Why is customer loyalty important?
Customer loyalty is important for retailers and brands because it ensures them a recurring customer. Loyal customers aren’t easily influenced by price or availability because they trust your products and services. Achieving customer loyalty will result in higher profits because of repeat purchases.
Nevertheless, customer loyalty has changed dramatically. Due to the pandemic, consumers have discovered new retailers and brands and turned to these new options when needed. Many retailers and brands reacted quickly and offered solutions for their trusted customers, providing new forms of shopping through different channels. To build loyalty and trust, you must deliver experiences that your customers expect and be consistent with them.
Retaining customers and increasing customer loyalty is a challenge that retailers are facing. To stay top of mind and keep customers happy we have created a list of 6 tips on how you can build customer loyalty.
1. Implement an omnichannel strategy
Retail disruption has led customers to plan and shop through countless channels. As consumers embrace digital channels faster than ever, retailers must be able to deliver their offerings through these channels promptly. Developing an omnichannel strategy should be a primary focus for retailers nowadays.
Implementing an omnichannel strategy will help retailers increase their reach and capture a larger number of customers. Through channels that were not considered indispensable before such as e-commerce, apps, or drive-to-store platforms, retailers can ensure that they are present throughout the customer journey.
Consumers are now constantly online, watching videos, searching for offers, looking at reviews, etc. According to Google, 60% of consumers have discovered their favorite brand while doing one of these actions. That is why retailers need to be present throughout the shopping journey, across various touchpoints.
2. Personalisation is key
Creating a personalized shopping experience will help retailers win customer loyalty. According to Google and BCG, “40% of consumers are more likely to spend more than planned when experiences are highly personalized”. Personalization when done right, is a great opportunity for retailers to capture the consumer’s attention and retain them.
Consumers are expecting personalised experiences and offers. Retailers need to be ready to satisfy the customer’s demand for hyper-personalisation and deliver tailored experiences. Personalisation can help retailers increase their profits. When a consumer receives a personalised ad related to their wants and needs, they are more likely to buy the product or service.
Understanding your consumer is becoming more complicated, yet more important than ever. Digital metrics provide retailers with valuable insights about their consumers. Using these insights to personalise their experiences to meet new consumer standards, will be key to increase customer loyalty.
3. Sustainable solutions for an eco-friendly consumer
The concern towards sustainability is growing rapidly. Current consumer behavior is urging companies to reinvent themselves. Many companies are taking action and adopting new technologies that reduce their environmental impact. One example is IKEA ceasing the print of its iconic catalog. Their emblematical catalog was distributed around the world and people loved reading it. But the changes in consumer behavior led to them deciding to stop its printing.
Consumer behavior is changing towards a more eco-friendly approach. The pandemic has revealed the necessity of implementing greener solutions and has shown consumers more worried and aware about what retailers and brands are doing regarding the environment.
Retailers must have an eco-friendly approach and search for new and innovative ways to reduce their environmental impact. By doing so, they will increase customer loyalty and gain a larger consumer share.
4. Deliver an outstanding user experience
Retailers must not only have an omnichannel presence, but they must provide seamless and frictionless experiences across all these channels. When we think about the new consumer, we know that they use more than one device to shop. The consumer can search for the retailer’s products online using their mobile phones, desktop, tablets, apps. It is crucial to provide an outstanding user experience throughout all of these devices.
Interactive content helps generate this outstanding user experience. It will allow retailers to connect with their consumers and increase conversion. Interactive content can simplify your consumer’s shopping journey by providing them with the necessary tools to make a purchase. Your digital content must present clear CTAs and functionalities that invite both online and offline purchases.
A digital catalog is a great example of interactive content. Retailers can add relevant information to guide the purchasing process such as store map and information, detailed product information and several images per product.
Consumers are becoming more demanding, they are looking for new ways to interact with brands and retailers. Engaging with consumers through interactive content will increase customer loyalty.
5. Offer new forms of shopping
The future of retail is based on providing consumers with options. The retail landscape is evolving every day. New forms of shopping have emerged in the past year due to the pandemic, forcing retailers to adapt. Consumers will most likely buy from retailers that offer them different purchasing options.
Even though it is not certain that these new forms of shopping will stick for the long run, consumers are embracing and enjoying them at the moment. Providing your consumers with options like at-home delivery and in-store pickup is essential for increasing customer loyalty. It satisfies their expectations and their needs, making them consider you for the next time they shop.
6. Include visually rich content
Making your content visually appealing will attract more customers to your digital channels. Using clear images or videos in your content will enhance the consumer experience and will make it more enjoyable.
As consumers invest more time in the digital world, the need for creating engaging and visually attractive content will continue to grow. Your products and promotions should capture the consumer’s interest just by looking at them. Retailers need to enhance their promotional content with appealing designs that lure consumers to purchase.
