5 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty for your Online Store

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Customer loyalty stems from knowing what your customers want, streamlined checkout and shipping processes, membership programs, and superb service. Regardless of the size of your company or the sector in which it operates, building customer loyalty is essential since a tiny proportion of repeat customers account for a disproportionately significant share of the revenue.
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“How can I get my customers to come back for more?”

That’s a question asked by many online business owners. It is one thing to attract new customers, but getting repeat customers is a different ball game. After all, retaining customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new business. This increases profits by lowering marketing costs.

How can you ensure that your clients will continue to buy from you? The brands provide customers with an incentive to remain loyal by implementing effective customer retention strategies that result in long-term relationships. Regardless of the sector in which your company operates, it would be best if you always prioritized time and energy to develop a devoted customer base.

A person using a Macbook and holding a credit card
Customer loyalty is shown when a customer spends money.

Why is customer loyalty so important?

Regardless of the size of your company or the sector in which it operates, maintaining client loyalty is essential since a tiny proportion of repeat customers account for a disproportionately significant share of the revenue.

If the things you sell are not meeting the expectations of your existing clientele, you can be certain that something in your company needs to do something better. 

Also, keeping customers is the basis for figuring out how well the company is growing in other important ways. For example, client lifetime value is an important growth indicator since it demonstrates how long a customer will remain loyal to your company and how much money they will spend on your items. In addition, it can help you build “personas” of your customers, which can then guide your growth and customer acquisition strategies.

Not only that, but it is significantly more cost-effective. According to the findings of one study, a 5% increase in customer retention might result in a 25% boost in revenues. According to the findings of another study, repeat clients, on average, spend 67% more than first-time customers.

man using a credit card at laptop
man at laptop building customer loyalty!

5 ways to promote brand loyalty

Given how critical returning customers are to a business, making a plan to grow this customer base should be the company’s top priority. The following are five strategies that will help you keep first-time clients coming back to your company:

1. Get to know your customers

Understanding your target market is essential to the success of any company activity. As a business owner, it could help you make more money if you know your customers’ hobbies, preferences, and interests, as well as what they watch, listen to and read.

It’s also essential to know a lot about what your customers buy and how they buy it. As the owner of a business, you have a responsibility to understand the type of customer most likely to require or desire the product or service your company offers.

Asking customers how they feel about your brand and what you are offering is helpful, and you can do this through a conversational survey. A conversational survey asks people questions in a way that sounds like a natural conversation between two people. Instead of giving a traditional survey that only goes in one direction, this lets you have a more dynamic and insightful conversation with a participant.

To find out more about your customers, Google Analytics is a great—and free—tool. By using Google Analytics, you’ll be able to learn valuable things about your audience and find out which channels send the most people to your website. For example, in the “Audience” section, you can find a lot of information about the people who visit your websites, such as their ages, genders, hobbies, devices, and locations. It also tells you how people got to your website, which is useful information for your marketing strategy.

If you are working with WooCommerce, you will find that it does not provide you with any advanced capabilities to understand your customers. However, a WooCommerce CRM plugin can help you with this. This can assist you in developing a more in-depth understanding of your clientele. For example, you can delve into individual contacts and segments, such as your loyal repeat customers, first-time buyers who you need to convince to stick around, people interested in certain types of products, and so on.

2. Make sure your website is trustworthy

Websites that appear untrustworthy will struggle to build customer loyalty. No one wants to risk being a victim of fraud. If a customer uses your website and ends up a victim of fraud or something else goes wrong, they will not be coming back. 

So don’t hide security logos. Instead, put them in a prominent place on your homepage. This will show you care a lot about making sure you are safe. You also need to ensure that your site follows the rules about data and privacy. For example, if you trade in the EU, you must meet GDPR guidelines or, in California, the CCPA guidelines.

An SSL certificate is also a must. If you install an SSL certificate on your website, you can be sure that any sensitive information entered by your site’s visitors will be sent over a secure network. Getting an SSL certificate is easy and could mean the difference between custom and no custom.

In the browser’s address bar, there will be a closed padlock symbol to show that your website is safe. This will let visitors to your website know that the connection is secure and will demonstrate to them that you take the protection of their personal information very seriously. Some web browsers may flag your website as “unsafe” if it does not have a certificate.

Finally, a custom URL can make many customers more comfortable purchasing. Compared to standard short links, the number of clicks on custom permalinks might be up to 39% higher. This is because customers have a better experience clicking on a link that displays the name of a brand. They are confident that it will not result in spam or malicious information. You can further emphasize this trust by personalizing your short links so that they specify the destination to which the connection will lead.

3. Simplify your checkout page

The checkout page on your website is where most cart abandonment happens. For the most part, customers have been able to go about their shopping experience unhindered and without feeling much pressure to make a choice up to the moment they check out their purchases. But, sadly, as they approach the checkout, they frequently report that something is not quite right — and quite often, it is because it is unnecessarily complex or they do not trust the process. For example, there may be a lack of payment options, a high requirement for information, and popups getting in the way.

To simplify your checkout page, start by removing any unnecessary checkout fields. For example, do they really need to type in their delivery address and billing address, or can you give them the option to click ‘same as?’. Consider how you can save your customers time and effort – and implement them. 

mini shopping cart with products
mini shopping cart with products

4. Streamline your deliveries

Your obligation to provide excellent customer service does not end once they have checked out. Streamlining your deliveries and making them as seamless and painless as possible for your customers will make them feel valued throughout the process. In turn, they’ll be much more likely to purchase from you again.

Bulk printing shipping labels and shipment tracking plugins are good examples of how to ensure online orders are sent to customers successfully and on time. In the event of something not going to plan, you have the information to contact your customer and inform them of the situation. It makes the process of organizing shipping much faster for business owners.

5. Start a membership program

If you’ve already built a loyal following, amplify your business with memberships.

Memberships promote monthly recurring income. Additionally, it raises the average order value and number of repeat purchases, contributing to a higher lifetime value for the consumer. 

Members are encouraged to join by giving them access to content only members can see. This content could be new and unique material or just the very best of what the organization has to offer. People who are most likely to join your membership program to get access to your premium content are your most loyal, long-term customers and people who are already well-known in your target market.

A tried-and-true method for strengthening your brand is to cultivate a community revolving around the things you sell. It can also play a significant role in your membership benefits.

Creating a community or a loyalty program increases engagement, increasing member retention. A community open to its members can also help people connect for support as they help each other. You will also get immediate feedback that you can use to improve your products, website, and other services.

Conclusion

Your company’s loyal customers bring in a lot of money and help keep costs down by making it easier to win over new customers. Focus a lot of your time, energy, and attention on finding ways to make your clients happy by giving them additional benefits, staying in regular contact with them, and developing unique loyalty programs. You can forge and maintain strong bonds with your most valuable clients by employing intelligent techniques regularly.

Jessie Brown

Jessie is a former Editor at WP Mayor. With her vast WordPress experience having used it since its early days, she has a knack for knowing which products and companies are worth your time.

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