Retain your eCommerce Customers through the Entire LifeCycle.

“Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Their needs and wants impact every aspect of your business, from product development to content marketing to sales to customer service.” John Rampton Quotes

“Please Visit Again” you use this phrase a lot, but do you really work hard for it. You have put a lot of time, money into marketing your eCommerce business to acquire your first/new customers.Instead of constantly worrying about driving new traffic to your eCommerce business, you should also focus on what you currently have and try improving conversions, as Retaining a customer is far less expensive than to acquire a brand new one. Taking them for granted is a big mistake. Existing customers not only paying for your products and services but are also Brand ambassadors for any business.

How to grow your repeat customer base.

1. Feel them rewarded

After First Sale, the Best thing to bring them back is to keep Door of Communication Open. Discounts and Promotions work best as a Magnet to attract customers. Send them a promo code, discount on their next purchase, buy one get one free if they return, or putting some sort of membership in a place where they receive regular discounts on purchases that grow every time they purchase something in-store. The key is to make them feel rewarded or getting some value for money whenever they walk out of your Online Store.

Pantaloons is one business that is very creative with Coupons. It offers different types of sales or coupons, and these incentives have been instrumental in driving traffic to their store.

2. Express your gratitude

In eCommerce business where there is no human face or voice, it become important to show instant gratification to customers as soon as they make a purchase. Send them Thank You email or messages along with Visit Next Time offers. Take it a step further by sending a thank you note or a special reward for a referral. If you know their date of birth,or anniversary for example, send them a birthday greeting (along with a special offer). Efforts made in Building strong relationships takes time, but it is worth the payoff.

3. Keep in Touch

There are many retail businesses offering the same line of products that you are offering. Competitors are always going to be there to still your customers and even customers may or may not remember you after a sale. It becomes very important to Stay in touch with them. Provide an option on your Online store to subscribe to your newsletters for the latest trends and updates. There are many businesses that offer Loyalty Reward Points to their customers and ask them to redeem it timely to avail benefits on their purchases. Communication if done timely and properly than becomes rewarding else it feels nuisance.
PizzaHut a food joint company is always coming up with different ways to engage its customer base by sending them emails such as:

Treat Meal Box
Buy one get one
Tasty Thursdays
Happy hour offers
It takes a lot of creativity and commitment to keep customers engaged, and that’s something many Online Store owners can pick up from these kinds of companies.

4. Speak About them on Social Media

Social Media is no more a communication platform but has turned into one of the best marketing platform for eCommerce websites. Every business has s Social Face and has its own line of followers. Engage or bring your store buyers on FaceBook or Instagram through Contests and turn them into your social followers. Many store merchants display a special collection of their products on FaceBook or Insta pages to attract site visitors. Customers always love to be appreciated and if done on good social platform they feel privileged.
Get Insta stories of your products along with customers and brand them properly to drive more attention and traffic.

Take a look at Facebook Page of Hopscotch, it not only showcases existing customers but also endorses celebrities to increase its brand value. Missori has also done lot of Insta stories of its customers wearing fine jewelry purchased from its store.

5. Keep your Best People on Front Line and Listen to Them

eCommerce business must have the best customer support in place. Customers shouldn’t feel unattended at any stage when they shop online. If offers are driving force than customer engagement and support are a sustainable source for any Online business. Messenger, Live Chat, Phone/Email Support, Contact Us page, Customer Support team, Return and Refund policy are few options that a merchant can integrate into Online store. Deploy qualified, friendly and creative people to understand queries or take feedback from customers. Make a point of responding to social media comments, emails, and messages promptly. Despite having niche products in store if you won’t Serve Quality Customer service, it affects store traffic.
At times merchants just keep on doing one side communication and ignore customer’s feedback. One should take positive/negative feedback or suggestions and act on it. Take active surveys from customers regarding their opinion about your product/service they received, and take the information as essential and proactively work on it.

6. Know your customers and build a positive relationship

In the process of retaining or acquiring new customers, merchants tend to forget what customers actually want or looking for. It is very important to analyze customers’ feedback/suggestions. You should know or keep track of customers like dislikes. Practically one to one customer engagement is difficult for retail Online store owners, but there are many good CRM’s available to helps you categorize your customer list. You can filter customers through their gender, age, products liked or purchased, site visits, social engagements, their comments or survey taken, and accordingly build relationships. If you can identify your customer wants, it becomes easy to market or offers them your store products. Sending the right product to the right customer at the right time impacts higher sales. Someone has said “Customer is Always Right”, keep that in mind, and build a healthy and positive relationship.

When you focus on utilizing above mentioned tips, it will definitely increase customer retain ratio. It is not only important to get customers but also to retain it.