9 Surefire Ways to Drive Customer Loyalty [INFOGRAPHIC]

Do you want more returning customers? Who shop more often and invite their friends to you?

Imagine how your favorite coffee shop (or bakery, or restaurant, it’s your call) makes you do so. The waitress may know how much sugar you want in your coffee, without asking. Or when she says “Hi”, she uses your name, too.

These are quite heartwarming moments, don’t you think so?

But can you achieve the very same thing in an online store where you can’t put sugar in your customers’ online coffee cup while saying hello?

This is what we would like to help you with. We collected 9 tried and true, engaging ways to boost customer loyalty that can keep customers coming back to you.

See the list and an infographic which sums them up nicely below.

#1. Help them out, as you would a friend

76% of shoppers think that the level of customer service represents how much a brand values them.

That’s why kind online customer support is a must if you want to win your customers’ hearts. Plus, live chat tools like Pure Chat software allow you to see what customers are currently doing on your site.

A customer typed her coupon code incorrectly? Or mistakenly arrived at a page that gave her a 404? Reach out to them in real-time, and solve their problem right away. This can totally make them fall for you, and increase the chances that they will come back to make their next purchase.

#2. Avoid hiccups, especially during checkout

In a recent article on Emarketer, Mark Taylor, the Senior Vice President at Digital Customer Experience said:

“Consumers look for a seamless experience with brands more than they look for future discounts. They will not trade in today’s experience for tomorrow’s discount.”

Mark got these points right!

There is nothing more frustrating than when a checkout form doesn’t work. If the form is too long, if the system is down… If customers can’t checkout right away, they will leave you. And they will rarely come back, even if you offer them a discount. (In the end, emotionless discounts won’t make anyone loyal in the long run.)

That’s why it’s essential to have a well-converting checkout form that you can develop with A/B testing functionalities like Formisimo allows you to do.

#3. “Speak” to them with relevancy

73% customers expect a relevant shopping experience through their journey. And in return for this, they are even willing to share their personal information with you. They also can get frustrated seeing ads, offers or promotions that don’t interest them.

It’s like when you are going to the closest mall, and along the way a bunch of advertisements try to tempt you to buy things from a luxurious car to a flashy magazine. And the result? You ignore them.

You don’t want low converting ads like these in your webstore. For example, you can increase the relevancy of ads, if they’re based on your customers’ search history. Once you know what they want, you can show them offers that they can’t resist. Findify or Apptus are tools that master these fields. (And I didn’t mention this yet, but you can also personalize product recommendations based on your customers’ purchases!)

#4. Show them it’s worth doing business with you

69% of customers stay with brands if they recognize and reward them. You may be a little skeptical here. Didn’t I just say this before, that discounts are not the main reason why customers stay loyal to brands?

But you can’t neglect them entirely either. After repeatedly doing business with you, customers expect to get some kind of compensation.

And you know what? You don’t need to cling just to coupons and special perks. Gamified rewards programs — like the ones we have at Antavo — lets customers collect points. Points are freed from the monetary aspects of business. They remind people of games, especially if you don’t just reward checkouts, but also reward another kind of activities like completing quizzes, sharing pages or rating products.

#5. Encourage them to invite friends

83% of customers love to spread the word on social about their positive shopping experiences.

Besides offering customers the things we already discussed (great customer service, rewards programs, personalized product recommendations), you can take a step further by rewarding customers who invite a friend to your webshop with coupons. A smart thing here is that — for example, Bullseye does exactly the same — you can only grant coupons for customers whose invited friends also made a purchase.

In the end, your current customers are the best ones to invite new prospects with the highest relevancy.

#6. Show them how to use your products

62% of customers want content from brands about best practices to use their products.

Just think about your typical fashion store, where dressed-up mannequins present the trendiest clothes which combine the best colors and accessories. These dolls are the first ones who inspire customers to look around in the store!

In the online world you can create the very same effect by — for example — letting customers post photos of how they use your products. (My favourite accessory brand, Santoro motivates its fans to do so.) You can also create product videos, tutorials, infographics, news and blog posts that share inspirational examples and influencers’ best practices.

#7. Support values that are important for them

64% of customers want shared values from brands. Because they don’t just want to buy things. They want to belong to communities, to take part in missions.

A good example here is a Swedish men’s fashion brand, Uniforms for the Dedicated. The company transformed making a purchase for one person into a good thing for others, by decreasing the negative connotation of product consumption — the idea that we are wasting money and things on our own happiness.

How? Simply! They offered two-sided bags for their customers with which they could send unwanted clothes to charities. Online retailers also loved their biodegradable shopping bags and ordered 1.1 million for their online customers. In addition, the campaign received an enormous press coverage around the world.

What a nice way to generate positive word-of-mouth and social proof at the same time for your webstore.

#8. Fit into their daily routines

81% of shoppers search online before they make their purchase decision.

We can’t deny the importance of mobile-friendly sites and purchase process anymore. For me, browsing my favorite shop’s latest products on mobile — it’s called Tokyo Otaku Mode which sells Japanese things, dolls and books — became a morning routine. Another nice thing is that they have a mobile app, which notifies me about the latest products that have arrived in their store.

If you don’t have an m-commerce app yet, then tools like MobiCart can help. They allow you to turn your current webstore to a mobile app without help from developers.

#9. Let them reach you on the channels they use

65% of customers use social channels to research products for their loved ones.

Besides having reviews under your products in your store, shared product images and other kinds of social activities can build social proof and trust for your brand.

That’s why it’s important to present yourself on channels that your target audience is using.

For example, Bumblebee Linens — which sells handkerchiefs and linens for e.g. weddings — created a Pinterest board, where they share DIY tutorials, wedding, and cupcakes ideas — literally anything that is connected to their field. Why is this so great? They know that women — especially brides — love to search for ideas on Pinterest. Once they find what they’re looking for, they can hook onto them and start trusting the brand, which triggers a higher purchase intent in addition to the effect of just spreading the word.

The key is a positive customer experience

In this post, we explored different ways of earning your customers’ love (good for you!), but the thing is that maximizing the positive experience on every customer touch points is the most important conclusion that we can draw from here.

What methods have you used to earn your customers’ love? What will you do next? Just leave your comments below.