1:13:26The Retention Roadshow
Austin 2026
Welcome vs. Post-Purchase Email Flows: Max Sturtevant and Alyssa Jean
Max Sturtevant and Alyssa Jean debate welcome and post-purchase flows, with Bryan Starck moderating a discussion about offers, incrementality, onboarding, and customer trust.
Watch it. Put it to work.
ABOUT THIS SESSION
Which flow earns the next dollar?
Max Sturtevant and Alyssa Jean debate welcome and post-purchase flows, with Bryan Starck moderating a discussion about offers, incrementality, onboarding, and customer trust.
For retention teams choosing where to invest their next round of flow improvements.
- Speakers
- Max Sturtevant
Founder, WellCopy - Alyssa Jean
Lifecycle Marketer, BRĒZ - Bryan Starck
Founder; moderator, 100 Celsius - Recorded at
- Austin 2026 ↗
April 2026
Speaker roles and platform examples reflect the session’s original context. This is an archived conversation.
TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR DESK
Ideas to put to work.
- 01
Make the first impression count
Evaluate pop-up and welcome-flow offers as one path from visitor to purchaser.
Read this part · 02:52 ↓ - 02
Separate attribution from added revenue
Look at incremental orders and margin before declaring a flow the winner.
Read this part · 11:40 ↓ - 03
Personalize the path with useful information
Use a simple preference question when it meaningfully changes the welcome experience.
Read this part · 21:37 ↓ - 04
Help the customer succeed after checkout
Audit post-purchase emails for useful guidance before adding another sales message.
Read this part · 24:09 ↓ - 05
Design the total customer experience
Review campaigns, flows, and subscription reminders together from the customer’s perspective.
Read this part · 33:47 ↓
READ THE SESSION
The edited transcript.
A condensed, edited reading version based on the YouTube captions and session chapters. Repetition and unclear audience audio have been removed; the discussion is paraphrased for clarity, rather than presented as a verbatim transcript. Timestamps refer to the original video.
Original recording on YouTube ↗Make the first impression count
Max makes the case for the welcome flow as a high-impact opportunity to convert the traffic a brand has already paid to acquire. The pop-up, offer, and early emails work together. Improving one part without looking at the others can leave a weak link in the journey.
He discusses offer tests where different presentations of value produced different purchase behavior. The lesson is to judge the acquisition path through orders and economics, rather than celebrate a signup rate without knowing what the new subscribers do.
Separate attribution from added revenue
The discussion asks whether a flow caused a purchase or simply received credit for one that would have happened anyway. That distinction matters when comparing the apparent value of welcome and post-purchase messages. Platform-attributed revenue is useful, but it is not the whole answer.
Offer tests also need margin and subsequent customer value in view. A stronger first-order response can be worthwhile, but the business should understand what it paid to get that response and whether the resulting customers continue to buy.
Personalize the path with useful information
Max discusses adapting welcome messages to the funnel or a simple question asked in the pop-up. An apparel example separates shopping interests, then adjusts imagery and language while keeping the basic sequence consistent.
The question should make the experience easier rather than turn signup into a long form. Only collect information you can use to change the message. This keeps segmentation connected to the customer’s needs instead of creating complexity for its own sake.
Help the customer succeed after checkout
Alyssa’s case for post-purchase flows centers on trust, education, and the experience that produces another order. A new buyer has different questions from a prospect. Onboarding should help them use the product and feel confident about what happens next.
She favors messages that add value without always attaching a discount. Constant promotions can teach customers to wait for an incentive. Product guidance, answers, and a useful plain-text message can strengthen the relationship between purchases.
Design the total customer experience
The conversation broadens from individual flows to the volume and relevance of everything a customer receives. More tools and automations can create more interruptions if no one reviews the combined experience.
Subscription reminders are part of that trust question too. The discussion considers transparency and expectations alongside revenue. The two sides of the debate meet in the same place: acquire customers effectively, then give them a good reason to remain customers. Neither sequence can do all of that alone.
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Stay in the conversation.
3 SESSIONSPLAY IT BACK. PUT IT TO WORK.
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