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Customer Retention Marketing

Happy New Year! Unfortunately, after the champagne is drunk, retailers realize that January is a harsh month. People have spent a load of money on Christmas gifts, and are not eager to spend additionally in the new year. Acquiring new customers during this month is hard and expensive, so you, web store owners, must think creatively. The answer?

Customer retention. Studies show retaining customers is far more cost effective than spending to acquire new ones – luckily for you, as most of your budget has probably gone to Christmas marketing. Let me sketch it out for you:

Imagine two online stores. One retains 90 percent of its customers each year, and the other 80 percent. Now imagine that they both add new customers at the rate of 20 percent per year; this results in no growth for Store B, but 10 percent net growth for A. If growth rates remain steady, in seven years, store A will virtually double in customer size, while store B will remain plateaued. All else being equal, simply retaining that extra 10 percent puts store A on a path to grow immensely without changing anything else.

Clearly the advantages compound over time, and often in unexpected ways. The smallest of changes in customer retention can create huge changes felt throughout the business, that multiply over time. Do not underestimate the effect retention has on long-term growth and profits.

Reasons to step up your retention marketing:

  • Prevention of client loss: businesses average 20 percent loss by simply failing to attend to customer relations.
  • Cheaper alternative than acquiring new customers.
  • Long term ROI.

Interested? Here are a few ideas to keep customers coming back this January:

#1 Exceed expectations

Figure out what the limit of your customer service is, and make a guarantee that you will always exceed. For example, you might guarantee a response within 36 hours, but in reality the timing is more like 12-24 hours. Always keep this level of service – customers will remember the one time they are disappointed, and cite that as reason to walk away.

#2 Sell and then sell again

So many people do a great job of creating the initial sale, and then drop interest in the consumer immediately – sometimes as soon as money is passed over. In reality, the sale has only just begun once someone has made an initial purchase decision. To avoid buyer’s remorse, you have to allay consumer’s fears as well as remind them they have made the right decision. Demonstrate by your actions that they chose correctly, putting them in a place for you to sell to again and again.

#3 Courtesy system

Treating your colleagues pleasantly and politely can build a business. Treat workmates with respect, and speak to them as you would a customer. This creates an atmosphere that nurtures and retains trained workers, but also creates workers who treat your customers as they have been treated – and retains them as well.

#4 Bring back the “lost sheep”

There is no point in sending mass emails to attract new customers when 25-60 percent of your dormant customers would respond to a message written in the right way, specifically tuned to them. Remind them of your business, find out why they are no longer customers, and overcome their fears by demonstrating how much you still value them. This will result in satisfied, loyal customers.

#5 A complaint is a gift

96 percent of customers do not complain, but simply walk away. While they might be too shy or uninterested to tell you why, they will certainly tell their friends. A system for unearthing complaints is the lifeblood for your company. Changing processes, like return policies or checkout methods, in reaction to customer complaints is the surest way to hook lifelong customers.

#6 Utilize surprise reciprocity

Studies show reciprocity is even more powerful when it comes out of nowhere. Give your customers a surprise bonus or gift certificate, without even making a purchase. The fact that it came out of nowhere will leave a greater impression on them.

#7 Choose your words carefully

Not all words are created equal. Certain persuasive words encourage customers to buy more; in particular, free, new, and instantly. Customers who hear these will enjoy their purchases more than they would otherwise.

While I have only gone in depth on the seven strategies above, additional options include:

  • Blogs
  • Loyalty Programs
  • Personal Touches
  • Questionnaires and Surveys
  • Social Media and Social Proof
  • Labeled Customers
  • Product or Service Integrity

As you can see, there are tons of options available for your business. The biggest outcome from all customer retention work is that you get to know your clients even more over time – which makes it even easier to create custom emails specifically tuned to your audience. Good luck and have a great start to 2016!

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5 Productivity Hacks for Business Owners

As the New Year approaches, so does New Year’s resolutions. It is a great time to analyze your productivity over the last year. If you are your own boss, or work remotely from home, you may find it difficult to delegate your time appropriately. If you are not 100% satisfied with your performance over 2015, take heart – this gives you lots of room for improvement!

Here are some tips that could change your life in 2016. The next year will be your year! Ensure that your business is more successful than ever thanks to improved productivity and time management skills.

#1 Learn from past mistakes

  • Too many business owners spend time thinking about mistakes they made or things that went wrong. Do not waste time looking back; instead, focus on the future and how you can avoid making these same missteps.
  • Successful business owners are able to turn failures into success. By learning from these mistakes and lost opportunities, you gain valuable experience.

#2 Do not be afraid

Here is an exercise to try. Use your answers to these questions to inspire you to action in 2016:

  1. Think how the opinion of other people limits you and your creativity. How many times did you hold your tongue or not act because you were afraid what others would think?
  2. Have you thought what would you do if you were not afraid to fail?
  3. How would your life look differently today if you spoke up or took action in the past?

#3 Delegate

  • If you are hiring other people, there are many tasks you should delegate in order to find more time for your own work. According to great entrepreneur and investor Richard Branson, delegating tasks to right people is the secret to his success.
  • Afraid to delegate tasks and projects? Start small: begin by telling your employees to take over easy tasks. When you see they can handle it, you will be less afraid to assign projects over time.

#4 Surround yourself with inspiring people

  • Spending time with people who inspire you can help you become more productive. Thanks to them, you learn a lot, get more creative, and become less afraid to dream big.
  • Meeting somebody that you appreciate? Curious about somebody’s way to success? Want to know their secret to being more productive? Ask! Find out what motivates him or her, and his/her driving force. Listening to success stories and tips helps you and your business.

#5 Plan where you want to be in 2017

  • Think of where you want to be exactly one year from now. Take into account your dreams, goals and the future of your business. Then ask yourself: do I do everything to be there the next year? What do I need to do differently?
  • Ask it regularly to make sure you are on track. It will work as productivity booster as long as you stay honest with yourself.

These are just a few ways to boost your productivity in the new year. As you settle into 2016 and find other tips and tricks, I would love to hear how these and other hacks have boosted your productivity and business success. Feel free to comment below – and have a happy New Year’s!

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How Social Media Influencers Boost Sales

Until recently, our concept of celebrity influence was almost exclusively tied to the silver screen or huge record deals. With the advent of social media, the new generation of Brad Pitts are more likely to be popular bloggers or vloggers (video bloggers). These influencers are pairing up with brands more often to create promotional content and drive sales – a tactic which can especially help small web store owners.

Why include social media influencers in your marketing?

Very simply: influencers are social media mavens, and they know what they are doing. Their entire success relies on his or her being able to influence peers into wanting the same things she or he has posted, so you can trust that they have a firm grasp on how to use their social media channels. Including a blogger with a large audience can help bring in new eyes to your store goods, especially if you sell to consumers aged 12-32. Additionally, native advertising – placing products and services in an organic, rather than artificial, setting – works. One study found that purchase intention among consumers is 53 percent higher for native ads than traditional marketing.

In short? A social media influencer could be just the spice your shop needs. To help you, I have prepared specific tips on attracting new customers via social media influencers.

#1 Choose the right person!

  • Do not run head on towards the first influencer you hear about. Spend some time first thinking about the target audience you want to hit: who is your audience currently? Do you want to expand in age, gender, or another demographic? Once you have that in mind, look for an influencer who matches both your brand (e.g., fashion blogger, technology vlogger, etc.) and is popular among your demographic.
  • Spend a little time following your choice on social media: how often do they post? How many likes do they get? Which platforms are they most active and popular on? Do they have active followers who comment, or is it mainly passive likes?
  • Still having trouble picking an influencer? There are several companies who can help match you through their networks.

#2 Contact potential influencers

  • After you have a few people in mind, contact them. Make sure to start off strong: you want to build a relationship with them. Introduce them to your brand, explain why you think they are the right fit for your company/product, ask which products they like. Engage with them through social media channels, and create a rapport. Get to know them before you make a deal.

#3 Time to make a deal

  • Be very clear in your expectations, as well as what you are offering. This includes number and frequency of posts, which platform(s) they will use, and what your idea of potential success looks like. Be sure to share these with your influencer, as they have the best insight into their audience and can tell you how feasible your goals are.
  • This also includes reimbursement: smaller stores often give product or services for free in exchange for posts, while larger stores generally pay.
  • Do not forget customer service: decide who will answer follower questions on posts!

#4 Track your results

  • Make sure you keep a record of how well each post does. Did followers react? What was their response? Were there conversions? If you are unhappy with the results, share your concerns with the influencer. If nothing seems to change in subsequent posts, consider finding a new channel, or maybe even influencer, for your products.

Whether you are just starting out looking for a social media influencer, or you wanted a refresher course, it is going to take some time to nail down the right person. Do not let one or two misfortunes with an influencer turn you away; do your due diligence, communicate your goals, and you will find a successful partnership.

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5 Social Media Trends to Note in 2016

It may seem self-evident, but social media is in our lives in a big way. Every year, more people are posting, tweeting, pinning, and snapchatting – which means that brands need to keep up to stay in touch with customers. Although social media is the best medium to do this, it can hurt a brand’s image if they make mistakes. Read up on safe strategies below, and see what fits your online business.

#1 Social Media as a Search Engine

As I wrote previously, 88 percent of online shoppers admit to reading online reviews before making a purchase. More people are using social media to find reviews about a product or service instead of simply buying. They treat these channels as search engines.

As an online store owner, you should inform customers via social media about products details. This can be physical (images, specifications, product description), price discounts, or encouragement to write reviews on Facebook or Google. Also, make sure that your products are easily findable. For example, on Pinterest, owners can connect Pinterest accounts with their web stores, helping users easily find their website to buy a specific product.

#2 2016, the Year of Buy Buttons?

Buy buttons, placed on social media sites over a year ago, have not yet been commonly used by the public – yet. However, as social media is becoming not just “social” but commercial, all the big sites are covering their pages in these buttons. Buttons make it simple for people to switch from browsing a platform to buying from it. Soon, buy buttons will be available on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram in multiple countries.

Although few customers seem to be interested in social media buy buttons, retailers expect to see a 34 percent increase in revenues from social media – including from these buttons. Adding a button may be a good idea for online store owners, but it may take some time before your customers get used to and use them on a regular basis.

#3 Live Streaming Apps

Live streaming applications will only get bigger, and brands using them will reach a wider, younger audience – close to 100 million active users on Snapchat alone! Some brands already winning at this strategy include McDonald’s, Rebecca Minkoff, and Acura. They use Snapchat to give sneak peeks behind the scenes, at upcoming releases, or a few minutes with a brand spokesperson (in McDonald’s case, that includes several star athletes).

You do not need a LeBron James to do the same for your business. With Snapchat, Vine, or Twitter-owned Periscope, use your channel to show your own behind the scene moments, answer customer questions, show new products, or give tutorials. Do not be afraid to interact with your customers individually, too!

#4 More Engagement on Social Media

For all the activity of customers on social media, brands have not picked up nearly as quickly. Data shows that as of 2015, only 1 in 8 customers get answers to their social media message to a brand within 3 days, while the volume of social media messages sent globally to brands increased over 21% between 2014 and 2015. In 2016, you can expect even greater volume and activity on social media – you have to make sure you know how to handle it, and answer customers on time.

#5 Social Media Brand Ambassadors

2015 saw the increasing popularity of bloggers and vloggers, especially those active on Instagram, YouTube or Snapchat. Most likely they will continue attracting huge audiences next year.
This is great news for your online store, as you can use popular users as brand ambassadors. Thanks to the massive number of followers these users have, your brand can easily gain in popularity. Stay tuned – I’ll be covering this more next post.

Spend some time on social media, and try some different strategies. If one does not succeed, I have a whole list of others that you can try. It might take a little time to figure out what your customers want, and where you can engage them, but the main thing is to engage. Trust me – your audience will appreciate your participation on the channels they use!

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Ecommerce Trends to Look for in 2016

For a business that was impossible until the internet, ecommerce is one of the most rapidly changing industries – even from the beginning of ecommerce! No longer do you need an entire team to get your website designed, coded, and online. Now, anyone with an internet connection can start their online store. Due to this saturation in the market, shops are evolving their techniques to interest and keep customers.

If you want to stay competitive in 2016, here are the trends you should know:

Keep it Personal

In 2016, a personalized shopping experience is not longer a treat; it is expected. To continue meeting the needs of customers, web store owners have to maximize the use of customer data. I recommend:

  • sending your customers offers with products or services based on their previous purchases or searches,
  • creating a reward program tailored at specific customers or purchases,
  • connecting with your audience over social media, and responding to their questions or comments,
  • sending personalized emails.

Faster and More Flexible Delivery

With the launch of Amazon Prime in the UK, and same-day delivery services being offered in the US, retailers are understanding that “I want this and I want it now” is the common mindset behind purchases online. 2016 will bring more ecommerce shops offering faster dispatches of orders, with the larger ones setting up infrastructure similar to Amazon. Consider offering same-day shipments if your shop is set up for it, or testing the option out for a limited time to see how your customers respond.

Mobile Optimization

As I have said before, 2015 was the first year search queries on mobiles surpassed those on desktops. 2016 is poised to be the year smartphone revenue overtakes desktop, so you must make sure your site is mobile friendly! If you have the resources, create an app for even greater ease.

Create a Content-Rich Experience

If your shop is competing in a crowded market, you may find yourself trying to differentiate from other retailers. A great way to do this is to invest more in the user experience. It is no longer good enough to say you sell something; customers want detailed descriptions, context relevant specifics, social proof (i.e., photos of satisfied customers with said item, previous customer reviews, metrics on how many others have bought this experience or are currently looking at it), videos, and other super-rich experiences.

Social Media Channels for Customer Service

As I have written previously, 42 percent of customers expect a company to answer within 60 minutes to their complaints on social media. As a web store owner, you should be available online, as customers expect faster answers. For an example, take the response time on Twitter: the average time for a brand to respond on Twitter shortened from 8 hours 37 minutes in 2014, to 5 hours and 27 minutes in 2015.

Pop-ups and Interruption Merchandising

A universally reviled advertising method in the 1990s, the pop-up window is making a comeback. Typically, it opens as a customer enters your site, and offers to sign them up for the newsletter or promotional email list. If you choose this option, a great addition is an incentive (a discount, or crediting their account) for signing up for the newsletter.

Online Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs will be more popular thanks to new ways of being able to reward customers. As people pay with mobile coupons or eWallets more often, it becomes easier to gift points online, and for them to keep track of what bonuses they receive from different companies. Data from a loyalty program can come in handy when you are personalizing emails, sales, and special offers.

2016 is also likely to see the rise of online coalition programs, or partnerships between different businesses for special offers. Some examples of this I have already seen range from entire trips to a haul of items. Participating in a coalition with dissimilar online shops is a great idea for finding new audiences.

Social commerce

Social media will continue to be the biggest influence on ecommerce, and brands that have higher engagement on social media will benefit. As almost 80 percent of millennials use social media, they are expected to be the ones driving sales via these channels.

Note: having social media accounts is not enough for your business. You need ‘buy buttons’ enabled, and engage with online customers. Engaging with social media influencers like popular bloggers or video bloggers is another fantastic promotional idea.

I hope you pick and choose through these trends to find the ones that work for you. Do not be afraid to start implementing them now: it is never a bad thing to be ahead of the curve, and your sales can only increase with improvements for your customer!

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Using Social Media for Post-Purchase Support

As the world becomes more thoroughly Instagrammed and Twittered, it becomes more difficult to imagine an online business that does not utilize social media to their advantage. There is more to these channels than trying to get likes: if used correctly, you can strengthen brand loyalty, increase post-purchase customer satisfaction, create a brand identity, and find new customers. As a bonus, you may find inspiration for future marketing pushes, or find brands or individuals with whom you would like to align.

This study by Invesp shows that one of the main reasons why consumers follow brands on social media is to learn about products and services (e.g. 56% Facebook, 47% Twitter, 56% Pinterest). Getting more followers in social media can help expose your products or services to a larger audience. If you are active on the social media channels your customers use the most, you ensure that you will stay in their minds when it comes time to purchase. The same is true for their needs post-purchase: if you are actively responding to questions and issues, they will be more likely to recommend your products to friends and followers, as well as become repeat customers.

To get you started, I have put together a list of some easy and useful social media recommendations for your online shop:

#1 Boost post-purchase sharing

Encourage your customers to share that they buy your products with their online communities via share buttons. According to Nielsen’s research, customers trust friends and family above all other forms of advertising. 81 percent of US consumers indicated that posts from their friends influenced their purchase decision. You can also thank customers for posting photos, linking, sharing, reposting, etc. Every share help win you new customers!

#2 Use the #hashtag

Create a branded hashtag, and indicate your customers can use it in social media posts. You can also stay timely by making branded holiday hashtags, or incorporating one into a contest.

#3 Get online!

Go where your customers are, and see what they are saying! Get online, and be available for support and problem solving. According to research, 42 percent of consumers who complain on social media expect to get an answer within 60 minutes. Furthermore, 57 percent expect the same response time at night/weekends. If you know you are not able to respond, implement chat on your website.

#4 Listen to your customers

Ask your customers for feedback, and pay attention to what they say. Invite them to fill in a survey on your service, either via email or on social media. You can create custom surveys through Survey Monkey, Surveys for Facebook, or Qualtrics.

#5 Use educational videos

Do not forget a key tool in your communication box – videos! These are great for giving your customers a face and personality behind your business. Besides showing off new products or behind-the-scenes looks at your shop, you can use videos for customer support. For example, if there is a difficulty some of your customers have run into, you can proactively offer your remaining customers support by making and promoting an instructional video. Other video ideas might arise from comments in social media by your followers.

Being active in social media channels not only increases your brand awareness, but also helps strengthen brand loyalty, and gives you greater ability to respond and accurately judge customer satisfaction with products and service. The more you know and respond to the needs of your customers, the happier they are to promote and share you with their followers!

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Reactive Versus Proactive Post-Purchase Support

No matter how wonderful your web shop offerings or prices, there is one surefire way to lose customers: customer service. When something goes wrong – and something WILL go wrong – it does not mean your web shop is a failure. It is, however, a great opportunity to showcase your proactive customer service abilities, and step up to show your customers you care.

What is the difference between reactive and proactive customer service?

Exactly what it sounds like. Reactive customer service is when you are constantly having to react to situations that arise, including communicating with an unhappy customer. Proactive customer service describes a company that has already thought ahead to problems that could arise, and how to both solve the problem as quickly as possible, as well as leave the customer happy with the way the problem was handled. Although it is impossible to predict every contingency, you can plan how you will keep the customer informed and happy throughout the process.

Here is a quick example to help explain

Let us say you made purchases from shops A and B for the first time, and although the packages were both supposed to arrive last week, neither has arrived. Angry, you write an email to A showing your dissatisfaction. In two hours’ time you receive an email back from shop A’s customer service, with no explanation except that your package will arrive tomorrow. However, web shop B’s customer service informed you a week ago that your package would arrive late, also explaining why and apologizing for the delay. It is not difficult to guess whether you would decide to make another purchase in the web shop A or B.

What are some ways you can be more proactive for your customers?

#1 Channel that post-purchase happiness into giving feedback

  • Get their immediate reaction with a short survey option.
  • Do not forget to customize your emails with your site’s verbiage – recipients will be more likely to open emails from you.
  • If applicable, offer loyalty points or a reward system for filling out a quick survey.

#2 Keep the customer updated on where their goods are

  • As soon as possible, give tracking information!
  • Explain any major delays before the customer finds out.
  • Again, personalize the email so it feels like your web shop; a little bit of humor goes a long way.

#3 Send a follow-up email after the package is delivered

  • Often shops forget about this opportunity, but this is a great time to ask for feedback again!
  • Include a referral code they can share with friends for a reward.
  • For brand strengthening, include links to social media to share their experience / purchase with others.

#4 Announce mistakes before customers find out

  • Alert them to the problem and apologize.
  • Take a page from the major credit card companies, and use whatever means available – email, text, social media, etc. – to make sure you get in touch with them, and show a sense of urgency.
  • Offer discounts on future purchases immediately, or offer to refund if they are unsatisfied.
  • Explain exactly what you are doing to fix the issue.
  • Make sure they know who and how to get in contact if they have questions or feedback. Sometimes you really want to talk to a live human – so consider making that option available.

#5 Pay attention to what customers are saying online

  • If you have included any hashtags on your site or in your communication, check them on social media sites, and respond as much as possible.
  • Implement changes from the critiques you read, and alert your followers to the modifications.

#6 Create content that answers frequent customer questions

  • Do not waste your customer service representatives time answering, or your customer’s time asking, the same questions.

#7 Offer a live-chat option

  • People are on their computers all day; give them an option to immediately get in touch without having to pick up the phone.

As evidenced by the above list, it does not take a ton of money or time to put some excellent proactive customer service in place. Remember to put yourself in their shoes, and see what would make you smile – and come back to shop again, and again, and again…!

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The Power of Online Reviews

Sophisticated social media campaigns, pricey television commercials, full-page spreads in magazines or banners on a website. Just a few of the many options you can choose to draw attention to your web store. None of these tactics, however, are as effective as the old-fashioned personal recommendation. Nowadays, these personal recommendations are mainly issued by posting an online review.

Online reviews as social proof

Research from BrightLocal reveals that a whopping 88 percent of online shoppers admits to reading online reviews before they purchase items online. In addition, online shoppers indicate that they perceive online reviews the second most trustable source of information, after a personal recommendation from family or a friend. How this works? People are more likely to purchase a product or service when others have had a positive experience with this product or service. This type of informational social influence is better known as social proof.

Different from the rest

As a small or medium sized online business owner, gathering online reviews is an extremely effective way to attract new customers. Your visitor will see the online reviews as a natural and true source of information. In fact you are actually using social proof as a means to convince new visitors. Nowadays people have a lot of choice. When they are looking for a certain product they end up on similar looking web stores. The range of products and style of the various shops are more or less equal to each other. Even though there are small price differences between the web shops, is does not mean the customer will simply choose the cheapest option. To determine which web store is most suitable, the visitor will consult the online reviews.

Dare to ask

If your web store system does not allow to leave reviews right away, consider enabling your customers to talk about your business. There are many tools available online to facilitate the collection of reviews. Just a few to mention: Yelp, the Feedback Company and Kiyoh. For more internationally orientated businesses, I suggest to use a platform like Trustpilot or Reevio. To increase your online visibility, you can also use Google + to create a business page. Customers can rate you, which is visible for all who use Google.

Fear for negative feedback

It is virtually impossible to make every customer completely satisfied. Therefore, it may happen that you receive negative online reviews. Please do not be afraid of them. Negative online reviews do not necessarily harm your business. It basically means that customer service has become more important than ever. As long as the dissatisfied customer expresses his or her disapproval in a polite way, the negative online review has no impact on your sales. There are in fact some tricks to increase the likelihood of your reviewers to behave well.

#1 Do not be afraid of negative feedback

Allow customers to post online reviews on your web site or social media channels. Never remove reviews because they are negative. Up to 67 percent of the readers will perceive your business to be more fair, grounded, positive and civilized when there are polite (properly formulated) negative reviews present. In case of solely positive reviews, visitors can suspect censorship or fake reviews.

#2 Respond to negative feedback in a proactive and polite way

Always be polite and respectful when you answer online reviews. Treat your customers professionally and try to solve problems in a proper fashion. Where possible, you may answer complaints publicly. Possible future reviewers will respond politely when they see that you read and reply to reviews.

#3 Personify your brand

Personification helps you to create a voice for your business. Connect with your customers on social media and do not be afraid to show that you are a person, not just another faceless company. For example, show pictures of the office crew or share behind the scenes moments. This allows customers to see what a day at the office looks like. When people are reminded that they are dealing with honest and real people, they are more inclined to post a politely formulated online review, even if it is negative.

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How to Take Charge of Your Post-Purchase Support

As a business owner you are focusing on the pre-purchase and purchase phase for most of your time. It is understandable that you feel like when a product is sold, your main goal has been achieved. You might feel that there is no sense in contacting your customer anytime soon unless you contact your customers after a purchase in case of a problem or to answer one of their questions. What you are actually doing this way, is making customers forget about you.

Post-purchase support

As I already have mentioned in my previous blog post about the holiday season, it is extremely important to boost your customer service this time of the year. What most web store owners tend to forget, is that there is lots of room to contact customers after a sale has been made. In addition to your general customer service, it is good to start thinking of what you can improve in your post-purchase support.

Post-purchase support is communication between a company and a customer after a purchase is made. It concerns for example messages that are sent to confirm the order and the shipment of the purchased products, but also other messages to keep in contact with the customer. By using post-purchase support you are giving your customers as much attention before as after a purchase is made. Customers that do not receive any communication other than an automatic order confirmation are less likely to revisit a web store and make a repeat purchase. Spicing up your post-purchase support can have tremendous consequences for your sales.

Research has proven that top performing ecommerce companies get a substantial part of their revenue from newly acquired customers in the beginning of their business life. Over time they shift towards earning the majority of their revenue through repeat customers. After three years of existence, the majority of the revenue of the top e-commerce company comes from repeat customers.

Post-purchase customer service examples

Personalized emails
There are many ways in which you can take care of your customers after they make a purchase. Let me start with some simple and easy to use examples. Think of a personalized e-mail with purchase confirmation. Later on send a personalized email with shipping confirmation. Two important steps to start off with your post-purchase support.
You might wonder why these emails are supposed to be personal instead of fully automatically generated. According to research of Experian, a personalized e-mail is on average 26 percent more likely to be opened than a regular email. Moreover, opening rates of post-purchase emails are twice as high compared to regular emails.

Packaging
Unboxing can also make a huge difference in the way customers perceive your product and your brand. Adding a small gift or a thank you card to your customer’s order may trigger reciprocity and increase the chances of getting repeat customers.

Feedback
By asking customers to leave feedback, you get an opportunity to receive useful information on how customers perceive your product or customer service. On the top of that receiving customer reviews helps you to encourage future customers to make a purchase and it is valuable for your SEO.

Cross-sells
The moment after purchase is a great opportunity for cross-selling. Cross-selling is a technique that entices a customer to supplement his or her initial purchase with products that complement it. Are there no products to complement? Send a personalized email with products other customers bought in combination with the item this customer has purchased.

Tailored offers
One of the most personal and effective ways to communicate with customers post-purchase is to send them emails with personalized offers. Think of an email with a discount code to stimulate a repeat purchase. Other options are exclusive offers or the possibility to earn points in order to receive a discount.

Start today

Summing it all up, you have a higher possibility to grow your revenue when you have a strategy to keep your customers with you. To encourage your customers to stay with you, you have to cultivate your relationship with them. You can strengthen this relationship by making your post-purchase customer service as personal as possible. Nowadays, it is even possible to create personalized emails in tools like MailChimp, which are sent on a specific moment in the customer journey.

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf English verfügbar.

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Simply Translate helps Lightspeed customers sell worldwide

Last Thursday was a special day for SEOshop, as well as for us as a partner. SEOshop announced to be acquired by Canadian player LightSpeed, the world’s largest supplier of POS systems. SEOshop will continue under the name Lightspeed eCom from January 2016. From that point on the market consists of the Benelux, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

What the acquisition means to us

The acquisition by Lightspeed means that Simply Translate will grow along. From January on Simply Translate will offer over 34,000 Lightspeed customers the opportunity to start a multilingual web shop in an easy way.

“From today www.simplytranslate.com is online and active in the countries where Lightspeed is located. We are also pleased to announce that our tool is launching in Germany and the United Kingdom today. Lightspeed eCom customers in the United States and Canada will also be able to become multilingual from January on. A huge opportunity for us to become the leading translation agency in the E-Commerce”, says Jeroen van Benten, CEO of Simply Translate.

SEOshop in the spotlight

“We are extremely thrilled by the acquisition by Lightspeed POS,” says Ruud Stelder, CEO of SEOshop. “Our customers will be able to tap into the possibilities of Lightspeed’s mobile POS and commerce platform and Lightspeed customers will have easy access to our eCommerce platform. This acquisition will enable retailers around the globe to reach out to customers wherever they are, both online and offline.”

Simply Translate joins in on this philosophy by offering web store owners a more easy method to advertise products worldwide. By offering high quality E-Commerce translations we make it possible to turn the world into your customer. The collaboration between Lightspeed eCom and Simply Translate provides an unparalleled complete solution for E-commerce.

Simple connections

In addition to launching in Germany and the United Kingdom, we have released a new version of our tool in the Netherlands. Both the Dutch SEOshop web store owners as the ones from the United Kingdom and Germany can manage all their shops in one account.

The new multishop feature allows the merchants more convenience for the administration of multiple online stores. By the end of this year it will even be possible to migrate hassle-free from a unilingual E-commerce platform to a multilingual and multifunctional platform as SEOshop, soon known as Lightspeed eCom.

We congratulate SEOshop on this amazing step into the bright colored future of (e)Commerce.

Curious about the new release and features? Download the tool from the SEOshop appstore for free: Simply Translate – Automated Human Translations.

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