In the world of eCommerce, loyalty is synonymous with success. Your existing customers that purchase from you often, engage with your store and tell others about you. And it’s not just your reputation that benefits from increased customer loyalty – it’s your revenue too:
But where does customer loyalty start?
At a very basic level, it begins with trust and whether your customers remember you. To add to this, conscious shopping on the rise. Today’s customers make buying decisions on their emotional ties with a brand (with 65% admitting to buying on the basis of their beliefs).
To communicate what you stand for, create emotional bonds with your customers and, ultimately, secure their loyalty, you need to focus on telling your brand story. This blog post will look at how you can shine the light on who you are, as a way to retain customers.
Consistent communication is at the heart of good branding. One study even found that brands who present themselves consistently see a 23% increase in revenue. Exactly why it’s important to spend time crafting and telling your customers about who you are.
But where to start?
With a customer loyalty program, you can easily customise all the elements within it so it matches your store’s look and feel.
You can even take your program to the next level by building a dedicated, bespoke landing page that customers return to and engage with. For example, Beauty Bakerie’s loyalty page includes their signature pink, cursive typography and sweet-related brand photos.
Make sure you also incorporate your branding in the messaging around your loyalty program too.
Start with the name of your program. After all, this is what your customers engage with first. Keep it eye-catching and connected with your overall identity. 100% Pure has named their loyalty program “Purist Perks” to let customers know about the purity and natural sourcing of their products.
Then, you can explore how your branding filters into other parts of your program. For example, Lucy and Yak have named their tiers “Comfort Lover”, “Dungarees Devotee” and “Yak Enthusiast” as a humorous nod to their product. And, Nicce Clothing has called their points currency “N Coins”.
Above all, don’t forget: an identity crisis leads to confused, and ultimately lapsed, customers. Make sure all the branding decisions surrounding your loyalty program are made with your customers in mind.
We’re lucky enough to operate in a time where ecommerce technology is in abundance. Make sure to use the tools out there to stand out and tell your customers who you are.
Site-wide pop-ups are a great way to talk to your customers about the benefits of your loyalty program and your brand values. They target customers while they’re browsing and give them an emotional reason to convert.
If you pride yourself on supporting a social or environmental cause, use your pop-ups to tell your customers they can spend their loyalty points on charitable donations.
Baseballism, for example, uses pop-ups as a way to show how their loyalty program values its customers. Their pop-up shows the name of their “Baseballism Insider” program and that new members receive 15% off their first purchase.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the opportunity to retain customers ends after a customer has converted. There are also opportunities to secure their loyalty after their purchase is complete.
Try displaying an on-site notification on your post-purchase page that encourages customers to tell their friends about your brand. On average, customers referred by friends are between 16% and 24% more loyal. They trust recommendations made by someone they know are similar to them.
Loyalty emails are also a great way to showcase the benefits of your program and your brand identity.
Shopify Flow makes it easy to automate your loyalty emails and secure customers for the long-term without draining your valuable time. The “trigger, condition, action” formula gives you the power to integrate all of your enterprise apps to easily automate common tasks.
Why not use Shopify Flow to send emails to show your loyal customers that you care? Say “thank you” by giving these customers additional points for moving up a tier in your program. Or, automatically award them bonus points for being a repeat customer.
You can also use automated loyalty emails to communicate your brand values to customers. Annmarie Skin Care use loyalty emails to share their focus on ethical initiatives and community once a shopper becomes a member.
And, Pacifica Beauty uses their loyalty emails to show they put their VIP customers first. They often run member-only sales that make their already loyal customers feel valued.
Overall, it’s important to remember that loyalty originates from emotional bonds. We think fondly of the brands that we feel aligned to and, as a result, shop with them more often.
A loyalty program – paired with tools, technology and strategic thinking – can be your answer to a well-rounded and emotive loyalty strategy that puts your customers first.
Want to learn more ways to use loyalty to improve customer retention on the LoyaltyLion Academy – our free, educational resource designed to make you the go-to loyalty expert in your business.
LoyaltyLion is a data-driven loyalty and engagement platform trusted by thousands of ecommerce brands worldwide. Merchants use LoyaltyLion when they want a fully customised loyalty program that is proven to increase customer engagement, retention and spend. Stores using LoyaltyLion typically generate at least $15 for every $1 they spend on the platform.
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