How to build customer loyalty online and get repeat orders

It will come as no surprise that retaining existing customers is more cost effective than attracting new ones, and with ecommerce this is equally true.

Here are a few golden rules for building customer loyalty online and getting repeat orders.

Do not over complicate your site

Your home page should clearly convey the products or services you are selling. Don’t over complicate it with Flash animation as it will detract from your brief window of opportunity to capture interest and hopefully an order. If returning customers are confronted with a barrage of flashing graphics each time they visit, they will soon look for a site which is easier on the eye.

Make your products easy to find

Provide a comprehensive search facility. Make the navigation logical by grouping similar products together or presenting complimentary products. Make sure customers can find what they want with the minimum number of mouse clicks. Your top sellers and best offers will attract orders, so prominently display these on your home page.

Comprehensive product information

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Provide adequate product descriptions, use part numbers and accurate product names with all the information they need to make an informed purchase. Back it up with pictures and customer endorsements. Any uncertainty, as a minimum, will delay a purchase, but more likely drive the customer to another site which does provide the information they need.

Up-to-date

Search engines rate sites whose content changes frequently more highly than sites in which the content is static. Nothing is more off putting than a site which hasn’t been updated for ages.

Fast response

Opting for the cheapest hosting package for your site might seem to make financial sense. However nothing puts a buyer off quicker than a slow site.

Encourage return visits

Analyse your existing customers’ purchasing habits and if their frequency of purchase reduces, or they haven’t visited for a while email them a special offer, coupons or vouchers to entice them back.

Complaints

Complaints can expose specific problems which require attention and provide a great opportunity to learn and improve. The chances are that if something about your service or product has prompted one customer to complain, many more may have felt the same but have not gone to the effort of bringing it to your attention.

Feedback

Review your service continually by giving your customer every opportunity to give feedback. Also conduct more formal surveys with a random selection of customers to establish their service satisfaction levels.

Consider using sites like www.plebble.com or www.feefo.com which enable your customers to give independent reviews. So even if you are not a familiar brand the quality of your products and service can be endorsed. This gives other customers the reassurance they need to commit to a new purchase, and existing customers are reassured they have made the right choice.

Increasing customer loyalty is a challenge, but providing you adhere to some basic principles it will provide an enriching customer experience as well as being financially rewarding in the longer term.

But above all communication is the essential ingredient in maintaining customer loyalty. An informed customer is invariably a happy customer.

By Simon Armstrong
Simon Armstrong is marketing manager at ecommerce and EPOS supplier, Actinic
www.actinic.co.uk