How to increase Customer Lifetime Value in eCommerce: 5 smart hacks by Mezchip

(Last Updated On: May 22, 2023)

It is cheaper to have happy repeat customers over acquiring new customers. But what keeps your customers happy and satisfied with shopping at your online store? The answer my fellow small business owners – is making the customer feel like a king (or queen!).

Mezchip, a customer support platform, shared with us 5 proven long term strategies on how to increase customer lifetime value in eCommerce.

What is customer lifetime value in eCommerce? 

Before we can tell you how to increase customer lifetime value, it is important to understand WHAT it is.

Customer lifetime value or CLV refers to the total business that a single customer has provided to your online store during their ‘lifetime’. This ‘lifetime’ usually ranges from 12-24 months.

So, in simple words – In the last 24 months, how much did one customer buy and how much did they spend?

Why is customer lifetime value such an important metric? 

For an eCommerce business, CLV is one of the most valuable metrics to track. If the CLV of one customer is high, that usually means that customer-

• Really likes your products
• Are satisfied with your services
• Gives genuinely constructive reviews and testimonials
• Refers your online business to other people
• Experiments with new launches

If your average CLV of the customers at your online store is high, that would mean that your customers are generally satisfied and have loyalty to your brand. And isn’t that the goal of every eCommerce business?

The success of a business depends on customer satisfaction. The higher the satisfaction, the better are the sales. Simple.

Related read: How To Get Repeat Customers; 5 Proven Ways For Customer Retention

Customer satisfaction concerns in eCommerce 

Satisfaction is a bit tricky for eCommerce businesses. In the pre-pandemic era, customers could walk into a store and have ALL their needs met immediately. But now, online store owners are trying to replicate that when visitors come to their eCommerce website.

One of the key factors that influence customer relationships is the quality and frequency of communication.

Here are some things that a customer considers before becoming a repeat purchaser – 

1. Was the quality of the product good?
2. Did the online store give me what they promised?
3. Were my queries about the product answered immediately?
4. Did I know clearly when my product was going to reach me?
5. Did they help me efficiently when I had doubts?
6. Was the online store able to give me personalised recommendations?
7. Did I like shopping from that brand?

And more.

If you notice, these questions don’t just focus on delivery queries and shipping timelines. We shouldn’t restrict customer communications to just helping a customer with the refund or return policies.

Read our FREE whitepaper on cultivating stronger eCommerce relationships with consumers

The eCommerce trust report 2022 – Read it here

5 hacks that tell you how to increase customer lifetime value:

Here are the 5 hacks that can help business owners increase customer lifetime value when they sell online:

1. Recognize potential points of interaction throughout the customer journey
2. Personalising communications for better customer experience
3. Omnichannel communications as the need of the hour
4. Automation is the magic potion
5. Happy employees = Happy customers

Let’s explore each of these in detail.

1. Recognize potential points of interaction throughout the customer journey

Customer service should never be limited to after-purchase service. Increasing communications from discovery to post-purchase help in customer retention and loyalty. Here are the different touchpoints where you can optimise your communications to get maximum sales:

Discovery

This is the stage at which a potential customer has discovered your brand on social media or on a search engine like Google. Discovery can be accelerated through digital marketing and performance marketing strategies that help expose your brand to new people.

Related read: Digital marketing for your eCommerce startup: A checklist by Adyogi

Consideration

The potential customer is now considering your brand and your competitors. This is when your communication should prove WHY they should choose you. You can:

1. 1.  Highlight discount coupons for first-time buyers
   2. Have a nice reviews and testimonial section
   3. Optimise your website for speed
   4. Write detailed and informative product descriptions

Purchase

The visitor to your online eCommerce store is convinced. They have the product in their cart but haven’t completed payment yet. Here are a few ways you can ensure conversions:

1. 1. Offer exclusive discounts
   2. Have a live chat option to help with all queries in real-time
   3. Have personalised pop-ups that have messages like “Are you sure you want to leave?”

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Delivery

The customer wants complete visibility of where their product is after they complete a purchase. Constant communication on the delivery status of the product, reason for delays, expected time of arrival etc. will help keep the customer satisfied.

Returns and refunds 

If you can keep a customer satisfied during the return and refund process, Invesp says there’s a 92% chance that the customer would buy from you again.

Effective and polite customer service during this stage can help build customer trust for your eCommerce business.

2. Personalising communications for better customer experience

Data plays a huge role in personalising the purchase journey for a customer. It helps create awareness about the customer’s browsing and buying patterns. The data that you track (with consent!) can help you:

1. Create personalised discounts
2. Communicate with the customers about specific pain points
3. Address cart abandonment
4. Personalise product recommendations

Every customer is different and unique. Making each customer feel like their unique needs are being met is the sign of a successful online seller.

3. Omnichannel communications as the need of the hour  

Your customers will never come to where you prefer, you will have to go to where your customer is. It is important for you to be active on all communication channels so that you can address customer queries instantly.

Here are some examples of the different communication channels:

1. DMs through your social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook etc.
2. Calling you on your phone/ Whatsapp messaging
3. Email communications
4. Chatbots or Live chat on your eCommerce website

With Mezchip, you can manage all your communications from one single platform.

4. Automation is the magic potion

The leading reasons for concern and disappointment often are delayed replies, incorrect information, lack of awareness within the team itself, juggling your store and communications etc.

Automating the communication process has multiple benefits that reap amazing rewards. Here are a few ways you can utilise automation for your online store.

• Have detailed FAQs
• Invest in chatbots with curated canned responses
• Set up automatic email and WhatsApp messages that get triggered after certain actions
• Establish Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems for your phone

[💡 Canned responses: These are a set of pre-defined  questions and answers that customers frequently ask for]

Related read: 6 Low-cost growth marketing tools for small businesses

Happy employees = Happy customers

Miscommunication and a lack of transparency within teams can have a negative impact on how your customer is treated.

You can minimise wait times and ineffectiveness if each member of your team is aware and responsible.

To ensure that the customer can trust you, your team needs to be cohesive and strong. Establishing clear communication between the team members about your goals, vision, operations and strategies is extremely important.

Improving the purchase journey with effective communication 

Priyanka Prasad, the co-founder of Mezchip spoke to us in a LIVE interactive webinar about the different strategies of customer communications.

Want to know how to make your customers feel like your online store is their go-to shopping place? Watch the entire video!

You can also download our free handbook for customer communications – ‘Treat the king right’ from our eBook store.

Reply to your customers instantly with the live chat feature on Instamojo stores! Visit our app store to find out more.

Don’t have your own independent online store yet? Create one on Instamojo for free! You can also upgrade to our premium plans at just ₹10/day!

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