With market competition getting tougher with time, customer acquisition is becoming more challenging. With the advent of the internet, the eCommerce industry is getting overcrowded and competitive. People have millions of options available to them in a matter of a click. They can choose from millions of stores online by switching from one site to another.
The current market situation makes it challenging to retain customers and make them come back to shop from your store. However, you can build a strong relationship with your customers and keep them coming back to you with strategic customer retention approaches.
If you want to build customer loyalty for your eCommerce business, this article is for you. Today, we will share some tips to create a strategic customer retention approach to lead your customers.
So, let’s get to the details.
Why are loyal customers important?
For any business, loyal customers are of utmost importance. They are the key to profitability as they purchase from your eCommerce store frequently. They also motivate new customers to buy from you by writing positive reviews and recommending your products to their peers.
Building customer loyalty for an eCommerce business
Building customer loyalty is a priority for every business. However, the global economic crisis has lowered the buying power of the population. Amid these circumstances, it isn’t easy to retain your customers. Here are the tips you need to follow to build customer loyalty for your eCommerce business:
- Launch a loyalty program:
Loyalty programs work the best when it comes to retaining old customers. That’s because you reward them for being loyal to your brand. So if you want to retain your existing customers, you need to launch a loyalty program in your e-store.
Loyalty rewards provide customers the right reason to stay loyal to your brand. You can engage your existing customers by encouraging them to collect loyalty points for every purchase they make. Once enough points are accumulated, the buyer can use these points to get a discount on a big order or purchase what he can with those points.
- Engage them with freebies:
Nothing entices your audience more than the element of surprise. You can increase customer loyalty by surprising your existing customers with free goods on their purchases. Nobody mind getting free stuff, especially when it is something from the brand they often purchase from. You can retain your loyal customers by slipping in some free samples or small gifts with their orders.
It won’t just give off the feeling that you care for your loyal customers and keep them returning to your website to shop more.
- Hold sale events:
To retain your loyal customers, you need to provide them with a reason to stay. Putting your items upon sale is one of the best ways to make that happen. In addition, you can launch sales events once in a while to increase customer loyalty.
This approach brings back your existing and previous customers. Moreover, this approach also targets compulsive buyers who wait for sales events to shop for the season. You can also give your loyal customers personal discounts in special discount codes for particular items. However, make sure your customers don’t get used to these sales and expect you to hold sales every month.
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- Discounts and Promo Codes:
Another great way to make your loyal customers feel more important is to send them special discount coupons or promo codes in their inboxes. These incentives should be exclusive to your loyal customers who frequently buy from your online store. Send these coupon codes via email so that it feels more exclusive. Your customers will redeem these coupons on their next purchase and continue shopping from your store.
You can also register your brand with a discount website such as Groupon, ClothingRIC, and Cudo to reward your loyal customers with discounts.
- Keep up with your promises:
Your existing customers are your brand advocates. However, they would only recommend your brand to their friends if they have a good experience with your online store. In case of a bad experience, you will even lose your existing customers. Therefore, make sure to deliver the promises you have made to your customers on your websites, such as delivery times and the quality of products purchased.
Nothing frustrates customers more than a bad service when they expect it to be good. It causes you to lose your potential leads as well as existing customers.
- Take orders and returns seriously:
Acknowledge every order as soon as it is placed. Otherwise, your customers will stay confused about whether or not the order is confirmed. The auto-reply feature works the best here. You can add this feature to your eCommerce website to update your customers on the order confirmation.
The message should contain details like the delivery time, the time order will be dispatched, and when it will arrive. If a customer is not satisfied with the delivered item and wants a refund, the refund process should be easier. He should be updated when his refund is processed.
- Use all channels to engage customers:
It would be best if you utilized all available online channels to nurture your customers. Remember, loyalty is inspired from the start. From the moment customers click on your landing page, they should be engaged aggressively. These channels include social media, online forums, and emails. For every eCommerce business, it is essential to have an omnichannel presence to engage customers. You can stay in touch with your customers with the help of email newsletters, social media posts, and more.
- Personalize customer communication:
A customer will only return to your store to purchase if he identifies with your brand. If you want to build an even stronger relationship with customers, you need to engage them with clear, personalized messages. Personalized communication converts more audience as compared to broadcast emails. It generates 18 times more revenue as compared to generic messages.
- Request product feedback:
There is a lot that goes into converting your one-time buyers into repeat customers. First, you need to improve your products and services to win the competition constantly. For that, you need to ask your customers how your product is performing. Honest customer feedback can improve the quality you deliver and make customers believe that their opinion is valued.
- Gamification of your loyalty program:
Every eCommerce business is different and requires a loyalty program that meets its specific requirement. Unfortunately, some of these programs are not created equal and perform exceptionally initially and stagnate in a few months. This makes it hard to sustain loyal customers. You can avoid that from happening by gamifying your eCommerce loyalty program.
Gamification not only engages your customers but also motivates them to take action. So no matter how old your loyalty program gets, it will not stagnate because gamification makes it entertaining to participate in.
Wrapping up!
Creating loyal customers is more important for eCommerce businesses than ever before. However, it is more challenging than it used to be a couple of years ago. But various loyalty program approaches make customer retention easier. You can incorporate these strategies in your business plan to make more customers stay loyal to your brand.
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