Your customers or potential customers are going to wander away for various reasons. It might be the case that you accidentally irritated them by providing them a bad service or they might have paid for a product that was not useful for them or there might be some other reason. It also might be the case that you have lost the old customers because they got what they wanted from your website and moved on. Some people might be interested in your company for a short span of time and then they might forget about your company. There could be a number of reasons like these…
If this happens with you, you are left with two choices : Either you can let them go or you can win them back!
Every eCommerce venture has a vision of making money and keeping your eCommerce business afloat; considering this, it is advisable to get back your old customers.
Getting the old customers back is certainly not an easy task. It is important for you to know that the attempt of getting the old customers might be the reason for your success or with these attempts you might also end up ruining your customer profile. But then, it’s all about taking calculative risks J
Here are some tactics that you can try:
Reminder Emails
If you had a few issues with the users who never became customers, there is a high possibility that they might have forgotten about you. You can send a quick email for letting them know that your eCommerce company is still around and your company is still offering awesome range of products. This might work for you in terms of tipping them over the edge.
Your email can contain simple phrases like ‘Hey! Do you remember us?’ or you can send them an announcement about the newly launched products or services. If there is no response, then you can go ahead and try the next tactic!
Special Offers
Sending emails about special offers and discounts can break the ice for you and jumpstart your relationship with your lost customers. There are two unique ways of introducing the special offers:
The first option is to send discounts only to those people who have disappeared for wooing them back. Although you might get a few bites, most of those customers might only return for a one time deal and then disappear again. In case they stick around, they might just be there for the discount offers. For associating with these types of customers for a long time you will have to create price sensitivity and this is not beneficial in the long run.
The second option is perhaps a better solution! You will have to let the frivolous buyers know about a site-wide sale. This can happen only if you are planning a huge sale for clearing out the inventory. In case they stop by to see the kind of deals you are offering, they will still see that a lot of products are sold at the full price. Therefore, the possibility of any kind of bias is less likely to take place.
Occasional Emails
Everyone likes to be remembered and get wishes on their birthday. In case you have had a fair amount of interactions with your buyers and you have the access to this information, send them a message wishing them for the birthday. You might also provide them with an exclusive discount or a gift with the message. And in case you don’t want to send an exclusive offer, then you can just wish them for the birthday and remind them that your company is still around and they can come and check out the new range of products.
Resolve The Issue!
At times, your customers provide you with a reason about why they are leaving. The reason might be that they don’t agree with your return policy.
Let your buyers know that their feedback is extremely important to you and it has created a revolution. Let them know about the steps that you have taken for rectifying the problem that they pointed out. As a result of this, there are high possibilities of those customers to come back to you as they are assured that their grievances are being dealt with. By doing this there is also a possibility to encourage loyalty.
Get Personal
If you have noticed that some of your loyal customers have been slipping away recently, then maybe you should just pick up the phone and call them. Ofcourse, this is not the right way of approach in terms of the people who have visited your website a few times without making any purchase. Customers who have made a fair number of purchases in the past might have a major reason for going away. Your concern and personal attention can do wonders in bringing them back.
Exceptional Content
Take a look at the landing pages, blogs and emails that you have created featuring the product information. Think if the information that you have portrayed is really helpful? If your focus is only on offering discounts for keeping the buyers hooked, then there is a high possibility that you will lose them every time.
Instead of running behind the customers who never come back, focus on creating content that will not let them leave. If you can create informative and compelling blogs, emails, videos; you will have higher chances of selling your super-cool products.
Retargeting Reminders
Keep in mind that most of the people are not comfortable with the fact that you know a lot about them. As long as they come across relevant content, most of the customers are okay with you collecting data about them. This means that you can get them back through retargeting ads. However, it is important for you to ensure that you are using informative, relevant and valuable content for getting the customers back to your website.
For example: Instead of using ‘You had a look at this product, don’t you want to look at it again?’, you can use something like ‘You considered this product, let me tell you how it can be useful to you’.
The eCommerce industry is full of tough competition. Having loyal customers is an achievement. You have to do your bit in getting the lost customers back and establish a long term relationship with them; this will help you to gain a great reputation along with loyal customers.
