Every business needs to build loyalty among their customer base. Whether you are Amazon or a 1,200 square foot supplement shop in rural Texas, you need to figure out how to retain your customers. If you don’t keep them, they will find some other place to spend their money and you’ll have to work even harder to get them back.
There are several things to consider when thinking about customer retention. Here are a few.
Let’s Talk About Money
Money and discounts are always something to consider in regards to customer retention. Any time you can save customers money and are clear with how much money they save when they shop with you, it is music to a customer’s ears. There are few ways you can do this.
Loyalty/Rewards Program: So many retailers and restaurants offer rewards programs. It’s almost become expected. Oftentimes businesses will use points. “Earn 1,000 points and get a free product.” This is a great tactic to incentivize spending to get the free item or the dollars knocked off their purchase.
But customers seldom know what the dollars spent to points earned ratio is. While any rewards program is still appreciated, other stores have taken a cash back approach. These stores offer a percentage back per transaction, somewhere in the realm of 2-5% back. This stays on their account and can be used for future purchases. The benefit of this approach is that it takes the guess work out of the rewards program and gives customers a tangible sense of how much money they have earned back.
We’ve heard from many store owners that utilize cash back systems and have customers save up all their cash back for the year and then make massive purchases around the holidays.
Daily Discounts: Having a great EDLP and letting your customers know how much they save on a daily basis is an excellent way to improve customer retention. It’s more important than ever to be price competitive, especially with smartphones giving us the ability to price shop at any time. Use signage and your price tags to indicate to the customers their savings. Highlight how much customers save on your receipts. Make it very known that you have great pricing to your customers and you are generous with your discounts. When customers realize that stores don’t pass along discounts, they fear they are getting ripped off.
Flash Sales: Surprise your customers with sales they can’t refuse. When you offer flash sales, you can negotiate discounts with your vendors ahead of time to protect your margin and your customers will feel thankful for the deeper discounts on their favorite products and will stock up!
Customer Experience
One thing that brick and mortar stores will always have an advantage over e-commerce stores is the customer experience. Sure, e-commerce has set the bar high for ease of shopping and often speedy delivery, but you’ll never get the same experience and service that you do at a physical location.
Retailers need to own this! Make your store a delight to walk into so that your customers will want to pay you a visit. Demand excellence of your staff by keeping a clean, organized store, one that is welcoming and inviting. So many retail locations are sterile looking, disorganized, and look like they haven’t been remodeled since 1992.
You may not be able to match Amazon’s price on a product but you sure can have a great store to visit with staff that are engaged and passionate about what they do.
The customer experience is one of the best ways to keep customers coming back time and time again.
Marketing
Marketing is very multifaceted, but in regards to customer retention, the biggest thing is to market in a way that continually shows your value to the customer and that you’re there to help make their life better.
So whether it be through email or social media, you need to communicate how your company helps your customer live their best life and remind them of that often!
Want more tips for your business? Make sure to attend the SENPA Summit at SOHO Expo! Register here today.
