantly impacted behaviour: +14% page views, +15% cart additions, +19% transactions.

Post-first-purchase, ~20% of new customers return within 30 days for second orders. Over six months, their average value increases by 15% LTV.

Personalised triggers achieve 8-14% conversion rates and generate 15% of total retention communication revenue. Favourite category segmentation produced the strongest results—x3 ROI and profit growth versus basic campaigns.

Even inactive customers contributed +25% additional revenue, with every tenth returnee making subsequent purchases.

Key Takeaways

MAUDAU built retention as an end-to-end systematic process—from initial contact through repeat purchases and customer recovery. Success came from combining behavioural data, automation, and contextually relevant communication.

For sustainable retention success, remember these fundamentals:

• Quality data is essential for relationship building
• Excellent products cannot be replaced by superior communication
• CRM systems must maintain complete interaction histories
• Marketing tools require flexibility and control
• Technical support and analytics prevent strategy degradation

Organizations seeking data-driven retention and revenue multiplication can explore these approaches through comprehensive system demonstrations tailored to specific business contexts.

Special Request Inline