Every ecommerce business aims at increasing sales and improving its YoY growth. But, it is not something that can happen overnight, and there might not be any hard and fast rules for ecommerce sellers to follow here. And the rise in cut-throat competition certainly does not make it any easier.
It is estimated that in 2022, there will be about 24 million ecommerce sites worldwide, with more sellers switching to online selling each day. Interestingly, data shows that not more than 1 million ecommerce sites make more than $1000 annually. So, what does that mean for sellers trying to increase ecommerce sales? I would say that they have a fair shot at winning against their competition.
Ecommerce sellers can work towards building customer relationships to improve customer loyalty towards the brand. Sellers could increase their profits by up to 95% by having customers return for purchases. One can ask the question – why not try acquiring new customers instead of having repeat customers? Well, for one, acquiring new customers costs more than retaining customers. Research shows that loyal customers are 83% more likely to promote a brand, product, or store. It means the brand/product/store gets more credibility and many new customers.
Understanding customer loyalty, and its importance
Customer loyalty means the ability of ecommerce sellers to impact their customers in a way that they return to the same seller for every future purchase. By offering every customer a smooth and positive buying experience, sellers can increase the chances of the customer returning, spending more with each purchase.
Focusing on building customer loyalty is essential for ecommerce businesses because:
- 65% of a company’s revenue comes from repeat purchases
- It is up to 25% more costly to acquire a new customer
- Repeat customers offer word-of-mouth marketing
- 57% of customers spend more if they are loyal to you
Now, let’s move to how businesses can improve customer loyalty and increase ecommerce sales. If you are willing to offer your customers an excellent buying experience, you are almost guaranteed to increase your sales.
Effective ways to improve customer loyalty and increase ecommerce sales
To ensure your ecommerce business has a solid customer base, implement the below-mentioned customer retention strategies and see your ecommerce sales go through the roof.
1. Customer service: Interact with your customers
Ecommerce sellers must invest in customer service to ensure their customers’ grievances and complaints don’t go unresolved. Being available to your customers 24X7 gives them a sense of assurance that you are meeting their needs. Your customer service agents must be well-trained, patient, empathetic, and communicative if you are to build a healthy relationship with your customers.
A study shows that 81% of customers were willing to make another purchase with a seller if they were satisfied with their customer service. It is safe to say that you should not underestimate the power of customer interactions with your business as an online seller.
Customers face several problems during and after making a purchase. These can include being unable to find relevant product information, delayed or incorrect delivery, faulty product, etc. And while you cannot prevent customers from having negative encounters with your store or brand every once in a blue moon, you sure can intervene and resolve them in time.
2. Personalize: Offer relevant product recommendations
Customers love it when they experience seamless purchasing. Offering them a personalized experience ensures that your brand or store is relevant to them.
Moreover, today’s consumers have a lot on their minds. With so many online stores and options to choose from, customers find it easy to find a brand they connect with for all their shopping needs. They might even be open to spending more if offered personalized services. In fact, most customers agree that they are comfortable sharing their personal information if it means they would receive customized content.
If ecommerce sellers track and monitor customers and online visitors, including their preferences, purchasing history, etc., then product recommendations would be more effortless. Sellers could further leverage the same information to send relevant content to visitors and customers, suggesting you know what they are interested in buying.
3. Online store: Provide excellent user experience
Talking about providing customers with exceptional online experiences, you might think there isn’t much difference between online and in-store shopping except for the fact that customers can physically check out the products. Well, that’s not entirely true. Shopping in-store also means it is relatively easy for customers to find the products they are looking for as they have staff to assist them. If you are to engage customers via your online store, you must ensure that you offer them a frictionless shopping experience.
From the moment a visitor lands on your website to the moment they receive the product, the whole process should be straightforward. They should easily be able to find the required products from your vast catalogs, access vital product information, and make the payment. If you regularly keep upgrading your website design, you will be able to offer online visitors a better online experience.
This way, your customers will not only choose your products over other sites but also recommend your store by word of mouth. A study shows that 49% of customers dissociated themselves from a brand owing to poor customer experience. Therefore, customer experience and satisfaction are powerful in building customer loyalty.
4. Loyalty programs: Reward your loyal customers
Of course, as an online seller, you would repeatedly put effort into making sure your customers buy from you. But, once you have repeat customers, what would you offer them in return for their loyalty? Loyalty programs are a fantastic way to incentivize customers to keep buying from you. You could offer them loyalty bonuses like free shipping, products, discount vouchers, gifts, etc.
You will need to set and track key customer metrics like the number of purchases, reorders, referrals, loyalty points, etc. This way, you can quickly identify your most loyal customers.
Customer rewards are beneficial for both the customer and the seller. The customer will keep returning for additional benefits you offer. And consequently, you will have a high customer retention rate and increased sales.
5. Omnichannel presence: Engage better with customers
Today, consumers are spread across multiple marketplaces and engaging with brands through different channels. Brands and sellers need to identify the channels their customers prefer shopping from to ensure maximum visibility. Moreover, you would be able to offer your customers more value and better communication. Being visible translates into increased customer engagement, brand credibility, and loyalty.
Ecommerce businesses would require technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, and more to support and execute their omnipresence strategy. As your customer expectations keep evolving, these technologies prove helpful in meeting customer needs.
From building state-of-the-art websites and online stores, making catalog management effortless, offering excellent customer service, and more, these technologies are irreplaceable. In short, it is almost impossible for online businesses to scale in the absence of technology-led marketplace solutions and automation.
How can Mobius help you in building customer loyalty?
In a nutshell, these customer retention strategies will surely help you deliver better customer satisfaction and improve loyalty. However, devising and implementing these strategies can be daunting for organizations, irrespective of their size. Ecommerce sellers might need support from ecommerce experts to find gaps and rework their current approach to be more customer-centric.
We have built our one-stop-shop ecommerce services to address various ecommerce challenges. We assist you in identifying and solving customer pain points and retaining them. Visit our website or contact us to know how our ecommerce solutions can help you with all the aspects mentioned above and help increase ecommerce sales.
