What are the Benefits of Customer Loyalty in Ecommerce?

It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, customer loyalty is the name of the game. While acquiring new customers will always be important for future growth, customer loyalty should always remain your top priority. With new customers, you are starting from scratch and today’s ecommerce customers are bombarded with information and countless offers. Customer acquisition requires more than just blog posts and email campaigns. It requires you to invest time and money and that investment will primarily go into marketing. By turning your focus to your current customers, you can save money and time. It is an effective strategy for better profitability because your existing customers understand you and your business well to make repeat purchases. As a result, you get to know the well, too.

Besides having a great product and delivering amazing customer service, it’s important to reward your customers for their loyalty. Your happy and satisfied clients are a valuable asset to your online business so it’s crucial to nurture existing customer relationships. Your long-term eCommerce customers provide you with a chance to improve your products and services, create more personalized content, and get client referrals. What’s more, you can motivate your loyal customers to become your brand advocates as they are an important part of your social media marketing campaign. This can help you generate word-of-mouth marketing.

But how do you keep your customers engaged? What is customer loyalty in e-commerce? Why customer loyalty is so important? This blog post is going to show you the value of investing in loyal customers.

What is Customer Loyalty in E-commerce?

Before we begin, let’s start with the definition of ecommerce customer loyalty. What is it? Well, it’s easy and self-explanatory. It’s a consumer’s willingness and desire to repeatedly buy your products or services from your eCommerce store for a long period of time. By giving a continuous positive customer experience and high-quality products, your current customer is more likely to continue to do business with you. Customer loyalty shows how happy and satisfied your customers are with you and your brand. How do you identify a loyal customer?

Well, there are several characteristics to help you define one:

• He/she doesn’t consider cost an issue
• They don’t search for other suppliers
• They are more than eager to give reviews or testimonials
• They are more than willing to recommend your brand to others
• They trust you no matter what issue occurs
• They will provide feedback and suggestions for the improvement of your business

What makes loyal shoppers so special is that they are not easily influenced by pricing or availability of other products and services.

Customer loyalty is what drives repeat purchases and builds brand awareness. It’s what makes them choose you over your competitors. The more loyal they are the more they will purchase from you and recommend you to their friends, family members, colleagues, etc.

Loyal customers are more sympathetic when a problem arises because they know you’ll notify them about your website’s outrage through email or social media. They know that you will do anything and everything to solve the problem.

Loyal customers are an important part of your company’s success and they do bring a lot to the table.

Customer loyalty is a necessary condition for growing a successful eCommerce business in today’s highly competitive world. You need to encourage your customers to be loyal and you should give them something in return for their trust and commitment. If you want your current clients to keep buying from you, a customer loyalty program can help.

One of the best customer loyalty program examples is Starbucks. They’ve created an app that offers a perfect loyalty program. The Starbucks Rewards App is extremely user-friendly and their program is easy to understand. They reward you for buying their coffee and other products. A distinctive feature of this loyalty rewards program is that you must order and pay through the Starbucks app to earn points (stars). As you earn more stars, you can redeem them for free Starbucks Coffee, food, and even merchandise. You can start redeeming with 25 stars and you can order from your smartphone.

Benefits of Customer Loyalty in Ecommerce

Customer loyalty is a necessary condition for growing a successful ecommerce business in today’s highly competitive world.

So what are the benefits of customer loyalty for ecommerce merchants?

• Loyal customers will boost your revenue
• Customer loyalty can reduce the customer churn rate
• You can transform your loyal customers into your brand advocates

Let’s explore why maintaining your current clientele is just as crucial to your company’s success as attracting new ones.

Loyal Customers Will Boost Your Revenue

Happy and satisfied customers are more likely to purchase more in the long run than new customers who are not familiar with your brand and it’s not just a theory. The numbers are there to back it up.

Loyal profitable customers are often happy with their current arrangements and you can rely on them to choose your eCommerce business over the competition. They will buy from you steadily even if there’s a cheaper alternative.

But it takes more than just keeping customers happy to earn a customer’s loyalty. You need to deliver consistently great customer service and you should have a deep knowledge of your products and services. And as we’ve told you before, you need to reward your customers for staying with you.

With the right app for customer loyalty, you will ensure these customers always return to you. With a loyalty app, it’s easy to integrate loyalty programs into your store’s website. Customer loyalty programs are long-term retention strategies and they are now a vital component of the modern customer experience.

If you run a Shopify store, Growave is one of the best Shopify loyalty apps you can find in the eCommerce market. It allows you to build an effective loyalty program that motivates your customers to make repeat purchases. You can create a points program and rewards your current customers with discounts, free products, free shipping, etc. You can also create unlimited VIP tiers and incentivize your loyal clients to collect more points by buying your products and services, but that’s not all. You can let your loyal shoppers promote your brand with a referral program. Besides being a good loyalty program app, Growave has other essential features such as reviews, Instagram, and wishlists. You get 4 apps for the fraction of the price.

Your sales will surely increase when your clients are on your side. You need to take your retention marketing strategy seriously if you want to increase your revenue and drive more referrals.

Customer Loyalty Can Reduce the Customer Churn Rate

Creating an environment where your clients feel loyal to you and your brand is a working strategy to reduce customer churn rates. Also known as customer attrition, customer churn rate can be defined as the percentage of people who discontinue doing business with you over a certain period of time. It is an important metric when it comes to customer retention. It shows that a high number of customers no longer want to buy products and services from you.

Customers’ decisions to choose one business over another are influenced by the quality, price, and customer service. By creating and implementing an effective loyal strategy, you should focus on your most valuable customers because those are the customers that bring you profit. Give them incentives like free shipping, free products, free month of service, discounts, etc. This way you can communicate with them better, understand their needs, build strong long-lasting relationships and improve customer experience. A great customer experience can enhance your customer trust and there’s no loyalty without trust. Earning and keeping their trust is the key to success. Don’t just say you care about them, prove it. Support them. You should always keep your customers engaged and informed. Sending too many emails can be a bad thing for your business. You don’t want to spam your customers. Make sure that you listen to your customer’s complaints. You can use them to your advantage and improve your products and services.

It’s also important to mention that poor customer service is a common reason for customer churn.

Consistency in customer service is the key to customer loyalty. By going above and beyond for your loyal customers you can significantly lower your churn rate. That’s why your customer loyalty should be a top priority for your online business.

You Can Transform your Loyal Customers into Brand Advocates

Putting your customer at the center of your business is key to achieving customer loyalty. When you make their experience with your brand unique and enjoyable you transform your current customers into loyal ones. A loyal customer is one who is so happy and engaged with you and your brand that he is willing to recommend your business to potential customers.

For example, my friend loves Apple’s production so much that he keeps telling everyone how good it is. He buys every product they sell from iPhones to AirPods. It shouldn't come as surprise as people from all over the world prefer Apple devices over other brands because they are highly reliable and functional. If you are an Apple user, there’s a high possibility that you will buy their products again. Apple has set such high standards that it’s hard to compete with them. The company’s customers are famous for their loyalty. They don’t just purchase their products, they become their brand advocates. They defend the brand they love. Isn’t it great?

It’s no surprise that we trust our friends and family members more than we trust brands. Loyal shoppers will promote your eCommerce store for free and persuade others that it is the best place to buy products and services. They can help you attract new customers to your online business. To top it off, your brand ambassadors won’t cost you a penny. These days anyone with a computer, tablet, or smartphone can be your brand ambassador because social media is such a powerful referral tool. The ability to develop brand supporters and brand advocates is a crucial element in your company’s success.

Conclusion

Despite a high level of competition, few companies understand the value of customer retention. Your loyal customers can increase your revenue and they can benefit your business in the long run. Moreover, you can improve your word-of-mouth marketing. But don’t take your customer’s loyalty for granted. They are your best customers. Without them, you won’t succeed. If you want to make them feel appreciated and keep them coming back for more, make sure you implement a customer loyalty program. Work on your customer service and make sure that there’s enough communication between you and your customers.