How to Build Brand Loyalty for Your Online Store

It’s every ecommerce entrepreneur’s dream to develop unbreakable brand loyalty that keeps customers coming back for more & spreading the word about your products & services. Building brand loyalty can take time to create but isn’t a big mystery with the right strategy in place. Here are some of the proven steps towards creating long-lasting brand loyalty that could increase your sales for the long-haul. 

Design a Loyalty Program

Research shows that 75% of consumers say they favor companies that offer rewards.

Building brand loyalty requires motivated customers who come back to your ecommerce store for more. Instead of strictly focusing on sales & discounts, create a loyalty program that users love. 

An app like Smile: Rewards & Loyalty gives customers access to exclusive perks, earn points, celebrate their birthdays with a free gift, & creates more urgency with point expiration campaigns. It can also create incentives to refer your ecommerce business to friends & family. No matter how you design your loyalty program, make sure it’s something your customers want & will motivate them to click “Buy.” 

Obsess Over Customer Service

Any company with longevity in their industry offers great customer service, but obsessing over it is a winning strategy. Instead of simply fulfilling orders & responding to comments, obsess over delivering the best customer service possible. You can start by leveraging chatbots to automatically respond to customers looking for more information about a product or their order, & redirect them accordingly. 

Checking in with customers about their purchase & personalizing the experience goes a long way when impressing customers & establishing our reliability. This tactic holds true even if the customer had a poor experience. Accenture reports that 45% of consumers say the “coolest” personalized tactic they’ve seen is when a brand apologizes for poor shopping experiences. Own up to your mistakes & win your customers over to bolster your brand loyalty.

Collect Feedback & Act On It

Part of offering exemplary, buzz-worthy customer service is collecting feedback & acting on it. Send out surveys, check-in with new & loyal customers, & see what types of comments they’re leaving on your social media channels. Ask about their experience, what they liked & didn’t like, & if anything stood out about their purchase. Whether the feedback is good or bad, take the time to listen to the feedback & act on it when it’s in the best interest of your ecommerce store. When customers feel heard & appreciated, they’re more likely to become loyal customers & see your brand as trustworthy & worth their dollars.

Create Personalized Offers

There are a few ways to create personalized offers in your ecommerce business. Start with customized marketing offers that target customers’ past buying behavior, demographics, age, industry they work in, & anything else that’s relevant to your products & services. For example, you can look at your analytics & sales history to segment audiences based on particular items they bought. Next, offer an irresistible sale based on their buying preferences. 

Another way to create personalized offers is by offering custom products. Whether you’re tapping into your customers’ hobbies or interests, you can create customized activewear, hoodies, mugs, artwork, & more that caters specifically to them. Of course, figuring out your inventory & fulfillment strategy can get complicated when offering multiple customized products. Instead of increasing your own capacity, team up with a print-on-demand service like CustomCat. With CustomCat, you can quickly provide multiple, personalized products with customized designs in no time. 

You can learn more about CustomCat’s services here:

Print-On-Demand Promo Products

How to Get Started Selling Online with CustomCat

Retarget Customers

If you’re not using retargeting campaigns in your ecommerce business, you’re missing an opportunity to build brand loyalty. Facebook & other platforms offer the opportunity to retarget your audience based on their interests & behaviors. Once you install a Facebook pixel into your website, it keeps track of anyone who stops by. When those potential customers pop up on Facebook, the pixel can then retarget your ads directly to them. 

If you’re not sure how to get started with Facebook ads & regarterting, read more here: A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ad Campaigns. 

Develop a Sense of Exclusivity

Everyone enjoys feeling like a VIP, & online buyers are no different. Ecommerce exclusivity can elevate your brand loyalty & spur more revenue. Instead of mass selling to anyone who stops by your store, focus on creating exclusive offers & VIP access to your email list or existing customers. From first access on new releases to community-only products, creating more exclusivity in your online store develops a sense of loyalty & urgency with your customers. 

Recover Abandoned Carts

Research shows that 69.57% of online shopping carts are abandoned. That figure means for every 100 potential customers, 70 of them will leave without purchasing! The good news is that you can use simple apps to recover abandoned shopping carts, like Rivo Abandoned Cart Recovery. Customize the app with recovery prompts via SMS, email, & push notifications to entice customers to come back with discounts or incentives to complete their purchase. Beyond recovering more revenue, you’re also keeping those customers engaged & shopping in your online store, & sparking more brand loyalty.   

Pull Back the Curtain on Your Ecommerce Business

Remember to focus on more than just the sale & create a sense of belonging with your customers. Pull back the curtain on your ecommerce business with videos, photos, & a deep dive into the goals for your business. Show your customers the faces & their stories behind your ecommerce business & offer a sneak peek into your store.

Stay Consistent

Even the most creative strategies to establish brand loyalty will fall flat without consistency. Building a cohesive brand requires a reliable, consistent approach to create trust with consumers. Every time a customers’ needs are met, your messaging resonates, & the customer service excels, your audience feels a connection to your brand & is more likely to refer people to you & spread the word about your business.

 

How do you build brand loyalty for your ecommerce store? Let us know by leaving a comment below!