ARTICLE

Online Store Retention Rate Increase: The Art of Keeping Customers Engaged

In this article, I'm going to share proven eCommerce app customer retention mechanics and features our clients apply to grow retention 2X and more. Please, read until the end. The most potent strategy is a dessert.

ARTICLE

Online Store Retention Rate Increase: The Art of Keeping Customers Engaged



In this article, I'm going to share proven eCommerce app customer retention mechanics and features our clients apply to grow retention 2X and more. Please, read until the end. The most potent strategy is a dessert.

I know that you've put in a lot of effort to attract customers to your shop and are still doing your best to re-engage them. You've definitely noticed that the statistics for SMS and emails show that the open rate is decreasing. Retargeting campaigns are becoming more and more expensive, and moreover, competitors are capturing the traffic.

Today retailers are searching for the methods to keep their customers engaged and encourage them to make new purchases while remaining loyal to their brand. In brief, retailers are seeking ways to enhance customer retention.

Retention is a key metric for online stores, because it's cheaper to sell to existing users compared to acquiring new ones. According to Semrush, the likelihood of new customers making a purchase ranges from 5% to 20%, while the probability of selling to existing customers is significantly higher, at approximately 60% to 70%.

In this article, I'm going to share proven eCommerce app customer retention mechanics and features our clients apply to grow retention 2X and more. Please, read until the end. The most potent strategy is a dessert.

Disclaimer

You don’t have to choose the only one or apply all the features from the list. The art lies in crafting the most effective combination tailored to your niche and your objectives.

Disclaimer

You don’t have to choose the only one or apply all the features from the list. The art lies in crafting the most effective combination tailored to your niche and your objectives.

1. Push-notifications
Push-notifications do not land in the "spam" folder. Email marketing has saturated users' inboxes, and the Open Rate of such emails is decreasing day by day. Opening the application from a notification is a quicker and more straightforward process than accessing email, searching for a message, and then navigating from the email to the website. On average, statistics indicate that 70% of users visit the app through push notifications.

Furthermore, push notifications provide ample opportunities for personalizing offers. For instance, you can remind a customer to complete their checkout process if they abandon their shopping cart. You can also send a notification featuring a personalized offer for items the customer has marked as favorites.

Additionally, there's the capability to send geo-push notifications when a customer is in proximity to your physical store. For example, it could read, "Hey! You liked these shoes. Try them on at our shop just 200 meters from here and receive a 10% personalized discount".
Push-notifications do not land in the "spam" folder. Email marketing has saturated users' inboxes, and the Open Rate of such emails is decreasing day by day. Opening the application from a notification is a quicker and more straightforward process than accessing email, searching for a message, and then navigating from the email to the website. On average, statistics indicate that 70% of users visit the app through push notifications.

Furthermore, push notifications provide ample opportunities for personalizing offers. For instance, you can remind a customer to complete their checkout process if they abandon their shopping cart. You can also send a notification featuring a personalized offer for items the customer has marked as favorites.

Additionally, there's the capability to send geo-push notifications when a customer is in proximity to your physical store. For example, it could read, "Hey! You liked these shoes. Try them on at our shop just 200 meters from here and receive a 10% personalized discount".

2. Stories
Stories are a remarkable way to influence user behavior and encourage them to visit your app regularly. They allow you to share ideas on how your products can be worn or used at home, ultimately leading to sales.
Moreover, this feature in your application will increase AoV.

This is how user journey looks like a shoppable story:
You can also remind users to watch your storytelling through push notifications, such as: "Hey, there are 3 autumn looks from our brand in our stories. Check them out for your inspiration".
3. Loyalty programs
Loyalty programs are a necessity in 2023th eCommerce business. There are plenty of different loyalty mechanisms available. The difficulty is to implement the really effective one.

Let me share top-3 loyalty mechanics combined in the eCommerce application to increase retention and customer’s loyalty.

1. Bonus System
Bonuses in the shopping cart for each item: display points for each item in the cart and remind users in push notifications about the bonuses they can spend or that they will expire.
2. Personalised pricing on the item page
Boost conversion rates by offering individualized terms. Enhance customer loyalty and help them make purchasing decisions easier and quicker.
3. Loyalty program level and information about it in the user's personal account
Motivate the user to make more purchases in order to elevate their loyalty card level and receive a higher discount percen
Loyalty programs are a necessity in 2023th eCommerce business. There are plenty of different loyalty mechanisms available. The difficulty is to implement the really effective one.
Let me share top-3 loyalty mechanics combined in the eCommerce application to increase retention and customer’s loyalty.

1. Bonus System
Bonuses in the shopping cart for each item: display points for each item in the cart and remind users in push notifications about the bonuses they can spend or that they will expire.

2. Personalised pricing on the item page
Boost conversion rates by offering individualized terms. Enhance customer loyalty and help them make purchasing decisions easier and quicker.

3. Loyalty program level and information about it in the user's personal account
Motivate the user to make more purchases in order to elevate their loyalty card level and receive a higher discount percentage.


4. Privileges based on the purchase percentage
Privileges based on the purchase percentage is a special part of loyalty programs, I want to draw special attention to.

How it works:
An authorized user opens the application and in their profile, they see information on how many orders they need to purchase to unlock new delivery and payment options.

Imagine yourself a customer - you will definitely make a purchase in the store where you get preferences. Additional benefits lead to increased percentage of completed purchases (reducing costs related to uncompleted orders) and highly enhanced customer loyalty.

It’s really important to reward loyal and engaged users. Individuals appreciate receiving rewards. In fact, 69% of them inquire about the existence of loyalty reward programs when selecting an online store.
Now let’s consider what I promised to be a dessert strategy.
5. Brand Community
Community around your brand is the most powerful and looking to the future way to set re-engagement with the customers.
A community app is a software that enables creators and aspiring community leaders to build an online oasis where like-minded individuals can interact, share opinions and experiences, and support each other's efforts.

For example, are you familiar with Nike Run Club? NRC has evolved into a global community of running enthusiasts where users actively engage and participate in events and competitions. If you begin each morning by opening the NRC app for your daily run, which sportswear brand are you more likely to consider purchasing? ;)
A community app offers numerous opportunities beyond just buying products.

Here are some strategies:
  1. Encourage celebrities, brand ambassadors, influencers, and customers to share user-generated content (UGC) and create events.
  2. Introduce non-monetary rewards for loyalty, in addition to cashback on purchases (such as profile badges, exclusive events, and more).
  3. Organize local meetups or city outings and host live streams with brand ambassadors and celebrities. Use push notifications to inform customers about these events and encourage them to involve their friends.
  4. Provide customers with familiar social activities like likes, shares, event subscriptions, celebrity subscriptions, comments, and more.

A community app offers numerous opportunities beyond just buying products.

Here are some strategies:

  1. Encourage celebrities, brand ambassadors, influencers, and customers to share user-generated content (UGC) and create events.
  2. Introduce non-monetary rewards for loyalty, in addition to cashback on purchases (such as profile badges, exclusive events, and more).
  3. Organize local meetups or city outings and host live streams with brand ambassadors and celebrities. Use push notifications to inform customers about these events and encourage them to involve their friends.
  4. Provide customers with familiar social activities like likes, shares, event subscriptions, celebrity subscriptions, comments, and more.

At IMSHOP.AI, we've developed the features to build a community application for your online store, which can work for your brand without requiring high-cost investments and extensive human resources. Let the platform unite people around the concept of your brand and make it a natural part of their lives.
Acquisition marketing is important, but it's only one aspect of your brand's business narrative. Paying attention to both internal and external customer interactions is what truly matters in e-commerce.

Influence the shoppable story to enhance retention and boost overall conversion rates. Now, you can see that the application serves as a powerful additional revenue stream for your online store. Furthermore, hopefully, this article has been informative for you in terms of which strategies to implement.

Tania Karpushkina
Marketing&Partnership Lead IMSHOP.AI