5 Effective Strategies to Keep Customers Coming Back

You can call it a major tactical victory not when you make your customers step in your store for the first time but when you compel them to use your store for the second time and so on. Many eCommerce companies devise special branches and cells whose sole motive is to retain the customers and focus on the returning customers. These branches formulate new strategies and execute them as per the requirements of the conversion. Let us go through some of the critical questions regarding customers’ retention before we board on the strategies.

Your Love For The Customers Define The Procedure Of Retention

Since it is a Valentine month, let’s us check how customers’ retention exactly fits the said week. “When you feel possessive for your customers, you compose and execute some or the other steps to grab their attention. You try to make sure that customers converge all their notice to you and shower endless love to your store. When you manage to do so, you form a formidable bridge between you and customers and retain them for a good period of time. The procedure of possessing these customers for the sake of your love towards them and of course for your self-satisfaction is called as customers’ retention”.

There are many ways by which you can retain your existing customers and not let them wander to any other place. The key to the success of customer retention is to assess and address the situations even before the customers realize that they are need of customer retention services. Here is my two bit on the strategies by which you can help them to stick to your store and propel them to be your long lasting clients:

• Don’t Be Rigid With Your Policies: A Two Way Understanding

Defining policies for your store is a good step but you can’t fix their ends. Rigid policies might not only kill the customers’ interests but could also make them back roll the decisions which they made. Ecommerce trade involves a two-way understanding. You can’t afford to tag all your policies without being considerate to your customers’ point of view. It is better that you formulate a win-win situation because that is how a relationship works. I still remember how I leaped one of the eCommerce website as it forced a checkout registration. In my opinion, it is never a good idea to leave things to the customers. You can only expect them to shop in your store, you can’t expect them to put efforts to shop.

• Don’t Leave Everything to Automation: Prove That They Are Dealing With Humans

We all are astounded by the growth of automation industry. From greeting mails to setting up the inventories, automated machines are playing a vital role in stashing the time. Also, eCommerce industries have thoroughly worked in the field of UX to improve the interaction between humans and machines. However, I feel that you can engage your customers through automated systems, but you can’t capture their emotional side and hit the psychic facets.

You can be emotionally arresting only when you connect with them in person, only when they get certain about your spatial existence, only when they get confirmed that they are not dealing with a programmed system which would only say a no when they would want to hear a yes. Emotional quotient should prevail between the customers and the merchants so that their relationship enhances. You can assess any situation and make a decision based on your rational conviction. Can automation do that?

• Focus on the Last Mile: Travel the Hardest Length to Meet your Love

The real pain in the neck for eCommerce retailers is delivery. It has the ability to announce your arrival in the industry and denounce your existence in the same industry. Your store may have phenomenal products, offer mind-staggering shopping experience, but the last step in the complete cycle is delivery from the third parties. You may have an absolute set of business values but that doesn’t guarantee the same level of values by the third party delivery company.

The least and the best you could do is to keep a close monitor of delivery and pass the progress records to your customers. This would keep the customers informed and would make them realize that you care for them.

• Present Them the Gift Cards: Show that you Care for Them

Relationships are based on expectations. Expectations define the mileage of relationship. What should you do to solidify your bilateral relationship? I don’t think anything is better than surprising your customers. How can you surprise them? How about gifting them the gift cards? Gift cards are not just the token by which customers can purchase but they are a token of care.

The semantics of gift cards are very deep. They show how eCommerce owners respect those buyers who sail on the sea of gifting dilemmas or are procrastinators. They also flag the concern of merchants for each penny of the customers. Gift cards not only help in easy shopping and redemption but also allow the customers to allocate their resources wisely. They radiate a clear message “Yes, we care for you and your companions”.

You can gift e-cards to your customers or set targets for each purchase they make. For example, mail them the gift cards for every 100$ they spend. One of the eCommerce extensions that have made the process of gifting these cards possible and practical is Gift Cards Solution for Magento 2. It is a smartly designed module which is easy to install and manage. Here is one of the extensions developed by M-connect media which is known to magnetize the customers towards the store.

• Set And Beat Customer Expectations: Underpromise and Surprise Them

The best way to utilize the most of the lower expectations is by beating them hard and surprising them. Before I initiated my online shopping journey, I was really unconfirmed of the online services. I didn’t have many expectations from the timed delivery, I never thought that they’d accept defective products, and expecting their ears was completely out of the equation. But what stupefied me? Fulfillment of my low expectations despite their under promises. Despite their nominated date of delivery, I got the product much earlier than what they had notified. Well, who doesn’t love this kind of surprises? You can make your customers glue to your stores by under-promising and over-delivering.

The Final Balance in your Relationship

Working on fresh ideas can restore a fair number of customers. There are many strategies, many ideas, but no shortcuts. No relationship is complete without commitments. Your actions should reflect the intensity of commitment, not your promises. Your products draw the customers for the first time but your commitment to toughen the customer-merchant relationship make them keep coming back to your store. Make the most out of these strategies and let them know that you consider them as building blocks of their business and see its result affecting loyalty, engagement, and conversion.

Author Bio:

Darshit Parmar is a Magento eCommerce consultant at M-Connect Media, a sales oriented e-business development company. Darshit’s 10 years of experience in the eCommerce industry has assisted him in boosting sales for multitudinous eCommerce brands. He shares his in-depth insights on how to build a successful eCommerce store not only with his clients personally, but also makes sure to put up on various platforms in the form of blogs and e-books. Certified with Google Analytics and Oracle 9i, His technical streak is as strong as his business skills.