Article Contributed by Jay Manangan
Attracting a good number of customers to your online store was a challenge, but the work doesn’t stop there. You don’t want them to just make one-time purchases then never come back, and you can’t just always rely on the quality of your products as the sole reason for them to stay loyal.
Thankfully, retaining customers is relatively cheaper and easier since you’ve already done the hard part of catching their attention. However, you will have to adopt new tactics that are markedly different from attracting new patrons and require more focus on the customer than ever.
Make Registration Easy
One of the biggest barriers to retaining customers is a messy registration process. You need to make it as easy as possible for visitors to create an account. That means keeping the amount of steps and pages to click through to a minimum. Your text box labels should also be clear with marks to denote required info. Provide examples for tricky parts like credit card numbers so they don’t make any mistakes.
Tell them what they’re missing when they don’t register such as the option to track their orders while they’re being delivered, promos exclusive to members, and quicker transactions. You can write short bullet point copy for this near the registration button, or you can go into detail in your FAQ section.
Personalize Their Shopping Experience
An advantage to having registered customers is being able to track all the purchases they’ve made. Such information allows you to update your marketing strategy for a more targeted approach. One way of applying that is having a recommendation system in place that gives customers a list of other products that they might be interested in because of their relation to the products they’ve already bought.
When they do order, provide a wide-range of payment methods such as credit card billings and direct online money transfers. On the delivery side of things, you might be just outsourcing that operation to keep costs low, but it does pay to play an active role in such an important step in your business. Give your customers multiple options of shipping their orders. If you have the resources, take the extra step and set up a packaging service that allows for customization for gifts.
Set Up a Loyalty Program
What better way to show your long-time dedicated customers that you are very grateful for their continued patronage than giving them all sorts of wonderful perks that are only exclusive to them? There are many different ways to reward your loyal customers such as giving away gift checks, early access to new products, and faster delivery options. It’s up to you to decide which particular method will work best for your business.
For those who haven’t been around too long to get into the program, you can still retain them with special offers made available through social media engagement and referrals. Let them spread the word about your store through social follows and shares with the promise of discounts and freebies in return.
Follow Up Regularly
There will be customers who do sign up and create an account before shopping but don’t come back. Don’t give up on these people because you might miss out on a long-term relationship that will help boost your sales. By this time, you already have their email addresses so take the initiative and follow them up with a notice about what they’re missing. You can try giving them a discount to get them back on track.
You can also avoid having to do that if you send them an email right after they make their very first order so that they’re immediately reminded of what else you have to offer.
Your regular customers shouldn’t be forgotten, too. Drop them a line whenever you have sales or new products available.
Prioritize Customer Service
Arguably the most important key to keeping customers lies in how you treat their issues. If they don’t feel like their problems aren’t being handled properly, you run the risk of losing them out to another brand.
First of all, you need to open as many communication lines as you can properly staff so that customers can easily reach you. Social media is a good platform for dealing with simple questions, but email and phone calls are better for ironing out complex issues. Make sure that you have the right people that can constantly man your stations for quick and professional responses.
Retaining customers is ultimately about making their experience with your business smooth and rewarding. When they feel that you are going out of your way to keep them happy through hassle-free processes and exclusive bonuses, they will show their gratitude by staying loyal to your brand.
About the Author:
Jay Manangan is an active blogger and marketing strategist for Salehoo. He’s also trying to contribute something into the “WWW” (world wide web.).