eCommerce is a bustling industry full of bright, wonderful people who sell all kinds of exciting products that can’t be sold in traditional physical stores. This can make the world of eCommerce fun and exciting, but it can also make it highly competitive. You’re up against millions of other sellers with tons of advantages over you, such as more experiences and more money to invest in website design, packaging, and faster deliveries.
So, how are you supposed to remain competitive? Well, one way to do that is to look at ways to retain customers. This means getting new customers and finding strategies to get them to come back to your online store again and again so that you can increase your revenue by up to 30%.
So what are these strategies, and how can you implement them? We’re going to talk about that on this list of 6 customer retention strategies that can boost your sales and make you a top seller in a blink of an eye!
- Upsell and Cross-sell
Upsell and Cross-sell are probably the easiest strategies to implement. They’re easy to understand, and you can start applying them right now. These strategies are also some of the most effective since they’ve been shown to increase revenue.
Alright, let’s explain them one at a time. Upselling is simply charging a little extra for a product you’re already offering. Cross-selling is when you get your customers to buy more products than they intended to purchase when entering your online store.
You can implement these strategies right now by offering special deals and discounts to new customers. Add pop-ups to your website that give rewards to new customers and show more products on a scroll at the bottom, so customers who come in to buy one item can see others they may also be interested in purchasing.
These are the easiest strategies to implement since they only require a few tweaks in pricing and some additions to your website.
- Personalization
Every savvy eCommerce salesperson knows that personalization is what turns people into online businesses in the first place. Stores online can offer something that physical stores simply can’t, allowing customers to get special offers, recommended products, and deals as soon as they enter your store.
Having consistent language on your website is the best way to implement this. Pop-ups, scrolls showing limited edition items, and related products can genuinely boost your sales by keeping your customers on the site for longer and getting them to look at other products. Showcasing customer reviews is also a good strategy since it plays into the human bias that if other people liked it, they’ll probably like the product.
- Segmented Loyalty Program
Customer loyalty programs are another fantastic way to grow your business by forming a base of loyal customers that keep coming back and that you can rely on when things get tricky. There are many different types of loyalty programs out there. Some of these include:
- Point-based programs: these are implemented in physical stores as well, and they’re pretty simple. Every time a customer buys something at your store, they get a certain number of points, and they can later cash in those points for special offers, deals, and novelty products like t-shirts and tote bags! It’s simple, it’s easy to use, and it works.
- Spending-based programs: this one is very self-explanatory. If customers spend a certain amount of money at your store, they can get special deals like free shipping or a free gift!
- Tier-based programs: these are a little harder to implement but just as fun to make! You have different tiers that customers can reach, and each tier comes with certain rewards. The higher they go up (meaning, the more they spend,) the better rewards they can get, which is a win-win for everyone.
- Recurring Subscriptions
Do you know why Netflix is so popular? Because it feels like you’re paying close to nothing for thousands of movies and TV shows. By charging your customers a small monthly fee in exchange for special deals and offers, you too are offering your customers the opportunity to spend very little, support your business and get the things they want!
You can quickly implement this by adding a pop-up on your website that encourages people to subscribe for a small monthly fee in exchange for tons of exclusive deals and new products.
- Customer service
Excellent customer service is the key to making your online business pop. By having an interactive chat available on the website that immediately puts people in contact with one of your sales reps, you can help them by answering any questions they may have (therefore ensuring that they buy from your website).
This way, you can also offer them discounts and extraordinary deals! This is how you can also get five-star reviews pretty much anywhere. People value excellent customer service, and the better it is, the more they’ll want to tell their family and friends about it, giving you free promotion as well as more customers.
- Email Marketing
If you haven’t heard about this before, you need to catch up immediately because email marketing is the future of online sales and sales in general. The problem with eCommerce is that since there are so many online stores, it’s easy for customers to go into one, buy one item and then forget it exists. There are so many choices out there. Customers don’t feel tied to anything unless you give them the incentive to stay with you!
This is where email marketing comes in. By sending new customers emails every month reminding them of special deals, discounts, and offers, you can keep them on your website for quite a while.
By following all these strategies, you’ll be able to boost your eCommerce and become a reference out there!
