With the global eCommerce market revenue for 2023 reaching £4.81 Trillion, eCommerce businesses and brands should fight for as much market share as possible. In today's market, and their is no more valuable customer than the customer who have already purchased from your store.
The customer return rate is a measure of how many existing customers made two or more purchases within a given time frame, the average customer return rate should be about 20%-40%. Retaining customers and fostering loyalty requires some specific tactics tailored to the online shopping experience, and if you are looking to improve your business's customer return rate, here are some key tactics for customer loyalty and retention in eCommerce:
Streamlined User Experience:
Ensure your eCommerce website is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and optimised for mobile devices. A smooth and intuitive shopping experience encourages repeat visits and purchases. This includes having the fewest steps as possible between the customer adding the product to the cart and completing the purchase, the more steps in this process the more likely the customer will fault on their purchase. Also if the customer has already made a purchase, having their details saved to a personalised profile will allow them to make a much more smooth and streamlined purchase.
Personalised Recommendations
Use customer data to provide personalised product recommendations based on past purchases, browsing history, and preferences. Implementing recommendation algorithms can increase cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
Email Marketing
Utilise email marketing campaigns to stay in touch with customers, share product updates, promotions, and personalised offers. Segment your email list based on customer behaviour and preferences for targeted communication.
Loyalty Programs and Rewards
Implement loyalty programs specifically designed for eCommerce, offering rewards points, discounts, or free shipping for repeat purchases. Encourage customers to create accounts to track their rewards and incentivise them to return. Even strategies such a offers for customer referral can work well in both attracting new customers and increasing repeat purchases with old customers.
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Set up automated email reminders to recover abandoned carts by reminding customers of the items they left behind and offering incentives, such as discounts or free shipping, to complete their purchase.
Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and testimonials on your website or third-party platforms. Positive reviews build trust and social proof, influencing other shoppers' purchasing decisions.
Social Proof and User-Generated Content
Showcase user-generated content, such as customer photos, reviews, and testimonials, to demonstrate product authenticity and encourage engagement. Create branded hashtags and encourage customers to share their experiences on social media.
Responsive Customer Support
Provide prompt and helpful customer support through various channels, including live chat, email, and social media. Address customer inquiries, concerns, and issues quickly to enhance satisfaction and trust.
Post-Purchase Engagement
Stay connected with customers after they make a purchase by sending order confirmations, shipping updates, and follow-up emails requesting feedback or offering additional product recommendations.
Ensure Accurate and Fast Delivery
To maintain high customer satisfaction, your orders must arrive accurate and on-time, as the order fulfilment and delivery process can have a large negative impact on customer satisfaction if the order is late or faulty. If you are struggling with fulfilling your orders on-time and want to ensure fast deliveries and high order accuracy, then please reach out to UK Fulfilment here, who can handle your order fulfilment and have a a 99.93% order accuracy rate.
Continuous Optimisation
Continuously analyse customer data, website metrics, and feedback to identify areas for improvement in the shopping experience. Test different strategies and tactics to optimise conversion rates and enhance customer satisfaction.
By implementing the above tactics for customer loyalty and retention in eCommerce, you can build a loyal customer base, drive repeat purchases, and differentiate your brand in a competitive online marketplace, and ultimately increase your revenue.
