Post-Purchase Customer Experience: Why the Sale Is Only the Beginning with Vanessa Jacobs
Most brands invest enormous amounts of time and money getting customers to click “Buy Now.”
Then they stop.
In this episode of the Rebellious Times Podcast, I sat down with Vanessa Jacobs, CEO and Co-Founder of Circulo, to discuss why the post-purchase customer experience is becoming one of the biggest competitive advantages in ecommerce.
After building one of Europe’s leading luxury fashion repair businesses and now leading Circulo, Vanessa believes brands are overlooking the most valuable stage of the customer journey.
As she explains, the sale isn’t the finish line. It’s the start of the relationship.
Why Post-Purchase Customer Experience Matters
Retailers obsess over acquisition.
Marketing.
Advertising.
Conversion optimization.
Checkout.
But what happens after a customer receives their order?
For many brands, very little.
Customers are added to an email list and receive the occasional promotion.
Vanessa believes this leaves enormous value on the table.
Every interaction after the sale creates an opportunity to build trust, improve retention, and increase customer lifetime value.
Building a Post-Purchase Operating System
Circulo was created around a simple idea:
Brands need infrastructure for everything that happens after checkout.
That includes:
- Warranty management
- Repairs
- Trade-ins
- Buy-back programs
- Spare parts
- Re-commerce
- Customer service workflows
Rather than treating these as disconnected initiatives, Vanessa believes they should become part of a single customer experience.
Lessons From Building The Restory
Before founding Circulo, Vanessa built The Restory, one of Europe’s pioneering luxury fashion repair companies.
The business grew to more than 50 employees and partnered with brands including Harrods, Selfridges, Farfetch and Manolo Blahnik.
Along the way, the team built internal software to manage complex repair workflows.
Eventually, customers became just as interested in the technology as the service itself.
That insight became the foundation for Circulo’s SaaS platform.
AI Is Changing Customer Relationships
One of the most interesting parts of our conversation focused on AI.
Vanessa believes AI will fundamentally change how consumers discover products.
That means brands need richer customer data and stronger ongoing relationships if they want AI-driven recommendations to work in their favor.
The companies that understand customers beyond the initial transaction will have a significant advantage.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
06:39 Transition to Entrepreneurship
12:20 Navigating Challenges in Business
18:57 Impact of Global Events on Business
24:13 Lessons Learned and Future Plans
30:18 Building Genuine Customer Relationships
37:40 Cultural Perspectives: US vs UK
46:01 The European Market Landscape
Entrepreneurship Across Two Continents
One aspect I particularly enjoyed was our discussion about entrepreneurship in the US versus the UK.
Vanessa is an American who has spent two decades building businesses in London.
I’m British, now living in Austin.
Comparing those two ecosystems produced a fascinating conversation about risk, funding, startup culture, and why Europe often creates globally minded founders from day one.
Final Thoughts
Customer acquisition will always matter.
But the brands that win over the next decade won’t simply acquire customers.
They’ll build lasting relationships after the sale.
That’s exactly what Circulo is helping businesses do.
Vanessa Jacobs links:
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