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Swooning Shoppers: How to Encourage Repeat Customers

Customers

Who are your favorite customers, the ones who put a smile on your face each time they walk through the door? If you see them time and time again, these loyal consumers are known as repeat customers. Repeat customers offer several benefits unmatched by casual shoppers, including the frequency of their visits, the insights they provide and their value as word-of-mouth marketers.

Continue reading to familiarize yourself with the advantages of frequent customers and learn ways to attract shoppers back to your business consistently.

Understanding the Business-Boosting Benefits of Repeat Customers
Before we dive into the many ways you can position your business to attract repeat business, let’s understand the benefits these loyal consumers bring.

Some of the top ways repeat customers help your business:

• They spend more – How many recurring customers do you have, and how much of your total sales do they contribute to? It’s a question worth looking into, according to Business.com. The publication claims that acquiring new customers costs five to 10 times more than selling to existing ones — a price tag that can include marketing or advertising efforts to attract new business — and repeat customers spend 67% more on average.
• They promote your brand – There’s a reason word-of-mouth remains the most powerful marketing strategy. People who frequently shop at your business can become unofficial brand advocates by sharing recommendations with people they know, such as family, friends and colleagues. To those unfamiliar with your business, the trusted word of a familiar face can bridge gaps and bring them one step closer to becoming a repeat customer.
• They carry valuable insights – Businesses must continue to improve and evolve in order to remain relevant. Repeat customers offer an outside perspective on your business that can help identify problems, opportunities and more. Inconvenient packaging, unclear product directions and issues with service are all examples of some problems they can uncover.
• They’re interested in new offerings – Whereas new customers might be wary of trying a new product, your repeat customers will have less caution. That’s because they’ve grown familiar with your business and the quality of your product, so they’re more likely to be interested in enhanced offerings or new services.

Attracting Repeat Customers to Your Business
Now that you understand the brand-boosting and buying power of repeat customers, let’s cover some of the ways you can encourage them to frequent your business.

These methods include:

• Create customer loyalty programs – Whether you use the traditional punch card or digital tracking methods, rewarding sales with loyalty points can help encourage people to visit your business more frequently and spend more. These programs typically include special loyalty member-only sales, unique rewards — such as a set percentage off once a specific dollar amount is reached — and benefits for customer referrals. If you need to collect their personal information for your program, such as an email address or phone number, you can use this to provide them with top-priority alerts for sales, new product launches and more.
• Offer samples or free service trials – Help your small business make a positive impression through samples or free trials. These tools offer an opportunity to prove the value of your product, foster positive brand associations and net higher sales once the ‘freebie’ runs out.
• Get busy on social media – Did you know there are more than 200 million businesses on Facebook? Increasingly, consumers are window shopping on social media before even entering a store. Social media not only gives potential customers valuable insight into your products, but it can also help you build a community around your offerings. A social media profile can help you gain brand recognition, showcase your products, create connections with customers and gain insight into how they feel about your offerings.
• Optimize your website for sales – No one wants to struggle through a clunky webpage to buy a wish list item. Clinch sales by making important information easy to find, your site easily searchable and, in case of questions, offer simple ways to connect with you or your staff. You can also use this space to showcase positive testimonials or reviews from satisfied customers.

Repeat customers stand out from the crowd, offering higher sales, word-of-mouth promotion of your business and valuable product insights that can’t be overlooked. By cultivating a network of brand loyalists, you can enhance your offerings and improve your financial future.

For more insights on how to help your business succeed, please read our other informational articles at americanbusinesscoalition.info.

Articles in this newsletter are supposed to be informative, enlightening and helpful to you. While all information contained herein is meant to be completely factual, it is always subject to change.

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