Tips for Online Retailers to Enhance Customer Retention

Customer retention is a primary goal for all businesses. With the increasing cost of customer acquisition, businesses need to focus more on retaining current clients. However, retaining clients online can be tricky, considering the number of options they have available for making online purchases. Efforts and resources should be focused towards building rapport with online customers. With the help of strategies such as proactive online customer support, you will be able to build a more loyal customer base. Here are some tips that will help online businesses retain more customers.

Proactive Support over Social Media and Live Chat

A simple way of retaining customers online is providing them with consistent and proactive support. The first step in connecting with them is to proactively reach out to them. Ask them questions, respond to theirs, and inform them about upcoming product and service deals, your discounts and events over social media. Make sure you connect with them through live chat service support on your website and on social media. Ask them for feedback post purchase, and their preferences prior to purchase, and make friendly suggestions to them.

Implementation of Customer Feedback

A customer posting a review about an unpleasant experience with an online brand, and taking time out to explain how it can be improved, and seeing no implementation or response over time will feel undervalued and eventually turn to a competitor for next purchase. Your customers want to know that they are important to your business and their feedback is valued. Make sure you keep track of all negative reviews about your business that customers post online, take time out to respond to them in a professional manner, letting them know that you will do whatever you can within your power to solve the problem, improve your product and service and wholly avoid a negative experience next time.

Offer Online Giveaways and Easy Returns

A major factor that can push away a willing buyer is an inflexible return policy on your products. Give your customers the choice to easily return products they don’t like. Understand that it is better for your business to let the clients return the product they are not happy with instead of jeopardizing your relationship with them by forcing them to keep it without a refund. For example, if a customer shops for some clothes from your brand, and then later finds them to be different from what he/she originally had in mind, there should be a return policy with the opportunity of either replacing the product or a complete refund. This way, the customer won’t feel stuck and is unlikely to label this as a bad experience, rather, he/she will feel that your business is flexible and is more likely to return again in the future for a purchase.