Retaining a customer is 5X cheaper than buying a new one.
Customer retention is key to the growth of your Ecommerce business.
What is customer retention?
Customer retention refers to the ability to motivate customers to return to your site to purchase more. Research has shown that repeat customers spend more than one-off customers. This makes retention an important priority for any Ecommerce company that wants to grow. Research shows that Ecommerce retail sales will reach more than $548 billion in 2024. You'll need a solid customer retention strategy to ensure that you get a slice of that pie.
This article will discuss strategies that you can use in order to increase customer retention. We will also discuss foundational principles such as attracting and converting customers. Let's get on with it.
Five Customer Retention Strategies for Ecommerce Companies and Corresponding Tools
Many businesses make the costly mistake of spending heavily on customer attraction. Yes, your business could fail if it doesn't attract new customers. Attracting custoTapymers, however, is not key to business growth.
Customer retention is the key to business growth.
You must create strategies to retain customers. It is also important to have the right tools.
Why is customer retention so important
Here are some reasons why I think you should consider these:
- Loyalty increases
- helps drive referral marketing
- Increases ROI
- Increases average order value (AOV).
Research shows that even a 5 percent increase in customer retention can increase your revenue by more than 25 percent depending on industry and product.
Let's now look at five customer retention strategies that you can use for your Ecommerce business.
1. Optimize your Customer Experience based on the Customer Journey
Understanding the customer journey is a key step in designing a customer retention strategy. Customer retention is all about exceeding your customers' expectations.
You must first understand your customer journey to optimize it for positive customer experiences (CX).
Customers will return to you if they are satisfied.
What are the steps?
Understand Your Audience
Knowing your audience will allow you to create personalized messaging and experiences for each stage of the journey. Personalized experiences are key to driving return sales. To better understand your audience, use:
- Surveys and quizzes can be used to collect demographic and psychographic information about your target audience.
- You can better understand your audience demographics by using social media platforms and tools such as Facebook's Audience Intelsights tools.
- HubSpot tools can be used to create buyer personas.
You must understand your customer base and their needs before you can create and optimize customer journeys that will retain customers. You can make sure each touchpoint is meaningful and increase customer retention.
Create a Customer Loyalty Program that is Effective
A customer loyalty program is an integral part of your customer journey.
Customer loyalty refers to your customers' willingness and ability to continue buying from you. Loyalty programs help customers do that, and increase their customer lifetime value (CLV). It increases sales and, more importantly, helps you retain customers if it is well-designed and implemented. These are some tips and tools that will help you create a customer loyalty program that is effective.
- Find out what customer rewards are most meaningful.
- Describe the rules for your loyalty program. This will include the types of rewards and actions that are rewarded.
- To gauge customer loyalty, use tools such as the Net Promoter Score. This will allow you to determine how effective your customer loyalty program and what improvements are needed.
- ReferralCandy is a customer loyalty program that allows you to create and implement customer loyalty programs.
It is not enough to think about a customer loyalty program as an afterthought.
You can run a hybrid business that is both B2B and B2C.
BigCommerce B2B Edition is my partner in this post. It makes it easy to offer different prices and products to different customer segments. Your customer loyalty program can be tailored to each customer group.
2. Follow up after the first transaction is completed
Most people view a sale as the ultimate goal in running an Ecommerce company. To retain customers, however, you need to follow up on every transaction. Here are some follow-up strategies that you can use:
Email can be used to build meaningful relationships
Many Ecommerce companies send thank you emails after each transaction. You must thank your customers for their business. It is important to build relationships with your customers.
It is important to follow up on any transaction. Here's a Zoe's Kitchen example:
Follow-up after a transaction is a great way to build relationships with customers. To make your follow-up effective, you need to show your customers you can offer more value. Post-sales emails can be used to do this:
- Product updates
- Emails for cross-selling or upselling
- feedback surveys
- Promotional emails
- Informational emails
Ecommerce platforms such as BigCommerce can help you do this. You'll be able to use many of its features to grow your business. You can use the automated email tool to send follow-up emails and integrate with other tools. It's easy to create follow-up emails with BigCommerce's customizable email templates. You can use the code editor or the text editor. To encourage conversions, you can even add coupon codes or discount codes to your email templates.
Take initiative with customer onboarding
Onboarding customers is a crucial step in ensuring repeat buyers. Onboarding is the process of gaining customers' trust and building loyalty. Here are some tips to help your customer onboarding.
- Email marketing can be used to welcome and nurture new clients.
- To engage customers, invest in interactive content and obtain more data to create hyperpersonalized experiences.
- If necessary, create a tutorial for your customers to help them use your product.
Customer onboarding is a vital follow-up step that shows your customers you value their success. It is easier to retain customers once they understand this.
3. Target existing customers for customer loyalty programs
Your interactions with customers will have exposed a wealth of information. Each interaction gives you a better understanding of each customer.
These are valuable data that you can use for segmenting your customers.
Segmentation is key to delivering targeted, personalized campaigns. Segmentation is crucial in customer retention. It helps you create customer loyalty programs that are effective for your customers.
Segmentation is key for increasing your chances of creating customer loyalty programs that will help you retain existing customers.
Your loyalty program must be tailored to each segment's needs. You can create segments among customers already in your database by:
- High spenders
- cart abandoners
- coupon lovers
- One-time buyers
Another area where platforms such as BigCommerce excel is in this area. You can create loyalty groups with the built-in tool. This makes it simple to target specific segments of your customers for your customer loyalty program.
4. Allow for changes to orders
Customers are most likely to return if they have a memorable experience. Customers can change their order after they have made a purchase. A customer might change their mind and request a different product, such as a larger size or a different color. BigCommerce customers have the ability to modify their orders easily. The platform's order editing function makes it easy.
If that happens, let your customer swap their purchase for the one that they truly desire.
This will result in your customers trusting you more. This shows your customers that you care about them and will do whatever it takes to make their lives easier. This trust can lead to higher customer retention rates.
5. Offer Outstanding Customer Service
Customer retention is directly related to the experience your customers have with you brand. Customer service is an important aspect of making sure you provide exceptional customer service.
You must provide exceptional customer service.
Customers will see you as a trustworthy partner if you are able to solve their problems in a professional and friendly manner. Even if they have a problem with your product, they will trust you and be loyal to you.
How can you make sure your customer service is excellent enough to support your customer retention strategy.
- Offer omnichannel customer serviceEnsure that your customers can reach you via multiple channels. MobileMonkey is a great customer service tool that can help you create a seamless experience across all channels.
- Assign the right agent for the right customerAssess the needs of your customer and designate the best agent to assist them.
- Learn from your competitionCompare how other companies handle customer service issues such as returns, defective products, and faulty charges. You can also read customer reviews or call the customer service number to get a feel for their customer service.
- Your customers will help you: Some people like to solve problems and troubleshoot them. You can do this by creating a simple-to-navigate knowledge database using tools such as HelpJuice.
Your customers will be loyal if you provide exceptional customer service. Customers want to feel that they can rely on you to respond quickly and efficiently to any problems. Poor customer service can cost your customers and ultimately your business.
Customer Retention Bonus Tips/Pro Hacks
Customers are most likely to remember your company's services. Here are some more ways to do this:
Ask customers to create profiles
Customers can create profiles to record important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. This allows you to create profiles and send reminders or personalized product recommendations for special occasions.
Start an affiliate program
You can create an affiliate program so that satisfied customers can promote your products and receive a commission. An affiliate program can help you make your customers feel part of your company. This results in increased customer loyalty.
Make a community
Being part of a group is something that people love. It's a great way to increase customer retention. This could be done by creating a Facebook group that allows you to share content about your brand.
We now know how to retain customers. Let's take a look at how we can convert our customers.
Three Strategies to Attract Customers To Your Ecommerce Businesses
Customer retention is a key pillar of business growth. However, it's not possible to have customer retention without attracting customers. Let's take a look at some ways to attract customers to your Ecommerce shop.
1. To attract organic traffic, you need great SEO
Paid advertising is a great way for new Ecommerce stores to get noticed. But, investing in a solid SEO strategy is essential if you are going to win the long-game. SEO is one of best ways to get organic traffic. Here are some tips to help with your Ecommerce SEO.
Let the pros handle it
A professional agency can help you boost your SEO if you have the funds. Hiring an SEO agency will allow you to free up time for your business.
- Access to the right tools and resources.
- Ability to adapt to changing SEO landscapes.
Do it Yourself SEO
SEO agencies need a budget?
You can then DIY your SEO.
This approach is time-consuming and will require commitment. However, understanding the basics of E-commerce SEO will allow you to better understand how to draw the right traffic to your store. You can either take a few SEO courses or learn the art and science behind driving traffic to your Ecommerce store.
Use an Ecommerce Platform with SEO in Mind to Benefit
The SEO aspect is an important aspect that many entrepreneurs neglect when choosing an Ecommerce platform. Before you invest in an Ecommerce platform, make sure to consider its SEO features. This is why BigCommerce is one the most popular platforms. These are some SEO-centric features that you can expect.
- Fully customizable URLs
- Access to robot.txt files
- URL redirects and URL rewrites are used to reflect changes in product names.
- CDN can increase site speed
- You can enhance your search results listings by using microdata and schema markup.
BigCommerce offers detailed guides such as this one and this one that will help you ensure your store's SEO is top-notch.
2. 2. Create targeted, engaging paid ad campaigns
SEO is a long-term game. It takes time to see the results. You will need to use targeted paid ads to drive traffic to your website quickly. Payed ads are a major source of traffic to Ecommerce sites. Research has shown that 46 percent spend at least $1,000 per month on them. Paid ads are a must if you want to drive customers to your store. The top 16 percent spend more than $20,000 each month. Paid ads can be expensive, but they offer many benefits.
- Drive hyper-targeted traffic.
- Generate sales faster.
- Increase brand awareness
Paid ads have the advantage of producing results quickly. Paid ads can help you increase your monthly sales or promote a product.
To make your ads effective, however, you need to ensure that they are targeted and engaging. This is how you do it:
- Understanding your target audience is key to creating an ideal customer profile (ICP).
- Make sure you understand the platform where you are advertising and then follow the best practices.
- Do your keyword research thoroughly (Ubersuggest is a great tool to do this).
- Create a personalized ad copy.
- Decide the format of your ad (video, text etc.).
- To create, manage and optimize paid ads, you can use a campaign management tool such as AdEspresso.
- Optimize your landing pages for better conversions.
Paid ads can be scary. The ROI of paid ads is not guaranteed. Engaging and targeted ads will make your ads more powerful, driving relevant traffic to your products.
3. Listing your products on as many channels as possible
The buyer today has many options when it comes to the channels and platforms they consume content.
This is why you should advertise your product across as many channels possible when creating an Ecommerce paid advertising strategy.
Advertising must be omnichannel.
Omnichannel marketing allows you to meet your customers wherever they are. This makes it easy to create ads that appeal to customers and converts.
What is Omnichannel Marketing?
This is a marketing approach that anticipates that customers will start their journey with you on one platform or device and then move on to another. Omnichannel marketing allows you to create a seamless and consistent experience for customers on all platforms and at all touchpoints.
Positive CX results in higher conversions and customer retention.
This is crucial as over 73% of online shoppers shop through multiple channels. Here are some tips to help you build an omnichannel strategy that will work for your Ecommerce store.
Make every touchpoint a shopping experience
Ecommerce platforms such as BigCommerce make it easy for customers to buy products from other channels than your store. To sell products on social media, you can also use external payment processing solutions from social media.
Offer Omnichannel Customer Support
You can create a positive experience for your customers by being available on their preferred channels. This will keep them coming back to you.
Make a mobile app
Mobile has become more popular than desktop. A mobile app allows you to create customized experiences for your customers across multiple platforms. You can also put your store in the pockets of your customers.
Multiple channels are a great way to get your products in front of a wider audience. This will increase traffic to your store, and allow you to generate more sales through the various platforms you use.
Customer Attraction Bonus Tips/Pro Hacks
You can also use advanced customer attraction strategies in addition to the three mentioned. Here are some examples:
- AI LeverageUsing AI to create buyer personas and provide personalized product recommendations for your customers is possible.
- Make viral contentUnderstanding your audience's needs and aspirations is key to creating content that addresses them. Search intent should also be considered.
- Distribute your contentUsing effective content distribution will result in your content being published on relevant platforms and being seen correctly by the right audience.
- Work with influencersPartnering with influencers can be a great way to tap into a large audience that is perfect for your ICP. Your followers are more likely than others to be interested and will visit your website, which can lead to them becoming customers.
It is essential to develop a strategy for attracting customers to your Ecommerce store. It is essential to attract customers in the right way. This will increase your chances of them becoming loyal customers and converting.
Three Strategies to Convert Customers
Three steps are required to build a loyal customer base.
- Attracting the right audience.
- Converting traffic to paying customers
- Keep your customers.
We have already discussed how to attract and retain customers. Let's now take a look at how to convert visitors into customers.
First, what is a conversion?
Ecommerce converts any visitor who buys one of your products. The conversion rate is therefore the percentage of customers who visit your store.
Higher conversion rates equal more sales. We are not the only ones who can prove it. Take a look at LARQ's case studies. BigCommerce partnered with them to increase their conversion rates by 80 percent, and they saw a 400% average increase in YoY revenues.
How can you increase your conversions?
- Create Outstanding Landing Pages
The landing page is an essential element of your sales funnel. It's often the one that does most of the heavy selling. You must make landing pages that convert.
These are some tips to help you get started.Keep it simpleYour landing page should be simple to read and comprehend. Keep your design simple and clean.
Only one goalConversion is the only goal of your landing page. It should be focused on this goal.
Personalization is essentialPersonalize your landing pages as much as you can, from meeting search intent to using language or visuals that appeal to visitors.
Add detailed product descriptions: A landing page should sell. One way to do this is to provide a description of the product that you're selling. Use high-quality images.
Multiple CTAs can be usedUse the same CTA in different locations on your landing pages. This makes it easy for your visitor click-through to make a purchase when they are ready.
A proven, tested and reliable landing page builder is recommended: BigCommerce customers can use the Page Builder tool to create landing pages quickly and easily.
Your sales funnel should include a landing page. Landing pages not only help you target certain customer segments but also drive higher ROI for paid traffic. Optimized traffic is why optimized traffic is so important for your Ecommerce store.
- You want your customers to feel safe when they make purchases from your shop.
Site security is another important factor that can help boost your conversions. With the recent rise in data breaches, customers want to feel secure when they give you their information during checkout. You must follow these steps to ensure that your website is secure.
Secure Ecommerce Platform
A platform that is designed for security is the first step in protecting your Ecommerce store. Platforms like BigCommerce provide sitewide HTTPS as well as other security features such firewalls, intrusion detection and more. Secure platforms make it easier for customers to transact with your company. This is essential for increasing your conversions.
Multi-payment Method Support
Customers will have different preferences about how they wish to pay for products. Customers feel more secure using a payment method they are familiar with.
Multiple payment options are a great way to give your customers more choices. It also allows you to offer multicurrency options, which is a key ingredient in improving your customer experience for global customers.
Although multi-currency payments may seem daunting, it's not with BigCommerce. BigCommerce supports more than 140 currencies and 65 payment gateways natively.
Monitor and closely review all plugins and third-party integrations
You must ensure that third-party solutions are trusted before you install them in your store. You must also ensure that they are regularly updated. You should remove any third-party applications that you no longer use from your store. Third-party apps must be kept to a minimum in your store. They can cause vulnerabilities.
You can keep your Ecommerce store secure by regularly using tools such as FreeScan to scan for vulnerabilities and TrustWave to detect threats. Secure stores will help you avoid cyberattacks and increase your conversions. Make sure you invest in an Ecommerce platform that is secure and any additional security tools that are required.
- Save your abandoned cart with an Abandoned Cart Saver
Ecommerce is not complete without cart abandonment. According to research, 70% of carts abandon at checkout. This is why you need to address it if you want to increase your conversions.
An abandoned cart saver is one of the best options.
A cart saver allows you to send an email message to customers who have loaded their carts, but not completed the transaction.BigCommerce's Abandoned Cart Saver allows you to customize the emails and create customized invites with discount codes or coupons to encourage customers to make their purchases.
Other customer conversion pro hacks
These are some other ways to increase your customer conversion rates, in addition to the three strategies mentioned above.
- Run targeted adsTargeted ads are emotionally appealing to your target audience. Your product will also appear to be the ideal solution for their needs.
- RetargetingRetarget customers who have viewed products in your store using social media ads, apps and banner ads on websites or emails.
- Fill out simple formsA/B testing different forms on your landing pages to determine which design works best for you customers. You can test the placement, copy, and number of forms.
- Shipping free of chargeA great incentive to encourage customers to visit your landing page is free shipping This benefit should be displayed.
- Optimize your checkout pageOptimize your checkout page to eliminate distractions, show trust signals, offer multiple payment options, and more. These will encourage customers and make them feel more confident about making their purchase.
Customer retention starts with attracting the right type of traffic. Converting that traffic into customers is the next crucial step. Be deliberate about both.
Common Questions about Ecommerce Customer Retention Strategies
Are you still unsure about customer retention strategies that can be used to increase your Ecommerce business's success?
Let's get to the bottom of some of the most popular ones.
What is Customer Retention?
Customer retention refers to the ability of a business's visitors to continue to buy from them. Customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who continue to purchase from you after a certain period.
How can I improve my customer retention?
There are many factors that can help you improve your customer retention rate. Positive customer experiences are the key to a customer retention strategy.
Here are some examples of how you retain customers.
You can do many things to keep customers happy. You can create loyalty programs, use email to build relationships and provide exceptional customer service.
What is a good customer retention rate for Ecommerce?
Many factors affect customer retention rates, including industry, product, etc. The average Ecommerce customer retention rate is around 30 percent.
Summary of Ecommerce Customer Retention Strategy
While one-time sales can be good, they won't help you grow your business.
Your Ecommerce business must be a success if you want your customers to come back.
It is therefore crucial to develop a customer retention strategy.
The tips you have just read will make it possible to grow your business by converting, attracting and retaining customers. These tips will help you realize your dream of growing your Ecommerce business.
Remember that your Ecommerce platform choice can also play a significant role in your ability to retain customers. BigCommerce platforms come with built-in customer retention features, such as single-page checkouts, coupon codes, and discounts, BigCommerce is your best option.
What customer retention strategies have been successful for you?
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By: Neil Patel
Title: 11 Proven Hacks to Keep Your Customers Buying More
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/customer-retention/
Published Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0000