Winning new customers online can be tough. That is why generating repeat sales for your e-commerce business is often one of the best strategies to boost your bottom line.
While most e-commerce business owners focus on acquiring new customers, retaining loyal customers is often equally if not more important if you want to significantly grow your revenue. In fact, statistics have shown that 50% of annual revenues for small businesses come from repeat customers. Even better, repeat customers are likely to spend more money than new customers.
If you’re looking for effective strategies to create more repeat sales in your business, consider these 6 expert tips:
1. Prioritize Building Trust
A first-time customer may buy out of simple curiosity – but if you want to turn first-time buyers into loyal fans, you need to focus your business efforts on building trust.
Trust is necessary for any successful long-term relationship, and it is especially crucial online where it’s admittedly harder to form a human connection. Make sure to be upfront, explicit, and even repetitive about your promises. Show that you are a company that will not only make promises but be sure to keep them. And, if anything goes wrong, make it your number one priority to make things right.
2. Create a Loyalty Reward Program
Give your customers an incentive to return again and again. Loyalty programs are popular because they work. When you’re selling online, often you don’t even need to give away something for free or require a customer to shop with you 10 times first.
A loyalty reward program can be as simple as a discount on a customer’s second purchase or after spending a certain dollar amount. Be sure to track data on your ecommerce business’s average purchase order and customer lifetime value so that you develop a reward program that makes sense for your bottom line.
3. Sell an Experience 
Your business probably sells products or services or some combination of the two. However, if you want to create raving fans that will be delighted to buy from you again and again, you ought to also be selling an experience.
If what you sell is perceived as just a commodity, your customer can just as easily purchase it from one of your competitors. Give them a reason to keep returning to you by differentiating the customer experience your business offers. It could be as simple as showcasing engaging videos, unique copy, or a simplified, frictionless shopping experience.
4. Target Your Upsells
Upselling a customer is a great way to get them to spend more money with you – however, you want to be smart about what you offer.
Especially in this data-driven era, you will be more successful if you use information about a customer’s previous purchases and buying/search behaviors to determine your upsell offer. The more you can customize and target the upsell, the better.
5. Leverage Remarketing 
Remarketing is one of the best strategies to stay top-of-mind with previous customers and visitors to your website.
Whether you’re retargeting ads based on data from cookies/pixels or utilizing automated emails to contact past customers, leveraging digital tools can make it easy to keep in touch and encourage repeat sales.
6. Overdeliver
If you make a point to under-promise and overdeliver again and again in your business, you will quickly grow a loyal following.
In order to consistently overdeliver, you want to plan in advance. What is a “surprise bonus” you can plan to include in your offer that you reveal after your customer is already satisfied with their purchase? Develop a reputation for going above and beyond the expectations your customers already have from your competitors.
Would you appreciate more expert advice and support in growing your online business? If so, consider partnering with our cutting-edge digital marketing team here at JXT Group. We’re leading authorities in the latest strategies for online business success, with a variety of case studies demonstrating proven results. To learn more, just give us a call at 718-690-730 or submit our online form.
