It's proven that loyal, repeat customers are far more profitable than new ones.
A repeat customer has a 54% chance of making another purchase after the second and third purchase, versus 27% after just the first purchase. A customer who has purchased with your store twice is 9 times more likely to convert than a first-time customer because they are easier to sell to. (1)In Part One of this feature, we'll introduce you to 3 marketing initiatives that can be used throughout your customer journey to increase growth and engagement. Encouraging customers to shop with you, again and again, requires attention and focus. There are specific practices that can be implemented to ensure loyalty and spend grows over time. The 3 we'll focus on today are:
- Welcome and onboarding experience
- Surprise and delight
- Second purchase program
Welcome and onboarding experience
Having a process to welcome new customers immediately after their first purchase is one of the simplest, yet, often overlooked initiatives. Executed well, it can create a memorable and shareable experience. The key elements of a great welcoming experience include:
- An authentic note expressing your gratitude
- A gift
- Encourage sign-up to your loyalty program
- Ask for feedback and take the opportunity to ask what worked well and what didn’t. This shows your commitment to creating the best experience possible.
- Provide guidance and further reading where possible.
- Encourage them to engage on social by sharing their experience and purchase.
- Finish the welcoming experience by following up with the customer to measure product satisfaction after they have had time to use it.
Surprise and delight
An unanticipated thank you is a proven way to build a brand. Surprising the customer with this throughout the customer journey can require a bit of creativity, but it pays off. These can be anything from event invites, free gifts or exclusive samples, but these small surprise and delights can help create exclusivity and community.
Second purchase program
As Informed Retailers are data-driven, they have a structured process to check in with new customers, tailoring their offers and communications to drive a second purchase specific to the customer. Some examples of this include:
- Recommending high-margin complementary items
- Sending a gift voucher
- Providing a sense of urgency with a time-limited offer
- Offering loyalty points with their next purchase
- Emphasising the exclusivity of the offer and product benefits
To do this, often email and/or messages are the most common methods to stay in touch, however, eCommerce pages, direct mail and social media are also strong considerations. Rather than sending a blanked offer to all existing customers, tailoring offers to segments (or individuals) factoring in the products they just bought and typical purchase path will increase the likelihood of success. In Part 2, we'll cover the remaining initiatives, which include:
- Birthday & key moments programs
- Seasonal and culturally relevant initiatives
- Customer advocacy
- Re-activation program
It is recommended that retailers workshop their own customer journey to unveil further opportunities and adaptations.
Source
(1): https://blog.smile.io/repeat-customers-profitable-stats-to-prove
Score your business in each of the critical areas of practice to identify strengths, weaknesses and potential blind spots.
