Technological advancements have meant that most businesses have an online presence nowadays. Developing an interesting and engaging website not only gives a company the chance to increase sales, but it also helps in brand building. However, in today’s highly competitive business environment, retaining online customers can prove to be a major challenge.
Businesses are always on the lookout for ways to ensure that their customers spend the maximum possible time on their website. Businesses also want to up-sell and cross-sell so that their sales numbers can shoot up.
Here are five ways to retain online customers and make them shop more successfully.
1. Personalise Their Experience As Much As Possible
It is a well-known fact that each individual is different.
All of us have our own needs and desires. These needs go a long way in determining the kind of products that we aspire to purchase. Therefore, it is important for businesses to understand that all their customers deserve a personalised experience.
There are several personalisation strategies that you could deploy in order to retain online customers. One of the most common ways is to ask your customers for information about their likes.
Another way is to remember their preferences and tailor your product recommendations accordingly. In addition to this, another way is to keep track of the links that are clicked by a customer and then design customised email marketing campaigns based on them.
All of these strategies are likely to provide you with a better understanding of your customers’ interests and likes. This could help you in knowing what could be their potential next step. By staying one step ahead of your customer, you can fulfil all their needs and maximise your sales at the same time.
Personalisation also helps in developing a brand affinity. If your customers are being provided with a personalised experience, it makes them more likely to return to your website because they get the feeling that you care for them. This could help you in generating repeat business and even allow you to cross-sell and up-sell.
2. Develop Engaging Loyalty Programs
Another way to engage and retain your customers is to develop loyalty programs that are engaging and rewarding. Businesses that reward their customers for each transaction are able to maximise their sales and ensure repeat business.
Customers are often on the lookout for brands that go one step beyond others. Loyalty programs are a great way to ensure that they come back to your website in the future to shop more.
There are several kinds of loyalty programs that you could deploy. One type of program is that you offer your customers loyalty points, and then they are able to redeem them on their next visit to your website.
Another type of loyalty program allows you to set certain spending thresholds, and whenever these are crossed, you provide a monetary or non-monetary reward to your customers. By using these strategies, you will be able to maximise your sales and grow your business as much as possible.
3. Offer Subscriptions And Paid Memberships
If you already have a loyalty program and it does not seem to be having the desired impact, another potential avenue for you is to offer subscriptions and paid memberships to your customers. You could begin a new campaign with a low-priced subscription. This could allow your customers to sign up on your website in just a few minutes.
A subscription would mean that the customer is likely to return to your website at some point in time. This gives you a chance to sell some new products to your customers.
This strategy allows you to close multiple sales with the same customers over and over again. Another way is to offer paid memberships that provide exclusive benefits. These benefits could range from same-day delivery of products as well as access to exclusive offerings.
The customers that choose to sign up as paid members are also likely to come back to your website, and this could ensure that more of your products are sold. Paid memberships have an additional benefit in terms of recurring revenue for your business. Even if the membership rates are moderate, you could diversify your revenue streams, and this is always a good thing.
4. Build A Community That Fosters Customer Engagement
It is also important for you to build a community. One of the best ways to retain customers is to engage them in meaningful conversations. Such conversations help you in building relationships with your customers, which is extremely important. There are several ways to build an online community.
One way is to add a forum or a blog on your website that allows your customers to have discussions and share their ideas. Another way is to launch quizzes and contests that keep your customers interested in your brand.
Additionally, you could also allow your customers to connect and interact with other customers. This would mean that you have a better chance of spreading your brand among the masses. Building a community is something that pays off for almost any type of business.
It also allows you to keep in touch with all your customers and to get to know their thoughts. This could also help you in getting new ideas related to product launches and brand campaigns. Thus, online communities could benefit your business in more than one way.
5. Give Your Customers Surprises
Who doesn’t love a surprise? A great way to further develop your relationships with the customers is to delight them from time to time. There are two ways to do this. One way is to make sure that you provide compelling customer service to them. This could mean providing them with helpful suggestions, delivering products before the estimated deadline, or even ensuring that you give them discounts from time to time.
All these strategies could mean that your customers remain satisfied and return to your website to purchase more products. The second way is to undertake small gestures that delight your customers.
For instance, you could send them a small gift whenever they purchase a product from your site. Alternatively, you could provide them with extra cash back offers in order to make sure that they are happy to return to your website.
Such small gestures could go a long way in ensuring that you build a loyal customer base. Having a large number of loyal customers means that you can maximise your sales. This can help your business in growing on a continual basis.
Recommended reading: 10 Essential Hashtags For Your eCommerce Site
[Main Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels; Shop Photo by BBH Singapore on Unsplash]
Ellie Richards is an online Marketing Manager for PhD Writing company Original PhD. She specialises in research, content and article writing on various topics, including Education, Marketing, and Technology.