If you're an E-commerce store owner, you know the importance of customer retention. It's critical to your business growth and income stability. Think about it this way: if every single customer only purchased one product from your store, how much could you make in a year?
Not very much, right?
And even worse, what happens when some of those products are out of stock, or when a customer's needs change, and they no longer need the products you offer?
That's where customer retention comes in.
If you can keep your customers coming back, not only will you make more money in the long run, but you'll also be less reliant on new customers - which can be hard to come by.
So, how do you go about retaining your customers?
You can do several things, but we'll focus on five key strategies: using data and analytics, email marketing, pop-ups, loyalty programs, and customer service. We'll deep dive into the best strategy for each below.
If Customers Only Buy Once You're Losing
Many people don't know when they get into E-commerce that most stores are not profitable on the initial acquisition of a customer.
In fact, the average store loses money on 86% of their first-time buyers.
That is a shocking number, and it's why most e-commerce businesses rely upon return customers to make a profit and achieve business success. You want your initial customer to be profitable or at least bring more value than they cost you to acquire over their lifetime.
The only way to do that is by understanding your customers and what they want.
Use Data And Analytics To Your Advantage
One of the most important things you can do as an e-commerce store owner is to use data and analytics to understand your customers.
● What are they buying?
● What are they not buying?
● What are they clicking?
● Where are they clicking off?
All of this information is valuable in understanding what makes your customers tick. Once you have it, you can use it to improve your marketing, your website design, your products, and more.
You can even use the data to create targeted ads and offers that are more likely to convert.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a great way to keep in touch with your customers. It's one of the most effective forms of marketing out there. Most businesses don't take advantage of this easy and effective tool because they think new customers are the only way to make money.
The truth is that you can make a lot of money through email marketing with repeat customers if you focus on it.
Don't just sell your products in every email, but put some valuable content there for free - whether that's tips or anything else that you think your customer would enjoy getting in their inbox.
You can also use email marketing to increase customer loyalty and encourage them to return to your store. Think about email marketing as the way to build a long-term friendship with your customer.
Pop-Ups And Offers That Convert
You've seen those pop-up ads on other websites before, right?
Well, they're popular for a reason: they work!
There's no better way to get attention and convince someone to buy something.
Just make sure you're not overusing them and annoying your customers with the same thing every time they visit. You should use pop-ups sparingly and try to avoid repeating offers once they've bought something from you.
There are many things not to do with pop-ups, but the main thing is to make sure they're helpful and relevant to your customer.
Here are some of the common mistakes people make with pop-ups:
● Not using them at all
● Using them too often
● Offering the same thing to all customers
● Not personalizing them
● Not targeting the right people
● Not testing them first
You should find ways to integrate pop-ups that help increase the customer experience, not hinder it. Pop-ups are a great way to steer customers towards buying something, and they're worth testing if you haven't already.
Loyalty Programs That Keep Customers Coming Back
Loyalty programs are a great way to keep customers returning to your store. They work by rewarding customers for their loyalty with points, discounts, or other perks.
Ensure the loyalty program encourages customers to return to your store and use it as often as possible. Offer rewards for specific actions like signing up for your newsletter, making a purchase, leaving reviews, or spending a certain amount with your store.
You should also offer point multipliers if they buy an item from you again within a specific time after their initial purchase.
Loyalty programs should encourage customers to increase their order value or refer their friends and family. If you give customers enough incentive to return, they will.
Give Your Store More Appeal Than Your Competition
Remember that to keep customers coming back, you have to make sure they have a reason to return. People won't want to come back if they're don't have the best experience possible with your business.
Put yourself in your customer's shoes and think about what would make them feel valued and appreciated.
Is it stellar service? A well-designed website? Unique and exciting products?
Whatever it is, make sure you're doing everything in your power to give your customers a good reason to keep coming back.
The Compounding Effect of Returning Customers
Most businesses only focus on acquiring new customers, but what about those you already have?
It's important to remember that it's much easier and cheaper to keep a customer than attain a new one. In fact, it can be up to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.
Once you've got a customer, it's essential to make sure they keep coming back by providing a great experience and unique products that they can't find anywhere else.
There is a compounding effect with reoccurring customers– it's much easier to get them to stick around once they've returned a second time.
If you lose money on the front end when acquiring a customer, you should put more effort into making them profitable. Most business owners miss this pivotal turning point and focus only on the short-term gains of acquiring new customers.
This is one of the main reasons there is such a high failure rate for new online businesses.
Look at the acquisition cost of a customer and compare that figure with how much they spend per order. If they spend more per order than it cost you to acquire them, you're doing something right.
An excellent-performing customer spends between five and ten times more than their acquisition cost.
Conclusion
E-commerce store owners should retain their customers and make sure they keep coming back. There are several ways to do this, including data, analytics, email marketing, pop-ups, and loyalty programs.
Make sure you give your customers a reason to keep coming back by providing an excellent experience and unique products.
If you want to increase customer retention, look at how much your existing customers spend compared to their acquisition cost and make sure there's a good ratio.
By keeping your customers happy, you will have a much more profitable business.
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