At present, we are living in a highly competitive market. It has become a very challenging task for retail businesses to stay ahead of their competitors. In this case most of you will think of hiring a retail agency. Well, that will help you for sure. But, there are certain things that a retail business will have to consider by themselves. Fostering customer loyalty is one main thing.
There are many different ways that can help a retail business retain and promote its loyal customers. However, it is essential for you to implement the correct strategies. Well, this is precisely what you will learn from the medium of this blog. Hence, let us waste no more time and get started on the same.
Streamline your system!
If you wish to retain and reward your loyal customers, ditch complex and point-chasing rewards. Instead, go for convenient and high-value reward options. Streamline your retail strategy in a way that offers simplicity as well as exclusiveness to your clients. Mentioned below are specific ways that you can consider adding to your strategy for complete retail solutions.
Initiate streamlined loyalty programmes to attract and retain your financially savvy customers. Work at launching convenient reward schemes that are easily traceable and manageable. In addition, try to provide instant recompense to your customers.
Various types of research suggest that customers now no longer find traditional multi-buy promotional offers attractive. Instead of buying more to save more, users now believe in mindful spending. As a result, they end up buying some particular stuff that they actually need. At this point, an instant discount on the purchase made or a free gift (in any form) is something customers are excited about. Hence, you can consider this while formulating your retail strategy.
In addition, irrespective of whether they are tangible or intangible, make sure you provide instant gifts and rewards to your customers. These can include a free goodie, an instant discount, free shipping, etc.
Prefer to provide your customers with flexible reward options across all your retail stores. Your gifting and discounting strategies should be the same, irrespective of the location of your retail store.
For example, if you are giving a discount, make sure it is applicable at all your offline stores. This will provide consumers with a sense of flexibility and convenience, directly increasing your business’s overall sales. However, make sure you do not end up overcomplicating it.
Explaining it with an example:
A very well known e-commerce brand in India offers some free gifts and extra discounts on purchase of groceries worth rupees 2000. In this case, any customer who is looking for a single product worth 450, will never buy extra stuff to avail of the discount and earn free gifts.
However, the case will be reversed if he is getting free shipping for ordering above 500 rupees. In this case, the customer will not mind adding an item worth 50 or more to avail of the free shipping facility.
Well, this is exactly what a streamlined and straightforward reward system actually signifies.
Encourage the development of customer loyalty through diversification!
If you wish to aim to achieve complete retail solutions, you will have to work precisely on developing an incredible retail strategy. This is because we are presently in the middle of a growing experiential economy. Hence, if you are a retail business owner, your main aim should be collecting loyal customers and retaining them through the means of diversification.
By the term diversification we want to convey the idea of expanding strategically that does not include your products and services. Instead, focus on building a loyal customer base, not by just building a transaction relationship but fostering connectivity.
Utilize the concept of cultural involvement to build and enhance your retail brand’s image and value. Invite your customers to just visit your brand. Provide them with your business’s background information and future aspects. Give them a tour of your retail store. This will help your customers establish an emotional bond with your brand.
Take the concept of a transactional relationship to an emotional/personal one. It is not a rule of thumb to provide rewards/gifts/discounts only when a customer makes a purchase. Instead, you can launch some giveaways. Giving free gifts after a certain amount of purchase is also an option. For example, a very recognized pizza brand in India provides its customers with a free pizza after every sixth order. Hence, customers can either get this free pizza delivered individually or else add it to their next order.
Ring-fence exclusivity is what customers are looking for!
Regular customers are subjected to feeling appreciated and special. They look for ways to indicate that their loyalty is being taken into consideration. Hence, it is the duty of a retail brand to reward its loyal customers and treat them in a different (unique) way.
To accomplish the same, retail businesses can offer exclusive memberships, products, and services that are only accessible to loyal customers of their brands. In this way, the loyal ones will get a sense of satisfaction and recognition, while your other customers will also aim to get into that category.
To show how much your loyal customers matter, you can provide them with primary access to new launches or provide them with some particular loyalty discounts.
In addition, providing the authority to select the delivery time and date, along with free delivery, is also a fantastic option for establishing ring-fence exclusivity.
Since they are your loyal customers, you can leverage their circle and network to get more customers for your business. In return, you can provide some additional perks, such as referral discounts and gifts.
Winding it up!
Customers now no longer believe in impulsive purchasing. Instead, they are much more bent towards the concept of value-driven and needful purchases. In this case scenario, the idea of implementing traditional discounts and gifts is completely outdated. Hence, in this case, retail brands should take this as an opportunity and rethink loyalty rewards. Doing this will further help brands showcase their business objective while also establishing a systematic system that allows the customer to indulge in brand activities and further promote them.
