Improving Customer Retention for Your Shopify Store

Cold traffic doesn’t always convert. See how improving your customer retention can be the most beneficial way of increasing sales.

How You Can Improve Your Shopify Store’s Customer Retention

The hardest part of e-commerce transactions is to convince a customer to make that purchase at all. However, once a customer has shopped at your store, they’re far more likely to repurchase from you again. Knowing that, it only makes sense to put the focus on customers who are engaging in re-purchases as opposed to driving cold sales. How to do this? It’s actually quite simple! Read on to see our top tips for improving customer retention.

Tips for Improving Customer Retention

Improving your customer retention doesn’t have to be difficult, and implementing just a few new features can greatly affect your sales. Of course, these tips work best when the rest of your business model is already sound. Don’t forget to put quality products, impressive customer service, and a memorable customer experience first. Once those are in place, you can add on the features that will bring your brand to the next level.

Feature Subscriptions

Subscriptions generally refer to a bulk purchase where customers buy several months’ worth of a product and receive said product at their door at a regular interval. You’ll see them most often in the form of, “Sign up for a one year subscription, and get one bottle free!” or similar.

Subscriptions are a great way to encourage customers to make bigger purchases. They also help establish your product as part of the consumer’s daily life, as they’ll receive more of it each month. Both of these facets increase consumer loyalty and positively impact your profits — even if one of the bulk items is “free.”

Establish a Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are a tried-and-true method of turning one-purchase customers into lifelong buyers. Loyalty programs motivate customers to shop more frequently and for more items by offering rewards. These programs are effective at helping customers feel special as they earn perks and discounts. Additionally, loyalty programs work even better if you have a convenient way for customers to track their points, such as an app.

Many other e-commerce resources will encourage you to offer a singular rewards point for every dollar spent. However, this advice may not always be the best. There are customers who will see 2000 rewards points and — instead of feeling enthusiastic about their reward — simply take away that they’ve spent $2000, and decide not to spend more. You may find that coming up with a more creative reward system captures all types of customers.

Offer Resources

Part of being the brand that consumers turn to is offering more than your products. We bring this up quite often, but selling a lifestyle over a product truly is the most effective way to hit your sales goals. Provide information in the form of marketing assets like emails, or as social media posts. If you sell backpacks great for outdoor trips, post about the best places to hike. If your Shopify store is packed with all-natural cosmetics, write blogs about the benefits of natural products and how to use yours.

The last thing a customer wants is to feel lost when purchasing a product. Offering resources in the form of information and lifestyle tips not only engages them, but shows off your expertise while getting customers excited about the products they’ve ordered.

Stay Relevant

In today’s political climate, it’s important to show consumers what your company values are, and how they align with the world’s state of affairs. Customers are conscious shoppers, and aim to support brands with similar values. While it’s always an option, it’s becoming less common for companies to stay silent on socio-political issues, natural disasters, and relief efforts. Finding a way to donate to notable, substantial causes gives customers a reason to choose you over the competitor — after all, their money is going to a good place.

Improve Retention With Radiant

As we mentioned above, all of these tips are great for improving customer retention so long as the rest of your Shopify store’s customer experience is flawless. Unfortunately, many stores add retention programs without first examining their site — which could often use some touch-ups! At Radiant, we work with business owners just like you on brand strategy, effective e-commerce site building, and marketing campaign assets. Through efforts driven by data, the sites we influence become those hitting higher and higher marketing goals. Whether your average order cart value isn’t where you’d like it to be or your site needs a visual overhaul entirely, our team of designers, developers, project managers, and content creators is ready to help you improve wherever necessary. Get in touch today to see how we can elevate your Shopify store, or view our portfolio to see our previous work!

Further Reading