Want to grow your Shopify store? Of course, you do. For that, you need to build a base loyal customers.
Because, going by the famous 80/20 principle, 80% of your profits can come from 20% of your most loyal customers.
So how do you win customer loyalty? 90% of business owners would say, through discounts.
But that’s not true. Your most loyal customers aren’t really inclined to discounts more than value, meaning and quality.
There are many other meaningful and thoughtful ways in which you can reward customers. In this article, we’re sharing a few that have been used by industry-leading brands.
Ways to reward customers without offering discounts
1. Appreciation and thank you notes
Everyone loves recognition. Customers love it, too. Saying ‘thank you’ is a great way to reward your customers without spending a penny. Moreover, customers who feel appreciated end up sharing positive reviews and are more likely to recommend your brand to others.
There are many occasions and opportunities to show appreciation. Here are some:
- Have a customer of the month/week section on your website, social media, newsletter, etc. Feature customers who truly made a difference to you!
- Send thank you messages to customers after every purchase or milestone crossed
- Appreciate customers for staying loyal to you year after year. For example, have yearly anniversaries
- Make appreciation more personal by sending personalized thank you notes
2. Give customers store credits
Who doesn’t like more money to spend?! The only difference, you’re not really giving your customers money. You’re giving them Shopify store credits, which they can use to make purchases.
You could even offer store credits when customers initiate an exchange or return. Instead of refunding the amount to the customer, give them store credits, which they can use at a later date to make purchases. That way, you’re not only keeping your customers happy, you’re also making sure they make more purchases from your site.
3. Send customers a gift
Experiments have shown that shoppers tend to buy more when something is offered as a bonus on the purchase of something (For example, a free soap with a shampoo) compared to when the item is on a discount. It’s true. We, humans, are wired to react more positively when we receive something for free.
For your Shopify Plus store, you could use this customer psychology to your advantage. You can offer free gifts to boost customer loyalty. When shoppers receive something free from a brand, they feel obliged to do something in return. In most cases, they feel an increased sense of loyalty.
You could find opportunities to offer free gifts to customers. For example, a gift on their birthday, a free gift after they cross a specific amount of purchases, or when they reach a specific amount of Shopify rewards points, etc.
4. Collaborate with other brands to offer something to your customers
One smart way to reward your customers is to collaborate with another brand for cross promotions. You could partner with another brand and offer something from that brand as a reward to your customers.
For example, if you’re selling shoes, you could collaborate with a shoe polish brand and offer a discount on the shoe polish or a sample pack. In return, the shoe polish brand could offer their customers a discount on shoes from your store. You could even make this a part of your Shopify rewards program.
5. Invite customers to try your new products and services
One way to make your customers feel special is to invite them to try your new products. This is a win-win for both your customers and your brand. Customers feel good when you include them in your product development process. And as a brand, you can benefit from their feedback and make your product better.
Here are some instances when you could invite customers to try new products:
- When you’re launching a new product
- When you’re upgrading an existing product with new features
- When you’re entering a new product line or market
- When you’re changing your pricing plan
6. Host events for special customers
Another way to make your most loyal customers feel special is by hosting exclusive events for them. Offering some fun and entertainment to your customers can be a good way to engage them. Here again, you can think creatively and make the event meaningful to them. The events could be get-togethers, workshops, sports events, seminars, and other such exciting opportunities for them to meet other customers as well as learn something new. If it’s an in-person event, you get to hang out with your customers too.
For example, a Swiss watch brand organized an invitation-only workshop for its loyal customers. What the hands-on workshop did was something amazing! It made the customers experience how difficult it is to piece together a watch. The result: the customers understood the real value of the watch.
7. Offer preference to your most loyal customers
It’s only fair that you treat your most loyal customers a little more special compared to others. That way, they will continue being loyal. One way of doing so is to give them more preference.
For example, if you’re launching a new collection or running a sale, give them first access and first chance to shop before you open it up to the public.
8. Offer your loyal customers better services
You probably know your loyal customers for more than just a few weeks or months. Chances are you’ve built a relationship with them over years. To make them feel special, you could reward them by way of preferential services.
Think of benefits or adjustments such as waiving off minimum order value or installation charges or increasing the exchange period, etc. You might not be in a position to offer these small perks to your new customers, but your old and loyal customers might expect these from you. And so, you could give it to them.
9. Improve their shopping experience with a customer account page
When you think of giving rewards to your customers, you mostly think of gifts, objects, deals, etc. Seldom do brands think of this simple, yet important factor – the customer account page.
It’s the page that holds all important information for customers, such as address, payment details, past purchases, etc.
But what’s so good about it, you might wonder.
Well, it’s a place where your customers will find all their information. The customer account page not only gives a better shopping experience, it makes it easy and quick as well. Customers can easily reorder items, add and purchase items from wishlist, go back to recently viewed products, etc.
Here’s an example of a comprehensive customer account page that makes you want to go back to Amazon time and again:
You can actually do the same on your Shopify store with an app like Flits Customer Account Pages. Leading brands like The Man Company already leverage customized customer account pages on their Shopify store, leading to higher brand loyalty and repeat sales. Read all about it here.
10. Make your loyal customers a part of your brand community
An excellent way to offer something valuable to your customers is to invite them to join your community. What’s a community? It’s a space, a forum, a group of like-minded people who engage, discuss or generally like to know about things about your brand, your industry or related topics.
For example, if you’re a Shopify store that sells ethical fashion, you could build a community of people who support ethical fashion and would be interested in discussions around the topic. This community could be in the form of a social media page, an online forum (Eg. Google group), or even an offline setup.
Round up
So now you know 10 ways in which you can reward your customers. And guess what, most of them won’t cost a dime to you. What we’re trying to stress on is: give your loyal customers rewards, not reductions.
Your loyal customers love your brand/products and hence, might not be fussed about discounts or price reductions. What they might be looking for is quality, experiences, value, etc.
Does your Shopify store need to focus on loyalty?
Well, with so much competition in the eCommerce space, yes! Your Shopify store needs to focus on customer loyalty. Brands that have focused on boosting loyalty with perks like store credits, have seen growth.
Take the example of The Man Company. The men’s grooming and personal care products company increased orders on their Shopify store by 41% by using Flits Store Credits feature. They saw a 91% increase in the average order value by using this feature. How did that happen? You’d wonder. Well, the brand was able to increase their store credit spend by 327% during the pandemic lockdown period, by coming up with a creative strategy for their rewards program. (Read about it in this case study.)
And you, too, can see such returns on your Shopify and Shopify Plus stores. How? By making Flits do all the amazing work for you. It’s the best Shopify loyalty rewards app for small and large stores that brings together features like reorders, store credits and more into your Shopify customer account page.
Want to know how? Install the Flits app today to see the app in action!
