5 Customer Retention Strategies to Keep in Mind for E-Commerce Store

“The customer’s perception is your reality.” – Kate Zabriskie 

An e-commerce trepidation every company faces sooner than later: For every customer who on-boards, another three off-board. Naturally, this is neither healthy nor sustainable for any brand today. 

The point(s) we’re getting at? 

1. Getting customers on-board is easy, retaining them is difficult. 

2. Offering new products/services at the beginning is easy, continuing to innovate is difficult.

3. Spending on marketing is easy, shelling out money for enhancing customer experience is difficult. 

Meaning that if your business is not focusing on retaining customers, it may not stay afloat much longer. Simply because in today’s digitally-led economy, the age-old adage, “Customer is King,” still stands true, both figuratively and literally. There’s enough data that backs up the importance of customer retention:

Adding credibility to this, Bain & Company predicts that a 5% increase in customer retention can boost a company’s profitability by 75%. It goes without saying that creating customers today takes precedence over creating sales.

In this blog, we will look at 5 key customer retention best-practices your business should embrace:

1. Liven Up Space: Real Conversations with Live Chat

Prompt response. Meaningful and result-driven conversations. 24/7 support. Enhanced customer satisfaction. What’s not to like when it comes to live chat? This is probably why a staggering 42% of customers prefer to live chat over email/social media platforms and around 63% would return to a website that offers the live chat feature. Need we convince more?

2. Be Unpredictable, Stay Relevant

Say goodbye to the predictability rut with innovative communication. Opt out of the email route and send hand-written notes to customers when they’re least expecting it. For instance, a personal note that offers them discounts on their birthday, perhaps? Alternatively, engage in geo-marketing, or e-commerce eye candy, as some call it.

The idea is simple: Send customer’s messages about ongoing sales/offers when they’re in the vicinity of the brand, online or offline and see them engage with the brand as a true loyalist. Simply because they feel connected with the brand and more importantly, understood by the brand.

3. Up the Ante with Offers & Incentives

Customer loyalty programs and incentives (gift certificates, free shipping, bonus items, etc.) are a gold mine if you ask us, for both the customer and the business. How so? For one, customers come back for repeat purchases in return for valuable rewards whereas, companies enjoy greater customer retention. This, in turn, ensures more profitability and improved business longevity. From welcome points to the number of orders placed, there are a number of metrics you can follow to see who are your most valued customers.

4. The Two W(s) That Rule the E-Commerce World: Welcome & Win-Back Campaigns

In the digital marketing space, the rules of the e-commerce game are different. Only because unlike physical stores, your marketing collaterals and platform do all the talking for your brand. So why not make the conversation a memorable one? There are a number of ways to achieve this. Send welcome emails to new customers; send reminder emails to customers who haven’t touched base with your brand in a while, etc.

 5. Seamless User Experience

Any e-commerce platform worth its salt should offer a seamless and user-friendly checkout experience. Don’t believe us? Consider this: Around 27% of customers drop their carts because of a complicated and long checkout procedure. The message is loud and clear: A simplified and single-step check out page can work wonders for your brand.

Enter CS-Cart. In this, customers don’t need to go through multiple steps. All they have to do is see the relevant fields and fill out details in any convenient order. In short, it’s all about clicks and conversions when it comes to e-commerce websites —and CS-Cart helps you achieve the same.

The final verdict is this: You can change the color of your logo a hundred times, but if your customer’s journey with your brand is anything but illustrious, none of the branding efforts will translate to a golden opportunity (pun not intended). As Sally Gronow puts it: Good customer service costs less than bad customer service. Don’t you agree?

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The article by Sam Makad

Sam Makad is an experienced writer and marketing consultant. His expertise lies in marketing and advertising. He helps small & medium enterprises to grow their business and overall ROI. Reach out to Sam Makad on Twitter or LinkedIn.