Do you want to add more value to your business and succeed in the long term?
Of course, you do!
Then you need to start focusing on repeat customers and try retaining them. Turning them into loyal customers will increase their lifetime business value.
A successful business can only be built by increasing your business from repeat customers. In fact, as much as 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers.
Therefore to retain customers, you need to build your brand loyalty and manage customer relationships effectively.
But before we get into how to increase customer retention, you need to know the meaning of customer retention
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What is the meaning of repeat customers?
Repeat customers are those that have made at least two purchases from your company.
They return to your business to make more purchases and are likely to make many more purchases from you in the future. They are also your loyal customers because they are loyal to your brand.
Your probability of selling to an existing customer is at least 40% more likely than converting someone who has never bought from you before.
Statistics related to repeat customers for small businesses
Here are some statistics that will convince you about the value of repeat customers for your business:
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A simple 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25% to 95%
- Repeat customers have a 67% higher chance of purchasing your products compared to new customers.
- Customer retention leads to a 75% increased profitability for small businesses.
- A repeat customer is worth approximately 10x more than they were at the time of their first purchase.
A repeat customer is choosing to place their trust in the online seller again and again.
Download this free whitepaper to implement ‘trust building strategies’ in eCommerce
Now that you know how valuable and profitable repeat customers can be for your business, let us discuss 5 ways to increase repeat purchases:
Strategies to increase repeat customers
Improve customer service
The importance of customer service cannot be emphasized enough. It plays an important role in determining your customer experience and retention rates. Lifetime loyalty from customers can be made possible simply by providing the best of services.
Here are some ways to deliver excellent customer service-
1. Offer live demos and training
Provide your customers with enough product knowledge and demos on how it works. It helps in clarifying any queries that they may have and create a positive customer experience.
2. Live chat
Live chat is proven to improve customer relationships with the brand. It is an effective tool for immediate problem resolution. Fix customer issues in the nick of time and expect higher customer retention and satisfaction rates.
3. Customer feedback
It is undeniably one of the most important tools for a business. Collect as much feedback as possible by conducting regular polls and surveys through emails and social media. This will get you additional insights. Use it to engage with your audience and increase customer retention.
Product Knowledge
Customers will be confident about your products only when they understand all their features and benefits. Therefore, provide them with education and training about your product or service through informative videos.
Your customers will be highly satisfied with your brand and are guaranteed to improve the retention rate.
A few ways to educate your customers are
- Keep the communication channels open on platforms like social media, live chats, video sessions, and chatbots and address every hurdle that they have during their customer journey.
- Offer high-quality video tutorials and product demonstrations to make your customers accustomed to your products.
- Connect with your customers and have frequent conversations with them.
You could also conduct webinars that help you reach out to new people and also educate existing customers. Enroll in our free course on mojoVersity on growing your business with webinars.
Customer loyalty programs
A customer who is a part of your loyalty program is 47% more likely to make another purchase from you when compared to other customers. Show them that you value their loyalty by rewarding your customers.
Ways to increase customer return rate with loyalty programs
- Offer exclusive discounts to your loyal customers
- Give them additional services or products for a discount
- Invite your loyal customers to event launches
- Surprise them with gifts on special occasions
For inspiration, look at how Uber’s loyalty program works.
On every ride that customers take on Uber, they earn some points. After they earn enough points, they can avail of several rewards like free meals on their UberEats app, free Uber rides, free cancellations, and much more.
Related read: How to maintain customer loyalty with referral programs
Email marketing
A great way to increase the retention rate is by creating an effective email marketing campaign. Product updates and follow-up emails can drive one-time customers to make multiple purchases from you. By strategizing each email, you can generate repeat business with numerous loyal consumers significantly.
Tips to follow for email marketing
- Product update email: Update your customers about related products, special offers, and discount coupons to make the purchase with you again.
- Send follow-up emails: After the first purchase, send 1 or 2 follow-up emails to let them know that the communication channels are open. Ensure that all your emails are personalized for every customer.
Sephora, for instance, sends out a product reminder email a week before it is estimated to run out of stock. It gives a clear call to action to shop the product. Through this tactic, they can retain more customers and encourage repeat purchases.
Focus on high-quality leads
High-quality leads can be found by analyzing the buying behaviour or pattern of your customers. Based on their past purchases, you can figure out what they may want to buy in the future.
So, keep your focus on those customers who are most likely to buy from you. As a result, your marketing campaigns will be targeted better and you’re more likely to get leads from these campaigns.
Related read: How to generate high-quality leads
Want repeat customers? Wow them with a beautiful online store.
Attracting customers to your business is easy, but maintaining a good relationship with them and ensuring they stick around to make repeated purchases is hard.
So, why not start with the ideal online store?
1 comment
Very well written article.
95 % of business owners either forget or ignore their existing Customers, in their quest for New Customers.
Focusing and Engaging with customers on a regular basis, is the best thing a business owner can do to increase Sales!