Why you need to build customer loyalty

You've done it, you've attracted a visitor and they've entered your shop for the first time and completed a purchase. Then, the next challenge: to get them to come back and recommend your business. What's more, it's even better if they prefer you over competitors. But can you do it, did they leave happy, did they not, what happened, how can you build customer loyalty?

The concept of brand loyalty is not new but it is extremely important. Nowadays, the most appropriate strategy to achieve it is an omnichannel action plan. It is no longer enough to make a successful sale. With so many stimuli and options available, on mobile and other devices, retailers have to make efficient use of all the means at their disposal to achieve the much-prized repeat business.

It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the importance of consistency across all the channels through which we communicate at the point of sale. But it is crucial to understand that by not sending cohesive messages, we are losing the ability to realise their full potential. In addition, we are losing perhaps the only opportunity we have to create a bond with these visitors. If we have already got them into the store, how do we get their loyalty?

What do we mean when we talk about brand loyalty?

Building customer loyalty means getting a consumer who has hundreds of options and shops to shop in, as they are no longer even dependent on geographical proximity to them, to choose your business and come back. Even if there are cheaper or more complete options.

Although loyalty programmes and loyalty rewards may seem like a thing of the past (and it is true that they have been around for decades), they still represent a large portion of many companies' business today. By building customer loyalty, you not only increase your revenue:

• You optimise resources by investing only once in customer acquisition.
• You retain customers and incentivise them to buy again.
• You can obtain and use more and more information from them.
• You get new customers through their recommendation.
  

How to build long-term loyalty

Trust has always been a determining factor for a customer to return to a shop and feel loyalty to a particular brand. However, it is no longer enough to build customer loyalty, nor is it enough for the service or product to provide value.

As we shared in another article, the shopping experience has an abysmal influence on conversion, and also on loyalty. It is therefore necessary to implement in-store strategies to offer a memorable and relevant process.

A comfortable and controllable environment

Prices and items have lost the importance they had in the past. For the process in the physical space to be successful and result in a sale, it is essential that each customer receives the answers they are looking for and the ideal solutions to meet their needs. But of course not just any old way, they have to be engaging, unique and allow them to take control if they want to.

10 keys to provide a "at home" feeling in your physical space:

• Offer relevant information
• Avoid consistency failures
• Guide through processes
• Simple and complete touch points
• Plan an omni-channel strategy
• Accessible, efficient and clear customer service
• Ambience that suits their preferences
• Stimulate all 5 senses
• Always consider who your audience is
• Consider the right moments

It is clear, then, that in order to live up to expectations and create a comfortable atmosphere that provides an unparalleled experience, it is essential to know your customers inside out. The same message cannot be applied to everyone, nor should one thing be communicated in the same way to everyone. There are tools specifically designed to scale content creation, optimise advertising, and are simple and affordable.

Ladorian: end-to-end technology to help you build customer loyalty

The risk of not knowing your audience is very high: you will probably lose existing customers and you will not be able to generate new ones because you will not have the capacity to capture them and then to retain them. In order to take advantage of the data, the interconnection that favours digital devices at the physical point of sale and personalised content, Ladorian offers different solutions.

Ladorian's software integrates all media outlets and devices in the shops through artificial intelligence. It creates coherent content that allows a fluid and relevant communication enhancing the likelihood of customer loyalty. It also analyses your own business data along with information from external agents to adjust strategies in real time and streamline returns on investment.

As if that wasn't enough, from a single platform, it allows you to obtain information, analyse and implement the strategy so that customers return more often to your shop.

Some of the in-store strategies offered by Ladorian:

• Demographic data collection technology
• Anonymous profiling
• Count reports and heat mapping
• Integration with online behavioural data
• Recommendation engine

Find out more about Ladorian from our sales team. We can also help you to get a subsidy for the digitalisation of your shop. Contact us without obligation, we will be happy to give you detailed information.