Loyal customers are worth their weight in gold! Everyone knows that customer retention is much easier and cheaper than customer acquisition. But the trouble is that these days customer loyalty is on the decline. With thousands of eCommerce sites for your customers to choose from, you need to get strategic about how to entice customers back. In short how to increase customer engagement in your online store.

Increase customer engagement

Our blog archive is choc-full of handy tips on how to increase customer engagement and reduce bounce rates (because we’re super generous). Here’s a quick summary, but if you want more information on any of the bullet points listed below, the links will take you through to blogs with more detailed advice.

  • Reduce page loading speed

    Slow, jittery webpages will have potential customers hitting the back button stat. A few small changes to your WordPress website can fix the problem in next to no time. If customers have a smooth and optimal experience, they’re more likely to want to revisit your page.

  • Simplify navigation

    If your customer is after a product with a particular feature, or in a certain style or color, how easy is it for them to find it? Add categories, subcategories, and filters, include a search bar. Do what it takes to help your users find the exact product they’re after. It’s the equivalent of a shop assistant serving you what you want on a velvet cushion – much better than trawling the aisles!

  • Fix bugs and increase security

    Would you want to create an account on a buggy website that feels insecure? Make sure that your WordPress, plugins, and themes are all up to date, and fix any bugs as soon as you are aware of them.

Incentivize customers to create an account (but don’t insist)

We’ve all been there. It’s your first time on this eCommerce website, you see something you like, add it to your cart, and head to the checkout. Then you find that in order to complete your purchase you need to hand over your email address, and create an original 8+ character email (with numbers and special characters, of course). Once you’ve done that, you find yourself arguing with the Captcha test over which boxes contain bikes… all for a <$20 purchase! It’s no wonder that forcing customers to create an account increases cart abandonment. Offering guest checkout increases conversion rates for two simple reasons: it takes less time, and it feels less invasive.

It might feel counterintuitive to not insist that your customers leave behind contact details. After all, you ideally want a way to follow up after purchase. The good news is that there is a way around it.

Give people a concrete reason to sign up. You can create an offer – 10% off their current purchase, money off their next purchase, free premium delivery – whatever offer works best with your margins. Given that the average ROI on email marketing is $42 for each $1 spent, it’s worth the initial incentive.

Follow up with an email automation strategy

Sending out a blanket marketing email just won’t cut it in 2020. You need an email marketing strategy that takes into account each of your customer’s buying behaviours and how they have interacted with your website and messaging them the right thing at the right time.

Email automation does exactly that. You create a series of emails targetted at different customers based on their behavior on your website or purchasing habits. Then, customers get sent a tailored email only after they have interacted with your website a certain way.

It sounds complicated, but luckily email marketing platforms such as MailChimp offer software that is easy to set up and follow. With the help of a marketing strategist and some strong copy, your customers will be revisiting your website again and again.