Customer loyalty plays an important role in the success of today’s e-commerce businesses. In the e-commerce sector, generating customer loyalty is quite complex as the brand interaction is different. It is important for e-commerce businesses to continuously encourage and delight customers to stay ahead of the competition. The key motivating factor behind building e-commerce loyalty is usually increased sales. Below mentioned are some of the key actionable strategies for a successful loyalty program for e-commerce.
Strategies to build a customer loyalty program
As per a report by Statista, retail e-commerce sales worldwide have reached US$4.3 trillion in 2020. It is expected to increase to US$6.4 trillion by 2024. The industry will continue to experience new technologies, marketing strategies, new players, and products. The competition will become much tougher. To succeed, e-commerce businesses need to create better strategies and create the best possible loyalty programs. Here are some of the key strategies.
Create a rewarding loyalty program:
Though there are several loyalty programs in the e-commerce sector, some of the most commonly used are the loyalty tiers, loyalty points, and a mix of both. When comparing both types of programs, point-based loyalty programs are more famous. If you are considering a point-based loyalty program, make sure to reward your customers not only for the purchases that they make but also for their behavior. For instance, when your customers share their discount codes on various platforms, leave reviews, or invite friends to join memberships to earn bonus points, make certain to reward them for their support. Customers can be rewarded with vouchers, gifts, experience-related activities, and VIP/point schemes.
Provide special rewards and offers to stimulate buying behaviors:
E-commerce companies can provide their customers exclusive rewards and exciting perks to encourage them to keep purchasing from their company. You can offer free shipping vouchers and discount codes that your customers can use with their points earned. For instance, if a customer achieves 500 points, he will become eligible for free shipping on his next order. Such rewards and perks keep customers engaged with your business. This strategy is best for encouraging repeat purchases and improving the average order value for customers. However, make sure to offer these types of rewards at the right time on the right occasion. Offering them too often may take away the excitement. Therefore, plan carefully before introducing any special reward or perks.
Automate marketing communication:
Another key strategy for creating a successful loyalty program for e-commerce is to design a customer journey with marketing automation. To put it simply, you must make use of the right tools to design customer journeys for different target segments like first-time buyers, active members, and churning customers. The program should be designed in a manner that encourages customer engagement and builds significant connections with your brand. You can implement various advanced tools to provide customized rewards, incentivize customer interactions, analyze detailed CRM metrics, and more. By automating marketing communications and using data insights, e-commerce businesses can easily and effectively refine their loyalty strategy.
Gather as much data as possible:
You must utilize as much data as possible to enhance your e-commerce performance. The best tactic to optimize your online store is to measure the success of sales conversion. Marketers in the e-commerce sector can collect data from customer engagements and use those data insights to improve their marketing strategies. You can use various e-commerce metrics to gather data. For instance, collect usual e-commerce metrics like the conversion rate of visitors, cart abandonment rate, engagement of email subscribers, etc. Also, consider advanced loyalty metrics such as the customer making his first purchase within the first few days after signing up, the percentage increase in revenue per customer, increase in lifetime value, and others. These data insights will help you to make better business decisions and design appropriate loyalty schemes for long-term success.
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Deliver personalized experience:
Offering personalized content and experiences is one of the best and most effective strategies for successful loyalty programs. Yes, brands that are largely focused on offering personalized experiences are likely to perform better and generate more repeat sales. When customers are provided with personalized content and offers, they tend to feel more special and pay more attention to the offerings recommended to them. Several reports suggest that when customers are offered personalized services, they are willing to pay more. Besides, they don’t mind sharing important details like their interests and likes, to get back more personalized and relevant content. Being an e-commerce company, you can offer product recommendations to your customers based on their profile, purchase history, preferences, and campaign data. The data collected from all these sources can be used to send exclusive perks, free samples, relevant content, and more. The more personalized service you provide, the more you’ll be able to convince your customers that you care for them and their loyalty matters a lot to your business.
Offer smooth customer service:
Customer service plays an important role in the success and failure of an e-commerce business. Make sure to provide seamless customer service support via all the possible channels as today’s customers prefer multiple channels like via email, phone, chat, social media, etc., to connect with a brand. Your customers must be able to get in touch with your brand with their choice of channel. Also, make it easier for them to share feedback, queries, comments, or connect with the customer service department. No matter what customer service touchpoint your customers use, the quicker and conveniently they get answers to their requests, the better brand experience they’ll have. Better experience will help in building better loyalty.
Conclusion:
Brands that are able to build and manage stronger relationships with their customers will likely emerge as winners in the race of e-commerce success with a huge base of loyal customers. If you are searching for the most appropriate loyalty program for e-commerce or need consultation regarding creating the best strategies for successful loyalty programs, connect with the team of LoyaltyXpert today. They have professionals who have in-depth knowledge of current market conditions, tools, and technologies. They can guide you perfectly towards the road to e-commerce success.
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