How To Get Repeat Customers In E-commerce?
Acquiring new customers is extremely important in e-commerce. However, having regular and loyal customers is equally significant. So how to attract repeat customers, gain their trust and stay in a positive relationship with them? Keep reading!
Before discussing things in more details, let’s briefly explain why it’s essential to acquire repeat customers, shall we?
Repeat customers – why should you want them?
First of all, when it comes to the decision making process and encouraging someone to buy your products, it’s much easier to convince a repeat customer than a person who hasn’t come across the brand yet. Think about it, if someone already has your product and is fully satisfied with it, why shouldn’t they take advantage of your services again? It’s been known for a long time that people fear the unknown.
What’s more, it’s also easier for you to cross-sell products to your repeat customers. Let’s have an example. Mrs. X orders in your store a skirt that turns out to meet all her expectations. It’s made of top quality fabrics, looks stunning and when she wears it, everyone tells her that she looks like a million dollars. Imagine that your store offers a matching shirt or shoes. Well, do you think that something can stop mrs. X from buying these products and complementing the look?
Repeat customers are also more eager to follow and read the content on your blog or newsletter and to interact on your social media profiles.
There is also one very important aspect – a satisfied customer will recommend your products and store. In this case it’s self explanatory that good PR is a key to success.
How to attract repeat customers and maintain a relationship with them?
Get to know your customers
First of all, before you start any activities that should help you maintain a meaningful relationship with your customers, you need to get to know them.
Who are my customers?
Conduct appropriate target group and market research to find out the expectations of your customers and to see what they can get at your store and what they need to get from your competition. Decide which group of customers you want to reach and plan methods of communication you want to use to make them feel in your online store at home.
Take advantage of a user persona, meaning a potential representative of your desired target group, it’s the perfect addressee of your activities who schematically represents the target group.
User personas are created based on specific pieces of information about your customers such as age, expectations or purchase decisions.
If you wish to find out more about user personas, go to one of our previous entries: User Personas in Marketing and SEO.
Pay attention to product descriptions
On our blog, we’ve discussed a few times why product descriptions are so important for SEO. Of course, they’re equally important for customers. You need to remember about three basic aspects. Your product descriptions must be:
- One-of-a-kind,
- Comprehensive,
- True-to-life.
If you’re still wondering whether the quality of these descriptions really affects your sales, then you have to read our article on the importance of the uniqueness of product descriptions. Now, we’re going to discuss the remaining two points.
Your product descriptions should be at the same time realistic and convincing, you need to persuade potential customers that you offer only top-notch products that will fully meet their expectations. Comprehensively describe the most relevant assets and highlight the most useful pieces of information. Keep your descriptions clear and transparent, customers shouldn’t be afraid that they’re buying a pig in a poke.
However, don’t lay it on a bit thick! If you mislead your customers and promise them something unrealistic, you can be sure that they won’t come back.
Remember that even the finest product description won’t be as effective as the one accompanied by product photos. Therefore, when devising your offer keep in mind all the elements that catch customers’ eye. Below you can see photos of shoes described above. They immediately seem to be more attractive, don’t they? 😉
So what’s the conclusion? Attract users’ attention with an appealing yet true-to-life photo and keep them on your website for longer with the use of a quality product description.
Don’t forget about UX
Take care of user experience, of course you aim only at good UX. Try to ensure that customers who shop via your e-commerce site are satisfied both before, during and after the transaction.
Remember about visual aspects of your website, provide your potential customers with transparent and intuitive interface. Thoroughly design your entire e-shop so that using it is pure pleasure, not a punishment. If shopping on your website turns out to be onerous, then the chances that customers will come back are rather small.
Create a coherent and positive brand image
Your brand should be genuine and appealing. Create a brand image that will let your customers know that they can count on you and your product range. Make sure that all the messages you send are consistent and characteristic of your style. They should also evoke positive feelings. There are plenty of methods to achieve that.
Depending on the type of your business, you can conduct numerous activities that will help you create a positive brand image. And these activities don’t have to be time-consuming or complicated, just send your customer a personalized email with birthday wishes or add a small gift or a product sample to their order.
As we’re talking about oders, they also highly affect your brand image. And we don’t mean the purchasing process itself but the way you pack the ordered product which also affects how your company is perceived.
If you don’t have an interesting idea how to do it, just browse the net, the online world is full of inspiring content. An aesthetically looking box, colorful paper, brand motif, stickers with your logo, sweets or a short personalized letter.. Just think what can make you stand out from your competition on the market and what will make your customers realize that the package is from your as soon as they see a delivery man holding it.
Storytelling is another essential aspect – tell your potential customers about your company and give them the chance to get to know you better. Let your customers know that there are real people behind your brand and that these people are passionate and experienced professionals who aim at satisfying their customers.
And last but not least, create an attractive online image of your brand.
Online activities such as responding to comments on your fanpage or creating an attractive Instagram feed are also important constituents of your brand image.
Content is king
We aren’t talking solely about descriptions of products available in your online store. When it comes to e-commerce, it’s always a good idea to implement extra content activities such as blogging or sending a newsletter.
As far as the blog is concerned, you can focus on the content related to your business and the industry you operate in. Advise, explain and position yourself as an expert. If the texts you create are interesting and make users come back to find out more, remember that the blog and the product category subpage are really close to each other.
On the other hand, the newsletter will help you stay in touch with your customers. With its use you can inform recipients about the latest blog entries, special offers for those who signed up for the newsletter, seasonal sales or new products in your store. The possibilities are endless.
Go to our blog to learn more about writing newsletters.
Consider special offers
Maybe it’s a good idea to implement some special offers for regular and repeat customers? Above we’ve mentioned small gifts added to orders but there are many more possibilities.
If you’re just trying to attract new customers, you can always offer them a discount code for the first or second shopping. When it comes to repeat customers, you can send them such a discount code for shopping in your store and include information that it’s time limited.
You can also inform your customers about the upcoming discounts in advance or provide only selected customers with special offers. Learn to succeed by trial and error.
What about loyalty programs?
Loyalty programs in the form of points awarded for each purchase made in your e-shop are also an attractive idea. Such actions not only have a positive impact on customer relations, but also improve sales and effectiveness of the marketing process.
If you need an example think about Starbucks Rewards. Every coffee lover across the world is happy to collect stars and later exchange them into beverages they like. And it really works!
It goes without saying that you need to tailor your loyalty programs to the industry and recipients so that to ensure users that taking part in such programs simply pays off. Special offers undoubtedly appeal to customers and make them want to buy more, especially when they know that the loyalty program offers an attractive reward that is worth fighting for.
Ensure efficient service
Without it, it’s impossible to maintain a lasting relationship with your customers. This aspect covers a few elements, from a simple and intuitive way of shopping to a smooth and fast delivery.
When it comes to finalizing the transaction, you should offer your customers a wide range of payment and delivery methods. Be transparent and clear about the delivery time. Take care about every aspect of the purchasing process, from the very moment users enter your website to the moment they receive the package.
Remember that communication with customers is a key to success in e-commerce. Customers need to be sure that in case of any problems, there is someone who will help or advise them.
Your website literally must include the contact tab, however, just to make your customers feel at ease, you can implement a live chat or the FAQ section.
That’s all we’ve prepared for you today. Of course you don’t need to implement all the pieces of advice at once. Experiment and consciously find elements that will work for your store. Good luck!
