How to keep customers

Many online shop owners don’t know how much it costs them to get a new customer. Some don’t even know where their customers come from in the first place – e.g. Google Adwords, Natural listings, affiliate schemes and so on.

Customer Retention – and why it’s important to your business’s success

It’s possible to get a pretty close estimate of the cost per customer by adding up all the marketing costs (online / offline) and dividing by the number of customers within a set period of time. You should try this – and then you’ll release just how much it costs to get the customer in the first place. So, with this in mind, you’re going to want to keep the customer coming back again and again!

Welcome visitors with personal messages

If your website has any type of “account” feature, you can “remember” them and welcome them back to your store with their name and you could even offer them buying suggestions based on their purchase history.

Get feedback

You can gain feedback both by analysing your website traffic data, or by simply asking your customers what they think. After a customer has completed their first purchase, why not ask them a couple of questions? They will probably point issues with your website you never thought of before. Then, do something about it!

Keep in touch

Sending emails to your existing customer base is one of the most effective ways to gain repeat business. In these emails you can personalise them (because you know your customers’ names) and even provide personalised special offers. However don’t overdo emails – restrict to no more than one per week. This way, you avoid the Junk email folder.

Also, sending out seasonal emails is highly effective – Mother’s day, Christmas, Easter – you name it, any excuse to send out an email is great!

Forums

Forums provide a way for customers to communicate with each other. You can keep an eye on what’s being posted and of course remove anything that’s going to get you into trouble. However it’s great to see good and bad comments in forums, as this brings reality to your web business and puts peoples’ minds at ease.

Offers for returning customers

When sending out your email, setup a “voucher code” that gives a blanket 10% off. Only existing customers get this email, and you can big up this fact in your email text. This brings confidence to customers who might have gone elsewhere.

Keep it simple

Making sure your website supports “one-click” checkout is great, especially for returning customers. Keeping things simple makes sure your customers come back to you, and not one of your competitors.

Be open about your returns policy and provide a telephone number for people to call you if they need to find anything out.

Provide a Live-Chat facility so users can easily answer questions without having to phone (which can be a bit personal for some people) or email (which can take a while for a response to come back). Live chat can gain you plenty of interesting feedback you never knew about before.

Over Deliver

How about sending a small free gift out? – a complete surprise. This is great for encouraging return customers. This is a great way to get rid of excess stock you don’t need at the same time as gaining customers for life. Remember how much it cost to get that customer in the first place?

No unwanted surprises

Make sure you don’t have any unpleasant surprises for your potential new customer. For example, if they get to the checkout only to be informed there is an £8 delivery charge on a £5 order, they won’t be coming back, that’s for sure.
What about completing your order only to find one of the items is out of stock, will be back ordered and delivered in 6 weeks. Think this customer will be coming back? They won’t be.

Conclusion

It cost a lot for you to get this person on your website. The first step is to turn them into a buyer. Successful e-commerce companies keep those customers for life.