As the name suggests, customer retention refers to the practices implemented to keep existing customers for your e-commerce business. To retain customers, you must follow several strategies that will increase your repeat customer base as well as the profits they generate.

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What is Customer Retention?

Customer retention strategies always work together. By using them, you value customers who have already purchased products from your online store, and in return, they provide you with added value.

The value they generate takes the form of a certain loyalty to your brand, and also includes the profits generated by repeat customers who contribute to the long-term growth of your business.

As an established e-commerce business, you need to focus on your customer retention strategies. Since the public already knows your company and its services, acquiring new customers should not be a problem.

Keep in mind that acquiring new customers is just as important as retention, even for established businesses. However, for your store to grow, you need customers who will stick with you and continue to make purchases, even if it is not their first time doing business with you.

The Value of Loyalty and Customer Retention

As mentioned earlier, a loyal customer base will lead to more profits for your business. Once they have been with you for a long time, they will trust your services enough to know the true value of what your store has to offer.

In the same way, you will better understand what your customers want, thereby increasing their satisfaction. In other words, use your customers to increase your referrals.

Since they will know you inside and out, they will share your brand with their circle of friends. This way, you will acquire new customers who will later become loyal clients.

In conclusion, effective customer loyalty strategies help your business become increasingly profitable once established.

What Is the Ideal Conversion Rate for an E-commerce Business?

The conversion rate on an e-commerce site is the percentage of customers who have completed an action that generates value.

For example, if your page has 10,000 visitors per month, and only 2,000 of them made a purchase, your conversion rate for that month would be:

2,000 customers/10,000 visitors = 20% conversion rate

Similarly, calculate the macro-conversion rate of your e-commerce business by dividing the total number of orders (or sales) for the entire website by the number of people who only viewed product pages.

For example, out of the 10,000 people who visited your site this month, 5,000 of them visited a product page. Your macro-conversion rate is therefore:

2,000 customers/5,000 product page views = 40% macro-conversion rate

On the other hand, if you want to calculate the micro-conversion rate of your site, simply divide the number of people who added products to their cart by the number of people who visited product pages.

For example, out of the 5,000 people who viewed your product pages, 300 people purchased the product. Therefore, the calculation for your site's micro-conversion rate is:

300 purchases / 2,000 customers = 15% micro-conversion rate

The ideal e-commerce conversion rate is above 10%. The average for most businesses is around 11%. If your conversion rate exceeds the 10% benchmark, it means your business is in the top 10% of global advertisers.

SMS Customer Loyalty Strategies

1. Ask Your Customers for Feedback

The best way to know what your customers want is quite simply to ask them. This strategy is also more effective than making assumptions based on their preferences and past purchases.

In addition to giving you a better idea of what to do, asking customers for their opinions and ideas makes them feel valued. As customers, we all like to know that our preferences are being taken into account.

We often shop at stores where the staff is friendly and always ready to help. At this point, we assume you know what we mean. In addition to asking for their feedback, you need to improve your customer service to retain customers for your e-commerce business.

Hi Anna, you recently contacted us regarding an issue with your account. How would you rate our customer service? Is there anything you would like to share with us?

Studies and surveys have shown that 47% of customers are happy to recommend a company if they have a good customer service experience. On the other hand, even after a bad customer service experience, 32% of customers are willing to walk away from a brand they once loved.

To facilitate communication and improve your customer service, rent a virtual phone number from us. It will allow you to call and send SMS to any number in the world.

2. Allow Your Customers to Create an Account

Allowing customers to create an account on your e-commerce site lets them save their previous orders and place new ones quickly.

However, many customers often prefer to order as a Guest, as they do not want to commit long-term.

If you have customers like this, offer them the option to create an account only after they have purchased a product and verified its quality.

To encourage them to take the next step, offer discounts for creating an account and for their first order. You can let them know about this via SMS once the product has been received.

Octopush SMS Service allows you to send bulk SMS to over 196 countries at an affordable price. Plus, you can schedule your messages in advance and send them only when launching a new campaign.

This way, you no longer have to worry about the endless stream of messages you need to send, and your subscribers will stay up to date with your news at all times.

You can also choose our voice SMS service to convert all your messages into audio recordings, which will help you stand out from the crowd.

Additionally, you can create transactional SMS to integrate into your Octopush account. We also offer SMS tokens to enhance security and privacy.

3. Send Offers via SMS

If you have loyal customers who have suddenly stopped purchasing regularly from your site, send them a message with an offer that might interest them.

This shows them that you care and are thinking of them, even when they are no longer buying from you. We suggest sending personalized messages, which have more impact on buyer psychology than generic ones.

In your SMS, include a link that redirects the reader to your offer page, or simply to the landing page of your website.

Subscribe to our SMS service today! It allows recipients to reply to your SMS in real time if they are interested.

Hi Thomas, Cool Dudes wishes you a happy birthday! We’ve prepared a little gift for you; it’s waiting for you at our shop, so come claim it here https://cooldudesshop.com/fHi7ow

Thanks to our HLR Lookup software, you can determine which of your customers' phone numbers are still in use before sending them promotional messages. This way, you won't waste time reviewing every single number and spending a fortune sending SMS to inactive numbers.

In the same vein, offer a loyalty program to your customers. Just as you can offer a reward for a first purchase, encourage them to buy more products in exchange for discount coupons or special deals.

You can also offer them a small gift after every purchase, or provide a discount on all products once they reach a specific spending threshold.

4. Send Rewards to Your VIPs Using Trackable Links

Your VIPs are your most loyal customers, the ones who stick with you through thick and thin. Securing their place on your customer list should be your top priority. We suggest adding them to a separate, dedicated list.

To keep them engaged, send them random gifts or surprise packages. If corporate gifting isn't your thing, create exclusive offers just for them, or credit-based discounts that they can only access by clicking a link sent via SMS.

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All these strategies will make them feel special, sincethey will know you haven't forgotten them as your store has grown in popularity. Even if you don't like the idea of spending extra money on VIPs, we believe it is a sound investment.

The small amount you spend to make them happy will bring more profit to your business. If they are influencers, even better: they will bring in new customers.

Worried about how to reach an international audience? Rent a virtual phone number on Octopush to send promotional SMS to your customers, no matter where they are in the world!

Final Thoughts

A loyal, satisfied customer is worth a thousand times more to a business than a new customer who won't make a second purchase. Of course, this doesn't mean you should stop trying to acquire new customers.

When running an e-commerce business, even one that is already established, you must find the balance between acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones.

Don't forget to always personalize the offers or gifts sent to your VIP customers. You can guess what they like based on their purchase history in your store.