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customer loyalty, customer rewards program, creative ways to increase retail sales, retain customers

5 Ways to Retain Customers and Encourage Loyalty

It’s a great day for business when new customers make a purchase, pay an invoice or sign a contract. After all that work to convert a lead to a customer, it may seem like the job is done. In reality, it’s just the beginning of a long-lasting relationship if you take the right steps. How do you delight and retain customers to turn them into loyal repeat buyers? Let’s take a look at five creative ways to increase retail sales, retain customers and encourage customer loyalty.

  1. Collect data and create segmentations at point of purchase (POP) to personalize future communication
  2. Start strong with a new customer email sequence
  3. Help customers to choose a product (and collect valuable data) with a quiz
  4. Incorporate opportunities for feedback
  5. Implement a customer loyalty rewards program

Creative ways to increase retail sales

There are many ways to engage with customers and encourage an ongoing relationship. Let’s start at the point of purchase to kickstart the relationship on a strong note.

1. Collect data and create segmentations at point of purchase (POP) to personalize future communication

Whether you’re selling online or in a retail setting, the first purchase is a critical moment to leave a lasting impression, earn customer loyalty and retain customers. First, for online sales, segment and tag your customer interactions based on the way they found you, their lifestyle, product choices, location, buyer stage, and much more with CRM software. Integration your website with a CRM and/or email marketing platform will allow you to collect data on consumer demographics that will be used throughout the retention strategy.

For retail shoppers, the best way to hold their attention and encourage repeat purchases is to collect their contact information. This can be done through a loyalty program offering, a scannable QR code promo, refer a friend or a discount on a future purchase with an email subscription.

2. Start strong with a new customer email sequence

Once you’ve segmented and collected purchase information, implement a timed and automated email sequence that welcomes and educates your customer further about your brand and offerings. This email sequence should be thoughtful and backed by a strategy to inform and educate, delight and wow, and give opportunities for feedback.

Then, review open rates and click-through data to iterate and improve the sequence. You’re more likely to increase brand awareness and earn customer loyalty by providing added value early and consistently.

3. Help customers choose a product (and collect valuable data) with a quiz

Whether it’s the first purchase or the 10th, a quiz is one of many creative ways to increase retail sales and can be a valuable tool for customers and businesses alike (check out our website quiz). When structured well, quizzes are a gamified way to collect your customer’s geographic, demographic, psychographic and/or behavioral data (perfect for segmentation).

For customers, a quiz is a fun way to learn about new products and services based on their preferences — instead of feeling targeted by one-size-fits-all advertising.

4. Incorporate opportunities for feedback

If you want to delight and retain customers, encourage two-way communication. This allows your customers to feel heard and allows your business to fine-tune products or services and collect qualitative customer insights:

  • place a link to a survey in email sequences following a purchase
  • utilize a QR code on a product tag, receipt or purchase order
  • encourage product reviews on your website
  • request reviews on google, yelp or another platform

Whichever method you choose, collect the feedback in a centralized location, regularly review the feedback, and communicate the changes or innovations with your customers.

5. Implement a customer loyalty program

One of our favorite creative ways to increase retail sales and nurture the relationship between customer and business is to offer a customer rewards program. Customer rewards programs or loyalty programs can integrate with your website and ecommerce platform to provide tiered rewards based on cart size, average order value (AOV), specific product preferences and more. The data from sales can inform future reward promotions, suggested offerings and frequency of contact.

Make educated decisions with data

What do all of these strategies have in common? Data collection, analysis and utilization. If you’re collecting data, you’re already a step ahead. If said data goes untouched and doesn’t inform decisions, the data is useless.

Whether you’ve hired a team of marketers or have a talented skeleton crew, make data analysis a regular part of your customer retention strategy. When you understand your consumers deeper, you can cater to their needs — encouraging customer loyalty and improving the rate of repeat purchases.

If you’re ready to implement one or all of these tactics, CTMH Group can lend a helping hand. Our no-cost consultation is a great way to determine the appropriate next steps for your business. We can’t wait to help you succeed in 2023.

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