3 ways to increase customer loyalty with mobile

What’s the best way to grow your ecommerce business?  Buying more PPC ads? Adding new affiliate networks? Ramping up your PR and marketing efforts?

What about selling more to your existing customers?

Years of research have shown that selling to existing customers is a more lucrative strategy than attracting new ones. All the way back in 2000, Bain & Company published a report on ecommerce showing that “a 5% increase in retention can lead to 25-100% increase in revenue”, and that when it comes to fashion, “a repeat customer buys 67% more than a new one”.

Bringing it back to the present, in 2012 Adobe released a whitepaper showing that you need to bring in 7 new shoppers to equal the value of just 1 repeat purchaser. Seriously, that’s 7 new customers to match the value of each existing one.

USING MOBILE TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS:

We think that a true multichannel strategy is key to retaining your existing customers. The more channels you have, the more chances for contact you have. Mobile marketing means customers can receive your messages wherever they are. And mobile commerce means that customers can take your shop with them wherever they go.

Here’s our top three ways you can take advantage of mobile to sell more to your existing customers.

1. Make your email marketing mobile-friendly

Your email database is one of your biggest assets, but have you thought about where subscribers will be reading your messages? Statistics from Knole indicate that 41% of emails are opened on mobile devices. If your emails aren’t mobile-optimised, you’re missing out!

But it’s not just about making sure they fit onto a phone or tablet screen. You should also consider content. Here’s some tips:

• Keep copy short and punchy. Make sure you put the most important messages at the top so non-scrollers still see them.
• Use a one-column template so content is easy to read.
• Images should be high-res, but not so massive that they take forever to load on patchy networks or 3G.
• Beware of image banners that contain text – it often comes up as tiny and unreadable on a phone. Keep it big!
• Remind people they can shop on their mobile – there’s a good example from Dorothy Perkins above. Look in the top right corner.

2. Create a community of engaged customers with mobile apps

If you’ve got an existing community of customers, mobile apps can be a great tool to keep them engaged. At Poq, we look for brands with a loyal following of customers on social media and existing mobile traffic of over 20%, as these companies are the most likely to benefit from an app.

A new customer is unlikely to download a mobile app for your brand, but someone’s who’s already bought from you a few times, and loves your product? They’re the perfect demographic for an app. They actively want to be told about special offers and new products.

Here’s some ways you can use a mobile app to encourage existing customers to buy:

• Send out regular push notifications. Weekly is a good place to start, but experiment and see what works for you. Net-a-Porter send out notifications whenever they have new stock in, which is usually more often than just once a week.
• Keep adding new content to encourage customers to use the app regularly. You can bring across editorial content from your website, or create app-only features. At Poq we’re offering shoppable lookbooks which work well with the swiping and touching navigation of mobile devices.
• Get social. Make it easy for customers to share products on social networks, and think about including more advanced features. Check out the photo-sharing mobile website we just made for Orlebar Brown for an example.

3. Use mobile in-store to keep customers engaged

If you’re a brand with bricks-and-mortar assets, this is key. Here’s three tips:

• A mobile optimised store-finder is essential. You should allow customers to find opening hours, call stores, and get directions on your mobile website or app. It’s a great way to connect the dots!
• Let customers browse your full range of products once they’re in-store. They might want to order different sizes or colourways that are only in stock on your website. You can use iPads on the shopfloor like Oasis, or if you’re not ready for that, you can provide wi-fi access so shoppers can check your website or app on their own phones.
• Mobile payments are still very niche, but something that’s worth keeping an eye on. Read our blog post here for a full run-down of the options.

So there you have it – using mobile to keep your customers happy is easy! Any other tips to share?