Are you looking at customer retention strategies for e-commerce to increase sales? It’s no secret that the art of customer retention is the first step towards building a real business that can run for years. Falling into the trap of just acquiring new customers rather than retaining those you already have does not deliver an appropriate return on investment; it’s like going after one giant whale instead of dozens of smaller ones.
Customer retention strategies are one of the best and most cost-effective ways of increasing your e-commerce store’s sales. There are several ways to retain customers, including offering loyalty programs, free shipping, promotional discounts, exit-intent popups, referral programs, crowdfunding campaigns, and much more.
If you’re in the business of selling online, it is essential to get your customers onto a “retention” program. Simply put, you want them to come back and make repeat purchases so that you enjoy an increased ROI. By implementing these six customer retention strategies, you can ensure that more of your sales last for the long haul.
Upselling is simply increasing the price of something you’re already offering, and cross-selling is getting your customers to buy more of something you have on offer than they originally intended. These techniques can be used with both pricing campaigns and free offers. The key is to offer value without necessarily charging extra for it.
Having a high upsell and cross-sell ratio will help you sell more products, increase average order value, and develop more long-lasting ties with current customers. This will lead to more profits and a loyal customer base for your online store over time.
Optimizing your store and personalizing your website allows you to communicate with your customers more personally. Having consistent visual language in your store will appeal to customers and increase conversions. It will also help improve the overall experience of your website as users will be more likely to stay and see other examples of the products they have in their cart.
- Segmented loyalty program
A loyalty program can add tremendous value to any online store, whether for shoppers or enterprise users. While most loyalty programs emphasize the sales generated, segmenting the customer base offers many more benefits. This approach allows you to deliver targeted marketing to certain segments while still reaching other prospective customers. Segmentation can also make the product offering more relevant to the user’s preferences to become more engaged with a company.
Get customers to share your brand, then reward them for doing so. A segmented loyalty program creates a consistent customer base by encouraging repeat shopping with continuous loyalty programs. It creates loyalty opportunities for brands by combining a customer’s preferences with individual attributes to inform advertising and other marketing activities.
There are different types of subscription models that you can implement on your website depending on your product offering. For instance, you can offer an auto-ship method for perishable or often used products such as coffee, tea, supplements, or groceries. Also, you can bundle your products and offer monthly subscription boxes such as beauty kits, snack boxes, and mystery boxes. Large companies such as Amazon offer subscriptions to their Prime plan, including free shipping, prime deals, and access to their streaming services.
Focus on listening to your customers and provide stellar customer support 24/7. Sometimes it is hard to do, especially when running an e-commerce store with a small team. You can consider implementing chatbots on your website that will significantly improve the overall customer experience on your website. There are plenty of tools to choose from depending on your business needs. Chatbots can help you collect leads, answer frequently asked questions, and provide tracking information to your shoppers.
Email marketing is a great way to keep customers engaged. It’s also effective at getting new and repeat customers. Email marketing remains the number one channel in customer retention. According to DMA, for every dollar that you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42. Even more interesting, 49% of consumers say they would like to receive weekly promotional emails from their favorite brands.
Customer retention strategies are one of the best and most cost-effective ways of increasing your e-commerce store’s sales. Retained customers are worth up to 10x more than new customers. Don’t let your business grow stagnant, put a strategy in place and reap the rewards. Those are our top 6 Customer Retention Strategies that Can Boost Sales for eCommerce. If you want to know more about customer retention and e-marketing tools, check out our blog.
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