Growing your business requires retaining the customers you have while finding new ones. Repeat sales are like e-commerce gold. Once you find people who love your products enough to order them, you can encourage them to come back and buy again.
In a recent report by eMarketer, researchers found just under 30% of people said they’d had such a bad customer experience (CX) that they would never do business with the company again. Although the majority hadn’t experienced such horrific customer support that they’d leave a brand, losing even 30% of your customer base hurts.
Any changes to your e-commerce store must start with excellent CX. Once you’ve perfected your service and the functionality of your site, here are a few additional things to drive repeat business.
1. Offer Discounts
When someone places an order for the first time through your site, send them a follow-up email offering 10% off on their next order. Make sure you implement a process where you have a happy customer before you ask them to purchase more from you.
The discount should arrive after they’ve received their order and you’ve completed any after-close emails. If there’s a problem with the order, fix it immediately. Then, offer them a discount to order again.
2. Simplify Checkout
People are busy. They don’t have time to endlessly input credit card information and other details. Give users the option to store payment information and they’re much more likely to place a subsequent order on your site.
They may also feel more secure placing an order in public as they won’t have to pull out a credit card and punch in numbers or risk someone seeing sensitive password details as they punch them in.
3. Engage
Take the time to engage your users. Ask for a review. Offer a discount for a photo included in a review to encourage them toward repeat sales.
Give them points for doing different activities, such as signing up for the newsletter, following you on social media or telling their family and friends about your site. The more invested they are, the more likely they’ll return to check out your new arrivals.
4. Segment
Take the time to segment your audience by interest, especially if you sell a number of different product categories. When you send out emails, you can let those most interested in the new product or special know without bombarding those not into that topic.
Don’t make every email about selling them something. Come up with follow-up emails letting them know a few tips for using their purchase, for example. Let them know you care about them as a customer and they’re much more likely to become your fan and buy from you again.
Make Your Site Customer-Centric
The more customer-focused you make your e-commerce site, the more likely people will bookmark your page and return. Discounts and emails only go so far. Consumers must come to trust you to provide them with a quality product at a great price.
Show your audience you stand behind what you do and will make any problems right. Once your clients trust you, they’re more likely to buy from you a second time and on. Keep the customers you have and bring in new ones at the same time, and you’ll grow into a flourishing business.
