Did you know that there are more than 1.61 billion ecommerce shoppers online today? That’s over one and a half billion unique opportunities for you to sell your goods and products! E-store vendors spend a lot of time and effort trying to capture new customers, but is this really the right strategy?
Believe it or not, one of the best things you can do for your online store is to build lasting relationships with your existing shoppers.
Keep reading to see why establishing customer loyalty is preferable to hooking one-time buyers and what you can do to make this happen.
If It Doesn’t Make Dollars, It Doesn’t Make Sense
If you are wondering why return customers are more valuable than new customers, the answer boils down to basic math. According to Business News Daily, keeping a current customer costs you three to 10 times less than acquiring a new shopper.
Instead of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a comprehensive advertising and marketing campaign, wouldn’t it be nice to know there’s a group of shoppers out there already bookmarking your ecommerce site and reading your marketing emails?
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
In addition to being cheaper to rely on allegiant consumers over newcomers, loyal shoppers are likely to buy more often. For example, a dedicated shopper might decide to do all their Christmas or holiday shopping on your website, rather than visit stores in person. To help this along, hook your regular shoppers up with a newsletter subscription and links to your social media pages so they can stay on top of the latest sales and product releases.
Social Media Matters
Do you think a one-time buyer would follow your social media pages? Maybe, but they won’t engage with your brand and fellow customers in the same way a loyalist would. Return shoppers can act as an unofficial brand ambassador, sharing product tips, fashion advice, user-generated images and so much more.
Encourage your followers to refer their friends and family to your page by offering exclusive coupon codes, first dibs on new products or chances to win free merchandise. This way you can find new consumers by leveraging your existing base.
Word of Mouth
Ardent buyers share the good word over social media. They will also talk up your products and ecommerce store in person and offline. While it can be hard to quantify the ROI on ‘word of mouth’ marketing, it is still a vital part of any outreach strategy. Just be sure to give your shoppers a reason to keep coming back, whether its unmatched quality, uniqueness of your products or your stellar service.
Thwarting Price-Based Competition
Return shoppers are also more likely to ignore competitors who undercut your prices. Why? Because these consumers already know they are going to have a fantastic buying experience with you and want to support your business. Keeping your prospective shoppers close and your loyal shoppers closer, you can conceivably beat your competition without changing profit margins per product.
Benefit of the Doubt
As every ecommerce vendor knows, things will occasionally go awry. Sometimes there’s an error in shipping, other times an item goes out of stock just after a shopper has placed an order. While these hiccups might turn off newbie customers, return shoppers will be a little more forgiving. Obviously, you shouldn’t abuse this privilege. But it’s nice to know your most loyal followers will give you the benefit of the doubt.
Do your best to establish lasting relationships with your shoppers by offering the best customer experience possible, following up with virtual marketing strategies and offering useful discounts, perks and rewards.
After all, loyalty is a two-way street.