Though it will largely vary by retailer, a majority of these organizations leverage their marketing and advertising budgets towards new customer acquisition. While these organizations aren’t completely ignoring their existing customers, they believe growing their customer base is imperative. However, according to recent research, increasing the customer base of any retailer can be a serious challenge. With data identifying the fact that retailers have a 60% to 70% chance of reselling to existing customers compared to a 5% to 20% chance of making a first-time sale to a new customer, it can be easy to understand the severity of the challenge. Throughout this post, the ways in which retailers can meaningfully connect with their customers, both new and old, will be detailed in length.
The reason in which these retailers are hoping to better reach both their new customers and existing customers is to increase their profits and thus the overall revenue stream of their retail operations. One way to ensure the retail operations are still customer centric is by tightly connecting the online and in-store techniques used by your organization to improve their experience. In doing so, you’re giving customers the most enhanced shopping experience while they’re in your retail locations and maintaining their interest even when they leave the store through personalized offers online. These techniques are typically referred to as cross-selling and up-selling.
The one thing that the infographic included alongside this post emphasizes more than anything is just how important omnichannel marketing is to achieving both this strategy and finding any success in the retail industry today. A well-established digital presence can be the deciding factor between bringing new customers into physical retail locations that would otherwise never had interacted with a business.
The reason this strategy is so important is due to the way the retail industry operates today. When you consider the fact that on average, most customers spend about 15 minutes to an hour in physical retail locations, it can be easier to understand why continuing to connect with these customers outside of the store can be so important. Most customers enter a store knowing exactly what they’re looking for and as once they purchase it they leave. A strong enough social media presence means that the customer never stops interacting with this business despite leaving their physical location. Text message offerings and different coupon codes sent via e-mail are the perfect ways to drag these customers back into the store.
Rather than struggling to identify which customer segment is most important to your business, adjust in ways that can continue to service both segments while helping your retail operations remain successful. For more information on how to do exactly that, be sure to take some time to review the infographic accompanying this post. Courtesy of IDL Displays.
