The primary goal of every retailer is to draw customers towards his store. To accomplish that, retailers develop many innovative strategies. However, this is only a part of success.
According to a study, attracting a new customer costs five times more than maintaining a relationship with a current one. That’s why it’s crucial to develop a long-lasting connection with your clientele and improve your customer loyalty practices.
Here are some useful strategies that will help you keep the customers engaged and eager to return.
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Financial Incentives.
Incentives are the most straightforward method of showing the clients that you care about them and that you value their loyalty. Fidelity programs are easier to implement in e-commerce, but they can be applied in retail as well.
In e-commerce, the customer can receive some fidelity points after each purchase, points that can be used later as discounts or for getting free products. In retail, we can also create a “fidelity points” system, but discount vouchers are more effective. For example, if a customer makes a $100+ purchase from our store, we can hand him/her a 10% discount voucher, usable in the next two weeks.
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Creating an Emotional Bond.
When shopping, many customers let themselves be driven by emotions. Emotions can either establish or ruin the bond with your customers, so you need to be extremely careful. To build an emotional connection with your customers, you need to show that you care about them, about their opinions and preferences.
Email marketing is a very reliable and effective loyalty method since it allows you to thank the clients for their previous purchase and to promote some of your products without looking too pushy. Also, many small businesses choose to connect with their customers through hand-written “Thank You!” notes. They might be a little time consuming, but they are the most profound method of showing your consideration towards the client.
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Connecting With the Customers That Didn’t Make a Purchase.
Most retailers consider a customer as a person who purchased at least one product from their store. This is completely false. A customer is a person who visits our store, no matter if he/she makes a purchase or just checks the products.
A customer who hasn’t made a purchase can easily return at any time and should be labeled as a potentially loyal customer. In this case, the concept of conversion should be applied. According to this principle, any action that a customer performs while in our shop (sharing the email address, adding products to the cart, signing up for a newsletter) should be considered a conversion and treated with high value.
If you keep the customers connected, they will eventually become active clients and start purchasing from your store on a regular basis.
Make Sure That Your Customers Return.
Depending on your business’ profile, you can apply different loyalty strategies or create new ones. At Schaefer Sign Works we can assist you with that, and help you create a customized loyalty strategy for your particular business. If you want to benefit from our professional and effective services, contact us today.