7 Ways to Create Customer Loyalty for Online Business

Customer loyalty is one of the most important factors to guarantee the success of a business. More and more brands are following this trend to boost sales and create a strong bond with consumers. Most of the eCommerce stores are currently implementing at least one loyalty program or customer engagement policy.

Thousands of online brands are trying to stand out from the crowd and attract customers to be a part of the business. Today, let us tell you the 7 best ways to make customer loyalty come true!

Why do you need to create customer loyalty?

Keep customers interact with the brands regularly

In terms of customers, every store owners put their minds into two steps: Customer acquisition and retention. According to research, 80% of your future revenue comes from 20% of current buyers. So it’s obvious to try your best to keep customers engage with your brand.

And what is a better way than creating customer loyalty?

An effective loyalty program makes customers believe in your business and keep coming back for the next purchase and at the same time, attracting new visitors to know more about your loyalty policies and benefits.

Save a huge amount of resources

It’s estimated that the cost to acquire a newcomer is 5 times higher than retaining an existing customer. So it’s a smart tactic to optimize customer loyalty to save your resources. 

create customer loyalty: save resources

With the help of amazing tools for loyalty programs right now, you can save lots of human resources in bringing the best customer services. Besides, with satisfied customers, they can recommend your business to family and friends. Words of mouth are very powerful and you can reduce the marketing cost.

Analyze customers’ behaviors

Store owners can understand and classify customers and products based on how they use loyalty programs. They can answer decisive questions like how buyers use the rewards, what products are favorite, what style is trending at the moment, etc. This valuable information can help retailers build a suitable strategy for the development of the store.

create customer loyalty: understand buyers

Loyal customers can also provide honest feedback about the products and services of the business. These comments will point out the flaws in the process of the store so merchants can quickly handle the issues and elevate their qualities.

Improve brand image

Building your own customers will bring your brand image to more and more consumers, especially those looking for your kind of products. People may see your store as a reliable place for shopping since the services have satisfied many consumers. 

With the help of loyalty programs and social media, loyal buyers can promote your reputation easily. Your unique customer loyalty characteristics will differentiate you from hundreds of competitors as well as gain massive trust among shoppers.

Boost sales easily with a higher chance of successful transactions

The ultimate goal of any business is selling products and making profits. However, online stores are facing a huge problem of low conversion rate: People see the item and then exit the page. With loyalty programs, this issue will disappear!

create customer loyalty: boost sales

Customers can buy more but pay less when they redeem the rewards or use discount codes for membership. This will definitely encourage people to shop and explore more about your store.

Loyal customers are more likely to buy up-sell and cross-sell items as they have gained trust with your store. Retailers can also make these products a part of discount programs to boost sales.

7 ways to create customer loyalty for online business

1. Use points loyalty program

Loyalty programs are becoming popular among store owners to create customer loyalty since there is a wide range of methods for them to choose from.

However, the points loyalty program is the most famous one. This policy gives points for customers on different occasions such as purchasing particular products, writing reviews, sharing on social networks or referring friends and family. Buyers can redeem these points to other benefits and use them next time.

create customer loyalty: points loyalty program

Giants in different industries are using points loyalty program to support their expansion. Take a look at Starbucks – the most famous coffee chain in the world. Their reward stars are the best example of an efficient loyalty program.

With the success of thousands of businesses, eCommerce stores are following this trend and integrating a points loyalty program into its system. For Magento users, Reward Points Magento 2 is the best choice to help you create a strong bond with buyers. 

2. Build an engaging community

It’s important to create a community of consumers who share the same interest so they can discuss and recommend other members while spreading the influence of your brands to potential buyers. 

Thanks to the booming of social networks and extensions, brands can communicate with customers easier. They can create groups to keep buyers update and find more suitable newcomers. It’s also simpler to follow actual feedback of customers since they have more platforms to contact your store.

3. Create special offers

This is a great way to say ‘Thank you’ to your customers and also encourage them to interact more with the brands. Discount codes, vouchers or coupons can push customers to quickly buy at your store before the offers expire. 

The repeated buying process will create a familiarity for customers so they always choose your store for future shopping. The special offers like free shipping also make shopping easy for buyers, so they will definitely come back for more.  

create customer loyalty: gift cards

4. Send customized emails

Customers love a personal journey as it proves that your store cares about their activities. Emails to remind an abandoned cart or a happy birthday card will make customers feel like a part of your business. It also constantly brings your brand images close to the customers, so they remember your name and visit your store. 

Email marketing is also proof of excellent customer services, which increases your position in the eCommerce market.

5. Take advantage of membership/VIP program

Membership creates an exclusive environment for loyal members since a member can have more advantages than normal consumers. To maintain the priority and reach a higher rank, members will continue to interact with your stores and directly contribute to the growth in sales and reputation of the brand.

With attractive terms and conditions, non-members also want to register for the program. With this rapid increase of new members, it’s sooner than you think to create customer loyalty effectively!  

6. Focus on social proofs

As we have mentioned, social media is playing a major role in setting the position of online stores in the consumer mind. It’s important to pay some attention to the customers’ reaction online about store-related issues. Their feedback helps retailers handle existing problems quickly and improve the performance of the whole team. 

create customer loyalty: Social network
Some common social network platforms

Answering customers’ questions and solving the problems quickly proves you are a trust-worthy business and it’s a smart choice for them to be loyal buyers

7. Deliver a satisfying service

Overall, all of the methods lead to satisfying customer service. All of the processes to take care of both future and current buyers will create customer loyalty easily.

Buyers will quickly turn their backs on your brand if they receive a poor performance from your team: 12 positive customer experiences equals just one negative experience while half of the buyers choose a competitor who can deliver a better experience according to their needs.

Therefore, being able to make customers happy will guarantee the success and sustainable development of your online brand within an intense battle of the eCommerce world. 

Make every moment last

It’s not an impossible task to create customer loyalty for the eCommerce business. With some effort, you can have your own customers who trust your brand and willingly to spread good words about your business. The powerful impacts of customer loyalty directly contribute to the long-term development of your store.

So don’t hesitate to apply our tips and create customer loyalty right from today!

Author
An eCommerce guru, Brian has 5 years of experience working in the field of Digital Commerce, helping brands leverage their sales and marketing channels. Brian is also a frequent writer at Magenest JSC, where he shares his insights into current eCommerce trends, best practices, tips & tricks.