4 Ways to Turn One-time Shoppers into Repeat Customers
Did you know that marketing to previous customers is far more cost-effective than trying to sell your brand to someone new? Customers who are loyal to your company spend more on your products and services over time than one-time shoppers – this is just logic. But they’re also your most prominent ambassadors. Whether through reviews or word-of-mouth marketing, they bring in more customers and thus more sales. This makes them far more valuable than any individual purchase. But how do you turn one-time shoppers into repeat customers? There’s no one correct way to make everyone who shops with you once do it again. However, there are certain strategies you can employ to improve your chances of building a loyal customer base.
How to turn one-time shoppers into repeat customers?
There is no button to press or magic wand to wave to inspire people to shop with you regularly. Instead, you’ll need to develop and employ a plan that spans several aspects of your business, including sales and marketing strategies, website design and functionality, the catalog of goods and services you offer, and more.
#1: Provide them with a good shopping experience
We all know that first impressions matter. And the first impression that your customers get of your business is their first shopping experience with you. If that goes poorly, they’re understandably unlikely to come back. So don’t let a poorly designed website and bad customer service be the downfall of your business when these are things you can quickly fix!
Caption: If your customers get frustrated with the shopping process, they probably won’t give it another shot.
Alt-tag: Man frowning at a laptop.
If you sell things in brick and mortar stores, first make sure that the space you’re renting is big enough – people need to be able to move around it easily. Then, think about the design of the store. It should be functional, easy to navigate, and visually engaging. Finally, your choice of staff will be fundamental in retail stores. You want them to be friendly and knowledgeable but not overbearing.
If you do most of your business online, you must have a functional website. It needs to load fast but look good, as well as be secure, easy to navigate, and free of any glitches and bugs. It might not be easy to check that every page works flawlessly, especially when you have a big website. But you can probably rely on your customers to tell you that something is not working – just remember to read the reviews regularly. That’s the best way to find out what customers do and don’t like.
Offer good customer service
It’s impossible to provide absolutely everyone with the perfect shopping experience. The vast majority of customers will understand that mistakes happen sometimes. But when they do, how you react and deal with the consequences will stick out in the minds of customers. This is why good customer service is essential. It’s your second chance with a customer who’s experienced a problem with your company. Poor customer service will only convince them that your business is not worth their time, but excellent customer service can turn a potential disaster into a success.
#2: Meet them where they are
You want to make it convenient for your customers to shop with you. This means setting up your business where your customers are. With physical stores, it comes down to the right choice of location. But these days, we are shopping online more than ever. So if you don’t already offer your products and services online, now is the time to start. Luckily, with all the changes that are happening with WordPress to improve the platform, it’s never been easier to create a beautiful and user-friendly website. So set up a web store, focus on digital marketing, and meet your customers where they are – online.
Caption: With more people turning to the internet for shopping, online is where you need to be.
Alt-tag: Person holding a credit card above a laptop.
#3: Give them more than just products and services
Regardless of whether your business offers highly specialized products for a niche demographic or a wide variety of services, you are certainly not the only company on the market. So how do you stand out from the crowd and beat the competition? The first step, of course, is to do what they do but better. If your products or services are indeed the best on the market, you’ll probably attract many return customers purely based on the quality of what you’re offering.
However, the far more likely scenario is that it’ll be impossible to tell which company offers the best products and services in your industry. Instead, several businesses will offer similar quality of goods, and customers’ preferences will decide. But that is why you need to provide things others don’t. Your customers will appreciate that you have more to give than your competition and be more likely to come back. Some good ideas for that little bit extra are:
- gifts, coupons, freebies, contests, and other types of promotions
- support for a social cause and green business initiatives
- knowledge experts sharing useful tips with customers through blog posts, promotional videos, or social media
- frequent communication and engagement (especially on social media) that makes customers feel appreciated
#4: Implement a loyalty program
Promotions and sales are always an excellent way to attract customers. But if you want to encourage return shoppers specifically, what you need is a loyalty program. Loyalty programs usually work by offering customers a discount for shopping with you a certain number of times or for a certain amount of money. This encourages them to keep returning to your business and spend more on your products because they’ll get something in return.
Caption: A loyalty program will have people coming back to your business again and again.
Alt-tag: A Starbucks loyalty card that can turn one-time shoppers into repeat customers.
Why is it important to turn one-time shoppers into repeat customers?
In order to grow, every business needs to attract new customers. So why bother trying to turn one-time shoppers into repeat customers? The answer is simple – return customers are good for business. They typically spend more than one-time shoppers because they know and like what you’re selling and aren’t just trying to get a taste of it. When they become loyal to your brand, they’ll spread the word about your business too. That’s practically free marketing in the form of positive reviews and recommendations. So not only will they bring more revenue but more new customers as well.