51Ƶ

The 51Ƶ Blog>How to Build An Effective Customer Retention Strategy for Your Online Store

How to Build An Effective Customer Retention Strategy for Your Online Store

Posted by Gaurav Sharma

For ahyper-competitive industry like ecommerce, where thecost ofclicks andconversions isalways ontherise, attracting new customers isbecoming increasingly difficult. Not tomention costly.

Ontop ofall that, theCOVID-19crisis has changed consumer behavior forgood, creating new challenges andmaking theretention ofold customers not just amatter ofchoice but anecessity.

puts it, “the COVID-19crisis has shifted marketers” focus from customer acquisition tocustomer retention andgrowth.”

But even ifyou take thepandemic out oftheequation, acustomer retention strategy isessential forecommerce. Why isthat? Because recurring revenue from loyal customers can increase anecommerce company’s average total revenue byupto.

Additionally, aregular income stream from repeat purchases enables ecommerce businesses toplan their growth andresource allocation inamore effective way.

Think about it: when was thelast time you made efforts tore-engage your old customers, ortried tobuild brand loyalty? Don’t remember? Ifthat’s you, then itmight betime tostart implementing thetactics below toaccelerate your ecommerce customer retention strategy, andgrow your revenue along theway.

But first, let’s understand what customer retention actually means.

How tosell online
Tips from e-commerce experts forsmall business owners andaspiring entrepreneurs.
Please enter avalid email address

What IsCustomer Retention Rate?

Customer retention indicates how many customers remained loyal toyour business over aperiod oftime. Itisgenerally expressed interms ofacustomer retention rate (CRR) that iscalculated bythefollowing formula:

Customer retention rate =[(E— N)/B]*100

B=Customers atthebeginning ofatime period
E=Customers attheend ofthesame time period
N=New customers added during thetime period

The CRR varies byindustries. You can’t possibly compare theCRR ofabeauty brand with that ofagaming brand. The products are different, andsotherate atwhich customers repurchase from your store will vary drastically. So, compare your CRR against your , andifyour number doesn’t stack upwell, try some ofthetips below togrow it.

Tips forBuilding aGreat Ecommerce Customer Retention Strategy

Building afail-safe ecommerce customer retention strategy iseasy ifyou know theright tactics andtools. Solet’s take acloser look atsome.

Send Personalized Emails toCustomers

Personalization isthekey tostaying connected with your customers, andencouraging them torepurchase from you. You need tobuild apersonal connection with your customers through all theengagement channels atyour disposal. The most intuitive platform then, isthrough email.

ofnow, 53% ofGen Zers and49% ofmillennials feel they get “too many” emails from brands. Ifyou want tobreak away from that norm andcut through inbox noise, you need toharness thepower ofpersonalized emails.

Inapersonalized email, you tailor themessaging, timing, andtargeting according toeach recipient’s unique needs. This, inturn, helps attract more people toopen their emails, anddrive desired actions.

Want toknow thebest part? Your customers already have some level oftrust inyour ecommerce company. Ifyou make them feel special through exclusive deals andtailored content, you can push them torepurchase more easily than random, first-time visitors.

And ifyou’re able toprovide better services tothem, you can slowly with them andimprove your marketing ROI (return oninvestment).

So, goahead andadd apersonal touch toyour emails.

But how? Some ideas foryou tomix andmatch:

Need anexample?

Groove uses behavioral data from subscribers tosegment their email list andsmooth out their onboarding experience. Subscribers who’ve signed upforGroove’s newsletter but have been unresponsive since then get emails like this from Groove:

Image via

The email copy andCTA are focused ongauging user sentiment through customer support.

But subscribers who regularly engage with Groove’s emails get product demos andusage tips intheir emails, with theaim ofkeeping them satisfied, engaged with, andloyal tothebrand.

Such hyper-targeted emails are bound toimprove customer engagement andretention. And even more than that, personalized emails also need tobeperfectly timed tomatch aconsumer’s moment ofneed.

For example, acustomer who wishlisted aproduct can convert quickly ifthey are sent anattractive discount coupon forthat item. Similarly, avisitor who isspending alot oftime browsing one product category may purchase something ifthey get afriendly email with product recommendations from that category.

But how can you recognize opportune times forsending personalized emails? You can’t watch every customer’s movement through your site individually, but you can keep tabs ontheir actions asasegment. Based onthat, you can create .

These are synced with your website, CRM system, andsales tools sothat they can trigger automatically when auser performs aparticular action (subscribes, completes thefirst transaction, abandons cart, confirms anorder, requests areturn, etc.).

Byputting your email workflows onauto-pilot, you never miss aconversion opportunity, which iswhat agood customer retention strategy isall about.

Want ashortcut? Ifyou sell online with 51Ƶ, you can enable automated marketing emails inyour store. These are tailored emails sent toyour customers when they complete certain actions inyour store, like adding anew product totheir favorites ormaking two orders.

The best part isthat you don’t have towrite anemail copy, create andsend emails, orsegment your customers manually. You just enable automated emails andspecify ifyou’d like toadd adiscount coupon tothem. The emails will besent out automatically reaching theright person atjust theright time andkeeping your customers engaged.

The “Come Back forBestsellers” email brings back inactive buyers: itissent out tocustomers six months after their last order

Provide theOption ofCreating Customer Accounts

Customer accounts can boost your customer retention strategy inabig way.

Customers get one-click access totheir order histories, which allows them tomake repeat purchases, request returns, andcheck order statuses, with ease. They can also quickly access their favourite products, special member discounts, andinvoices.

The result? Bytaking thepain out ofonline shopping, you put customers instantly atease. You encourage them toreturn toyour store again after providing them with apleasant shopping experience.

When used strategically, this tactic can streamline most ofyour ecommerce metrics from sales tochurn rate andbeyond.

However, there isacatch: creating acustomer account may beconsidered quite abig commitment byfirst-time customers, who don’t want todivulge their details toabrand they’ve just met. Ifgiven theoption, they would prefer tocheck out asguests rather than fill out detailed contact forms.

But since customer accounts have such animpact onyour customer retention strategy, itwould beablunder toneglect them.

The solution? There are two, actually.

First: Give your first-time shoppers anoption tocreate anaccount, but only after they’ve placed thefirst order. Intheir order confirmation email, you can send them adirect invite toactivate their account. That should dothetrick.

The second andeasier option isto. For example, ifyou have an51Ƶ store, itcan automatically create acustomer account forthebuyer’s email address after they place anorder.

Your customers can log into their accounts atanytime through their personal sign-in link sent totheir inbox. This isconvenient, asshoppers don’t need toremember anypasswords tohave access totheir account. Plus, thelogin bysign-in link isamore secure way oflogin than using apassword.

After customers click theMyAccount link inan51Ƶ store, thesign-in link issent totheir email

Provide Stellar Customer Support

You can’t retain customers ifyou don’t serve them efficiently before, during, andafter thesale. Proactive customer support will fuel your ecommerce customer retention strategy inmore ways than one.

Like what?

When you are available foryour customers 24×7, you provide them with agreat customer experience (CX), which fosters brand loyalty. Not only that, but customers are often willing topay apremium ofupto16% inreturn forgood CX.

Custoers are willing topay higher forgood CX(Image via )

Ifthis sounds like agood thing, it’s because itis.

Sometimes, competent andprompt customer service istheonly thing required toconvert adissatisfied, angry customer into ahappy one.

You can make your ecommerce website aone-stop solution forall your customer needs byincorporating achatbot orlive chat software solution into it. Using this bot, you can teach new customers about correct product usage, solve queries about site navigation, provide shipping updates, andhelp with whatever else might come uponthefly.

Ifyou sell with 51Ƶ, you can set upaFacebook Messenger live chat inyour store toanswer shoppers’ questions promptly. It’s simple touse andall conversations are saved inFacebook Messenger’s inbox. This ishandy ifacustomer asks you aquestion when you’re offline: themessage will pop uponce you’re back online soyou won’t miss it.

Inalive chat, you can help customers tochoose aproduct ortell them about special offers inyour store

we’ve said before, old customers are like equity forabusiness. Among other things, giving them priority customer support can help cement their loyalty. One way ofdoing that isbypushing their service requests higher upinthequeue using .

This way, you enhance your customers’ overall shopping experience, which, inturn, boosts your customer retention strategy.

Harness thePower ofRetargeting Ads

Your ecommerce customer retention strategy will get abig boost ifyou leverage retargeting ads correctly.

Retargeting ads promote products, deals, orservices that auser recently browsed, shopped, orexpressed interest in. They are more effective than regular ads that are prone to“banner ԻԱ—a human tendency toignore banners unless they carry recognizable content.

Just like personalized emails, retargeting ads are also tailored toeach user’s needs andinterests, andthat’s why they have animmense conversion potential.

Tocreate retargeting ads that feed your customer retention strategy, you will have to:

Add information about special offers toyour retargeting ads toencourage customers tobuy

Ifyou’re an51Ƶ seller, you can set upretargeting campaigns onFacebook inminutes with . Itsimplifies theprocess ofsetting upyour campaign sothat you can convert window shoppers into paying customers with ease.

Ready toCreate anEcommerce Customer Retention Strategy?

you can see, forecommerce brands, acustomer retention strategy isnon-negotiable.

Ifyou’re still not inspired toformulate acustomer retention strategy foryour ecommerce company, here’s aparting thought:

Not having acustomer retention strategy means your ecommerce brand misses out onmajor cost savings, referral traffic, repeat purchases, andother customer loyalty benefits.

Are you looking formore ecommerce-related sales ormarketing tips?

About The Author
Gaurav Sharma is the founder and CEO of , a results-driven digital marketing company. Grew an agency from 5-figure to 7-figure revenue in just two years | 10X leads | 2.8X conversions | 300K organic monthly traffic. He also contributes to top publications like HuffPost, Adweek, Business 2 Community, TechCrunch, and more. Social connects: & .

Start selling on your website