You know the fact that acquiring an existing customer is much easier and cheaper than bringing a new customer. You can save time in building a new relationship as you have already built it. It’s easier. Customer retention is important for every business, especially in eCommerce.
For a small business improving customer retention can be particularly challenging to compete with larger businesses. This is because customers have more options than ever before, and they can easily switch from one brand to another in an instant. A small business will often have only one or two products on offer, while larger companies can offer hundreds of different products.
Without proper retention strategies, you risk losing customers who may have been valuable for years if not decades. This can result in a big loss for your business. Are you struggling to retain customers? No need to worry now because this blog gives you the solution. Yes, this blog will give you the best strategies to improve your store’s customer retention.
What is customer retention?
Customer retention is the ability of a business to keep its customers over time. Customer retention includes all the activities that make customers tend to return back and continue to buy from their store. The importance of customer retention can’t be overstated. It’s been shown that for every 1% increase in customer retention, businesses see a 2% increase in profits. This means that if you keep just 5% more customers each year, you will see 100% more profit.
The goal of customer retention is to make sure customers are happy with your product or service so they continue using it in the long term. The more satisfied your customers are, the more likely they will tell their friends about their experience with you.
Why customer retention is important?
Customer retention is critical because it reduces the cost of acquiring new customers and increases the lifetime value of each customer. The benefits of customer retention are numerous, including increased sales, revenue, word-of-mouth, referrals, as well as customer loyalty.
Customer retention allows you to grow your business by making the most of those happy customers that you already have. They will help spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand and encourage their friends and family members to do business with you as well. This type of word-of-mouth marketing can be extremely beneficial for small businesses since they usually don’t have enough money to spend on traditional advertising campaigns or pay for celebrity endorsements.
Without proper retention strategies, you risk losing customers who may have been valuable for years if not decades.
Strategies to boost customer retention
Customer retention is a key priority for all businesses. Customers are the lifeblood of any successful business, and keeping them happy is vital. It’s a proven fact that customers who are not retained are unlikely to ever return. If you want to retain your customers, here are some strategies.
Customer service initiatives
These are intended to make your customers’ interactions with your business more pleasant and convenient. For example, you might offer free shipping on returns or expedited shipping at no extra cost. Or you might allow customers to pick up orders at a local store instead of having them delivered directly to their homes if they don’t want to pay for shipping. Some retailers also provide social media customer service teams so shoppers can ask questions or report problems via email or online chat sessions instead of calling the main number (which may not be available). Lastly, they build a robust architecture framework of eCommerce to support growing business needs and ensure seamless user experience.
Awareness
Increasing awareness is an early step in the customer life cycle. It involves getting your company name or product out there so that people know about it — but it’s also important to build trust with potential buyers. Once they’re aware of your brand and what you offer, they might not be ready for anything more than just browsing at this point (which is why many retailers still have “window shopping” sections). However if you can convince them that you are trustworthy and reliable, then they might become interested in what you have to say.
Offer incentives
Incentives can be anything from discounts on future products to loyalty points that can be redeemed for something else later on down the road. Anything that makes customers feel like they’re getting something more out of their investment in your product will help them feel more attracted to your brand and less likely to switch over to another company’s product or service. Give them incentives to do so, and they’ll come back to your store time and time again.
Cross-sell products
Offer your customers related items or services that they might be interested in after purchasing a product or service. This will help you get more sales from returning customers and improve customer retention rates by increasing the number of repeat purchases from existing loyal clients.
Offer variety
One of the best ways to keep customers coming back is by offering them something new or different each time they visit your store or website. Whether it’s a new product line or a new feature on your store, adding variety will help keep things interesting for both you and your customers so that neither gets bored easily.
Provide excellent customer service
A satisfied customer will tell two friends about your business, while an unsatisfied customer will tell 10. That’s why customer service is so important. If people feel like they are being treated well, they are more likely to return and recommend you to others. Make sure you are providing the level of service that your customers expect and deserve.
Treat each customer individually instead of just treating them like numbers on a sheet. If customers are unhappy with your service, they’re not going to come back. Make sure that you have systems in place to track customer satisfaction and keep an eye on what your customers think about their experiences with your brand.
Loyalty programs
Loyalty programs are designed to encourage repeat purchases and brand engagement by offering discounts, rewards, or other benefits. Rewards programs that give customers points or discounts can be very effective at encouraging repeat business. Some programs will even allow you to automate the process of issuing rewards and discounts so that they’re automatically redeemed by your system when they’re earned.
For example, if an individual has been using your product or service for three months without canceling their subscription at any point during that time period then they would be eligible for an additional 10% off their next purchase from your company’s website or storefront location.
Offer discounts or free gifts
Customers enjoy receiving discounts or other benefits on their favorite products. You can offer free shipping, or buy one get one free deal. Giving away free gifts such as t-shirts with the company logo on them can help build brand awareness among potential customers who may not know about what type of products or services are offered by this particular business yet but if they see someone wearing one of these t-shirts then they might come to your store. Try offering coupons or sending out special emails with promotions every so often.
You can even use a QR code generator to create unique QR codes that you can put on your receipts or in your email newsletters. When customers scan the QR codes, they can be directed to a landing page where they can learn more about your products, services, or promotions and can also redeem their discounts or free gifts. It will keep customers coming back.
Provide a fast and easy checkout process
Customers want to get in and out as quickly as possible, so make sure you have an easy-to-navigate site, that doesn’t require them to sign up for an account. People who have to create accounts tend to forget their information and they can’t find it later when they need it. Make sure your checkout process is fast and easy so they can get on their way quickly.
Send regular updates
Send customers regular updates about their orders. This helps keep them informed about what’s going on with their order and makes them feel like you are looking out for them. It also gives you an opportunity to include an offer in your email that will encourage them to come back again. A good social media strategy gives your business credibility and trust, increases brand awareness, boosts sales conversions, and encourages customer loyalty.
Conclusion
Retaining customers is one of the key strategies to ensure the ongoing existence of your eCommerce business. To reach new customers you will have to spend either time or money. Most e-commerce websites struggle to retain their customers for multiple purchases. With a little effort and research, you can significantly increase your customer retention rate.
An e-commerce website should strive to deliver quality service that can create customer satisfaction. Social media is particularly useful because it gives feedback in real-time, which enables businesses to react immediately when necessary. Clearly, there are many customer service-related obstacles a company can face. Retention is actually just one part of a larger puzzle to find out what is wrong with your retention strategy. However, in this post, we have looked at various ways to improve the customer retention of your eCommerce store.
Author
Sajini Annie John is the Technical Content writer of Identixweb Pvt Ltd. She is passionate about writing unique, top-notch contents that make the web more user-centric. She loves to help businesses to achieve their business goals through content. She has 3+ years of experience and has written for high DR websites. Here is her LinkedIn.