According to a study on loyalty carried out by the Nielsen Institute in 2016, more than three-quarters of French people are members of at least one loyalty program.
And 58% of them prefer chains offering a loyalty program.
Today, it is essential to implement customer loyalty initiatives.
With competition in e-commerce on the rise, don’t risk losing your customers.
Here’s a list of 9 customer loyalty tools you need to know about and implement on your e-commerce site.
Customer loyalty tool n°1 – Promo codes
Promotional codes are one of the most popular ways of building customer loyalty and encouraging customers to return to your e-commerce site.
Promo codes can be set up in such a way that you can create as many as you like, depending on the profile of each customer and the benefits offered.
Example of application: For first-time customers, create a promo code offering 10% discount on their next purchase.
Customer loyalty technique n°2 – The loyalty card
Widely used in physical stores, loyalty cards can also be used in e-commerce.
It records purchases and points accumulated.
The more you buy, the more points you earn.
These points can be converted into discounts or other benefits.
Here‘s how it works: for every €500 spent, you get 20% off your next purchase.
Tip : Limit the use of points over time; for example, one year.
The customer will then come back to buy at least once a year, so as not to lose their points.
You can also offer an unlimited lifetime for points, on condition that the customer makes at least one purchase every year.
Customer loyalty tool #3 – The club
The club is a loyalty tool that enables customers to be segmented according to predefined criteria, and benefits to be tailored to these criteria.
Example of application: A customer who has purchased at least €500 in 1 year from your store has A status. He has the advantage of 48-hour delivery on the site.
A customer who has purchased more than €1,000 in 1 year has status B. They benefit from delivery within 24 hours and priority customer service.
The principle is to encourage customers to return and spend.
The more they spend, the more benefits they get.
Tip : Automate customer segmentation with the Prestashop Carte Privilège module.
You’ll be able to better manage your loyalty actions.
Customer loyalty campaign n°4 – Membership cards
Membership cards and clubs are two similar customer loyalty tools.
The difference lies in the fact that membership cards have to be paid for.
A membership card entitles the customer to privileges based on the subscription chosen.
Tip : To get customers to buy a card, you need to offer benefits that really interest them.
Example of application: A subscription of €50 per year entitles you to a 5% discount on the normal purchase price of your products.
A subscription of €100 per year entitles you to a 10% discount on the normal purchase price of your products, plus free delivery.
Customer loyalty tool n°5 – Sponsorship
Referrals enable your e-commerce customers to invite others to become customers too.
They act as ambassadors for your brand.
In return, you offer them a benefit.
Application example: If customer A brings in a new customer, customer A gets 20% off his next order and the new customer gets 10% off his first order.
Recommendations from existing customers are highly relevant to prospects.
It’s a testimonial from someone they trust, someone who already knows your products.
Hence the value of referrals.
In e-commerce, the tracking system is based on a referral link, which makes it easy to verify the identity of both the referrer and the referred party.
Loyalty technique n°6 – Emailing
Emailing or newsletters are a popular loyalty-building technique for e-tailers.
It enables you to communicate by e-mail with a customer or prospect, to offer them new products, to follow up, to solicit them for a promotion, etc. The most important step is to get your customer or prospect to subscribe to your e-mail list.
The most important step is to get your customer or prospect to subscribe to your e-mail list.
Offer them something in return, such as a promotional code or coupon, in exchange for their e-mail address.
Tip : Stimulate ongoing interest among your customers or prospects with a NewsLetter sent out on a regular basis, ideally on a weekly basis.
Loyalty tool n°7 – Social networks
Social networks are an excellent tool for building customer loyalty, simply because the majority of French people are now registered on them.
It’s a way of keeping your prospects informed of your new products and promotions.
You can create a real bond with your prospects.
Offer tips and advice, promotions, contests, product updates and more.
Example of application: Encourage your customers to interact by asking them a question on Facebook, then draw lots to win a free product or a discount voucher.
The secret to success on social networks is to be active and offer quality content.
Your customers will then begin to attach themselves to your brand, beyond or in addition to the financial aspect.
Tip : Don’t just promote your products. Alternate with informative and entertaining content, such as user tips, behind-the-scenes stories, etc…
Customer loyalty action #8 – Automatic reminders
This involves automatically reminding your customers after a certain period of time to place a new order.
This tool applies to consumables sales.
Example of application: A box of food supplements is consumed within 30 days.
Follow up your customers who bought a box within 30 days, to encourage them to renew their purchase.
You anticipate the customer’s needs and remind them to renew their purchase soon.
This creates recurrent sales.
Customer loyalty tool n°9 – SMS
SMS is little used by e-tailers as a loyalty-building technique.
Yet it’s an effective means of communication, given that 98% of consumers read their SMS messages.
Ask for the telephone numbers of your customers who register on your e-commerce site and start an SMS loyalty campaign.
Example of application: For the launch of a new product, send a promotional code by SMS to all your customers.
Tip : Keep SMS messages short and to the point for maximum impact.
An SMS that’s too long will be opened, but not read.
To conclude on e-commerce customer loyalty tools
Whatever tools you implement on your e-commerce site, you need to keep your margins under control.
The tool(s) you implement must be attractive to the customer, but at the same time enable you to remain profitable.
To set up your loyalty campaign, or for any other e-commerce needs, don’t hesitate to call on me.
As a Prestashop expert since 2008, I’d be delighted to help you.
