The world of ecommerce has probably never had it so good. With the recent recession happening, offline modes of shopping have reduced considerably. Online shopping is convenient, you get plenty of discounts and bargain deals online. However, online retailers should not rest on their laurels, as existing customers should be attracted in a major way. As the popular adage goes, it is easier to win a new customer than it is to retain an existing one.
Having more useful information
Today’s online shoppers look through reviews online and interact with other shoppers to know which are the best shopping sites and products online. In addition, helpful how-to articles and videos are freely available on sites such as Youtube and MySpace as well as other social networking sites. Thus, consumers of today expect even online retail sites to have useful information that will help them in convincing them to make a purchase. After all, why would they buy from your site if another site has reviews, product ratings and comparison guides on it?
Loyalty is not a one-way exercise
Customer loyalty is one of the hardest things to come by and while earlier it may have been easier, today it is a tougher game. In this age, where everything is available online, free, customers find changing retail site preferences as easy as 1 2 3. If a customer does not find what they need on your site they will surely navigate to another site that does. Loyalty is fickle and competition is tough. Therefore, it is high time online retailer buckled up their shoes and started in earnest to attract their existing customers.
Addressing pain areas
One interesting tactic that many online retailers today are exploring is to use the power of social media and interactive tools to touch the customer’s mindset. Most common pain areas about shopping online include security concerns and small font sizes. For aged online shoppers, having larger font sizes can go a long way in ensuring their loyalty towards your site. In addition, when you assure customers that you have an SSL certification on your site, all information is encrypted and that it passes through a secure server, you can be sure that shopping statistics will increase on your site.
Social media and tools like using interactive videos on your site can go a long way in helping you touching base with your customer. Many customers want proof and justification as to why they should invest in your products. By having videos that demonstrate the benefits of your products or how your retail site is better than others you can gain their confidence. However, you must not make the mistake of sticking to promotional videos only. In addition to promotional videos, you should also have instructional videos, which teach your target audience how to perform a specific task. So, if you sell spare parts on your retail site, you could have videos demonstrating how to assemble a specific machinery using spare parts. The possibilities with such an approach are limitless and there is a lot you can do to attract customers to your brand.
Social elements to shopping
Simple social elements like bookmarking a site, or posting a review or comment on the retail site can go a long way in helping instill trust in your site. Most consumers today are well connected with other online shoppers and hence are looking for trustworthy sites to shop from. Having online reviews posted on the site will go a long way in ensuring this trust aspect.
Customer generated content
Another marketing tactic spun out of the whole social media revolution is allowing your customers to generate useful content themselves. They write their own reviews about products they have bought from your site, write articles on which products work well, how to perform a task etc. In this manner, when other similar customers interact with them they are able to make better purchase decisions. With so much connectivity and closeness online, it is possible to realize more sales by having such user generated content on your retail site.
Blogging
Blogging has emerged as another powerful way to understand customer preferences and tastes. Want to know which brands your target customers love? Or want to know what they think of your brand? Turn to blogging. Blogging also represents an informal way to be in contact with your customer. In fact, the whole social media boom is all about a personal touch to sales anyway. Instead of the conventional way of doing your promotions, you are now trying to reach customers with blogging and other indirect mechanisms. These methods are today proving to be far more effective that regular promotional campaigns.
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