Customer loyalty in the retail industry is one of the secrets to success. While attracting new customers is one essential aspect of retail, customer retention should never be overlooked. To maximise profits and boost sales, building a loyal customer base should be a top priority for any business. Here’s why!
Why is customer loyalty in the retail industry so important?
1. It’s easier to sell to existing customers
Improving customer loyalty in retail is critical for boosting sales. Did you know that existing customers are far more likely to make a purchase from your store? In fact, according to one survey, the likelihood of selling something to an existing customer is 60-70%, whereas this is as low as 5-20% in new customers!
2. Repeat customers spend more
What’s more, existing customers are also 50% more likely to try new products and spend 31% more than new customers.
Trust goes a long way in retail. A returning customer is familiar with your brand and trusts your products, so they’re far more inclined to add new things to their basket and spend confidently than a new customer you haven’t yet built trust with.
3. Loyal customers are good for growth
Because loyal customers are easier to sell to and spend more money, they’re vital for the growth of your business. The stats behind this speak for themselves. The survey showed that it costs five times as much to attract a new customer to your store, while another study showed that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% - 95%!
How To Build A Loyal Customer Base
It’s clear then why returning customers are vital for business success. So here are some expert tips on how to build customer loyalty in the retail industry and keep them coming back.
Have a Loyalty Scheme
The clue here is in the name! Loyalty schemes are a great way to encourage customer loyalty in retail. By offering customers extra benefits from shopping with you, loyalty schemes are known to increase customer retention. In fact:
- 69% of customers say their choice of retailer is influenced by where they can gain customer loyalty or reward card points.
- 76% said they consider them part of their relationship with a brand.
- 54.7% of customers join loyalty schemes to save money, so keep this incentive in mind.
Popular loyalty schemes include points cards where customers can gain points to spend in-store or rewards cards where every purchase gets a customer closer to a free item. Both of these are great incentives for loyalty and also boost brand recognition.
Offer Digital Discounts
Discounts not only increase customer acquisition, but they increase customer loyalty too. Everyone carries a smartphone nowadays, so offering a digital discount via email or through an app is a great way to tell customers about your offers and encourage a returning customer base.
Discounts offered could include a percentage-based discount in-store and online, price cuts for loyalty card members or weekly and monthly offers to incentivise a return to your store.
Send personalised communication
A personal touch goes a long way. Personalising communication has proven to be highly effective in increasing customer loyalty. If you use email marketing to send discounts or offers to customers, address your customer by name. When an email is not personalised, a massive 52% of customers said they would seek elsewhere to go, while 74% of marketers said that personalised emails and targeting messaging increased customer engagement.
Prioritise good customer service
One of the most significant factors in building customer loyalty in retail is ensuring the best possible experience in-store. Excellent customer service is remembered, and a consistently good experience encourages returning customers. Helpful staff, good layout and minimal queues are all factors that determine whether a customer will make a return visit to your store.
Remember, word of mouth travels fast and is free marketing for businesses, so do your best to ensure your customers have something positive to share about your store.
Follow these tips on how to increase customer loyalty in the retail industry, and your business will benefit! You can find more customer retention tips on our blog: 10 creative ways to increase retail sales. Draw attention to your in-store promotions with our collection of affordable sign holders and snap frames here at Displaysense.
