To design an online store that entices your customers and compels them to return, you definitely need to keep in mind their needs, shopping habits and behaviors at the forefront. After all, we are creatures of habit and we find comfort in regularity. Here’s are some tips to help you retain your online customers.
1. Stimulating trust to skyrocket sales and retention
Make your customer feel secure that they come back to you and continue shopping.
- Make your website look clean, organized and credible with a professional touch to create an exceptional first impression on the customer.
- Exceptional customer support to hear out the grievances and solve the problems on time contributes to brand loyalty and winning more customers in the long run.
- Evoke trust with the social proof like displaying the number of registered customers and the number of customers who already bought the same item.
- Do not compromise on quality ever. Deliver the product as displayed or promised on your website and never overdo your product presentation.
- Boost your credibility with a certified seal from the Better Business Bureau or other business organizations to prove yourself trustworthy.
2. Customer recognition to build loyalty to the brand
Customers who do online shopping always expect you to remember them, either via a cookie or through a quick login as soon as you enter the site or seeing their previous items in the cart. Recognizing and valuing your top customers can increase your sale and dramatically improve profitability.
3. Engage customers with gamification
Keep your customers engaged with sustainable gamification methods by allowing them to set goals for themselves, writing recommendations or sharing their purchases. Let them build a point system which allows them to reach a certain amount of points to redeem them with discounts or free gifts.
4. Entice customers with unique services
Friendly and unique customer services can definitely be a differentiator especially if it doesn’t cost too much. Identifying your customer requirement as e-commerce professional and assisting them with services like same-day delivery or even same-hour delivery if possible, packaging, personalization and shipping options are only a few among the hundreds of creative ways to serve your valuable customers.
5. Harnessing the latest technology to stand out in business
Statistics say that 90% of the customers expect unhindered interactions across multiple channels and devices for research, consideration, and purchase. Video chats, screen sharing, co-browsing, and document interactions can propel an interconnected journey all the way to purchase.
E-commerce mobile apps, location-based marketing, VR-AR guidance and Internet of Things (IoT) equips your business with mobile-friendly virtues to boost the sale.
6. Leverage the social media for successful online business
A well-planned out social media strategy offers amazing opportunities for an e-commerce company. Some interesting examples of the same are:
- Can there be better word-of-mouth publicity than placing and completing an order from an e-commerce company through twitter? The network of buyer’s followers can instantly view the purchase which is a brilliant move to harness social media for online sales.
- An online fashion and beauty retailer who asked their customers to share pictures of themselves on Instagram with the hash tag #AsSeenOnMe which became an instant hit of massive customer engagement. Customers felt both seen and heard.
7. Effective e-mail marketing to increase sales and retention
As email turned 40-years old, innovative email programs with personalized content which is obtained from the plethora of data captured from browsing, purchase histories, and email preferences will surely boost the sales and thereby profit.
Interactive emails with quizzes, games, image carousels or simply “fun clickability” improves customer engagement and readiness to purchase with the brand.
