A Guide to Retaining BFCM Shoppers Using Loyalty Programs

The madness is finally over; you can breathe easy now. Yes, the discount weekend, aka BFCM weekend, is over at last. This calm and easy period is invaluable for sellers. It is time for building on the foundation laid down by the BFCM shopping frenzy. And in this period, you need to ask yourself some questions:

• How did I do this BFCM weekend in terms of sales?
• Can I identify any trends or patterns in customer behavior?
• How much market share did I acquire?
• How many new customers were drawn to my brand?

The last question is extremely vital, and it shapes the future for you and your business. Each of these new customers you were able to reach out to represents an opportunity to further expand your brand value and customer pool. With the BFCM weekend coming to a close, the playing field is level again. This means brand value and customer retention are crucial factors that will dictate your growth and sustained success.

During BFCM, customers buy from you with limited information on your brand as most purchase decisions are discount-driven. But, failing to engage with these new customers will be a missed opportunity because, with the right strategy, they can become your repeat customers. Remember, retaining a customer is much more cost-effective than acquiring a new one. So, let's look in detail at this guide to retaining BFCM shoppers.

Implement Loyalty Programs

When executed properly, loyalty programs ensure that your existing customers are constantly engaged with the brand and prevent newly acquired customers from moving away. These are several ways to encourage customers to enroll in your programs, such as discounts, rewards, product upgrades, complimentary gifts for membership, and much more.

An effective customer acquisition and retention tool, loyalty programs can also help you develop an alternative marketing strategy. In addition, customers are more likely to recommend your brand or program to others if they can leverage the additional value from it.

Some sellers look to add reward loyalty points to the customers' accounts for every purchase they make as part of their loyalty program. Customers can redeem these points during future purchases or amass them for further membership perks and rewards.

For example, Florsheim Shoes has a neat and effective points system that gives customers one point for every dollar they spend. Once the customers reach 300$, they will receive a 25$ reward that they can use for future purchases. To access the reward system, the customer needs a Florsheim account. Customers can also earn 50 reward points for every product review they submit. With this attractive reward system, Florsheim ensures the new shoppers are engaged and stick around for more.

Introduce Tiers in your Loyalty Programs

After implementing loyalty programs, you should now look to add tiers to keep your customers hooked. These tiers will pique the customers' curiosity, thereby keeping them engaged all the time with your brand, slowly converting them from window shoppers to your most loyal customers. You should also look to give catchy names to different tiers and add attractive rewards or discounts for the customers as they move up a level. Finally, it will increase brand loyalty and help build a positive relationship with the customer.

Similarly, you can use the tier system and take advantage of the customers' aspirations to gain more every time they shop from you. If you can spot the "at-risk" customers, move them up a tier in your loyalty program. When they find out that they have been rewarded, it is very likely that they will stay loyal to your brand for the long run and may even end up becoming your brand ambassadors. Mirenesse, the make-up and skincare brand, is renowned for its dynamic tier system. It provides an incentive for the customer to spend their money on the brand offerings while staying loyal in the long term.

Retarget Customers with Email Campaigns

Yes, emails are still in fashion. Even in the age of social media, emails are an effective and seamless marketing channel to touch base with the customer. With a well-designed email campaign, you can connect with customers and build a relationship with them. You can start with a "thank you" mail or "purchase confirmation" mail with your first-time BFCM shoppers and get the ball rolling. These mails emphasize the customers' value and are sure to catch their attention. Afterward, make sure to retarget them with emails that highlight the loyalty programs or the reward points they have gained to push them closer to your brand.

Likewise, remind your customers about the membership perks and how close they are to acquiring these benefits with the post-purchase emails. It is extremely vital to keep the conversation going and ensure that the mail has a clear CTA. Unlike promotional emails that the customers are going to ignore or treat as spam, these reward emails have a strong emotional pull. Therefore, personalize your emails, retarget first-time BFCM shoppers, and convert them to your most loyal customers.  

Customer Retention: Best Way to Go Against the Big Players

Customer retention and brand loyalty are two elements that are truly priceless in the modern-day eCommerce ecosystem. BFCM and the holiday season indeed give SMBs a huge advantage with the sudden spike in online traffic. But once the dust settles down, the big players can retain their superiority as they have a strong brand value that they have built over the years. However, one factor that can make a huge difference here and propel you to the next level is how you engage with your customers immediately after the event ends. Even though retaining your seasonal shoppers and converting them to your loyal followers is no easy task, you can achieve it with the right strategies and some out-of-the-box thinking.

You should devise creative loyalty programs to draw these customers to you and give them added incentives to continue purchasing with a well-designed tier system. You should also look to retarget the dormant seasonal shoppers through email campaigns and provide them with the best customer service, which will make their experience seamless.

How Vajro Can Help?

We are here to help you as well. Vajro has aided innumerable SMBs in their digital transformation journey. We will deliver you the mobile app of your dream. With all the modern-day features like live selling, personalization, vibrant templates, push notifications, and much more, our mobile app will help your business sustain and compete in an ever-evolving environment. We also have plug n play integrations with some of the top loyalty program applications like Loyalty Lion, Flits, Rewardify to name a few.

Want to book a demo with us? Click here.