As an Amazon seller, you’ve worked hard for every customer and sale that you’ve scored. But how do you keep those customers coming back time and time again? It’s a question that stumps many brands, but luckily for you, Click Fluency is here with answers!
In this guide, we’ll explain how to boost Amazon listing traffic and improve customer retention on Amazon.
Why Should You Focus on Customer Retention?
Retaining customers may seem like a lot of hard work, but finding new customers is harder! It’s much easier to keep the customers you already have that hunt for new ones.
With a good customer retention marketing strategy, you’ll spend less on advertising, which means more profits for you. It’s also a smart way to boost customer loyalty. Wouldn’t you love to have your own team of brand ambassadors? Thanks to a customer retention plan, you can.
Six Tips for Improving Customer Retention on Amazon
So how exactly do you keep those customers coming back to your products? Here are a few customer retention strategies to try.
1. Add a Personal Touch
What customer doesn’t want to feel valued? One way to boost customer retention on Amazon is by sending personalized emails to customers who have purchased your products.
For instance, if a customer buys your brand of cat food, you might send an email suggesting other products of interest, such as cat treats and toys. Since the customer has already shown interest in your products, there’s a good chance they’ll like your other offerings, too.
It’s common for customers to add items to their cart and either forget about them or wait for the price to drop before buying. To boost loyalty, try emailing them a reminder to purchase. And if you do lower the price, customers will appreciate a heads-up.
2. Offer Amazon Prime Shipping
Millions of people in the U.S. have an Amazon Prime membership. If your business doesn’t offer Amazon Prime shipping, you could be losing sales to a seller that does.
Amazon Prime provides two-day shipping to members, and in some parts of the country, buyers can get their item overnight or even the same day they order. When a customer wants their item now, they’ll look for a seller that offers Amazon Prime shipping every time.
Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime is a program that lets you ship items directly from your own warehouse. If you sign up, you’re committing to ship products in one or two days at no extra charge to Prime members. It’s a high bar, but most sellers find the program to be well worth it.
3. Choose Your Approved Sellers Wisely
Allowing distributors to sell your products on Amazon can be a wise way to boost your bottom line. But if you pick the wrong ones, both your reputation and your revenue could take a hit.
All it takes is one bad distributor to tarnish your brand’s good image. Plus, some sellers violate your Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) agreement, which could undercut the value of your brand. That’s because buyers will usually choose the cheapest product, meaning that you might have trouble selling your items for the intended price. So before you choose a distributor, do your research and make sure they’re legit.
What if you find unauthorized sellers listing your products on Amazon? This is sadly common, even though it’s against Amazon’s policies.
By signing up for Amazon Brand Registry, Amazon will shield you from distributors who try to sell your items without approval. It automatically scans for and removes violations it finds.
4. Hand Out Deals and Rewards
Everyone loves a good deal, and that includes your most loyal customers! To encourage repeat sales, try sending exclusive coupons and discounts to your buyers. You could offer occasional 20% discounts, for instance, or reward customers with a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
Referral programs can be good incentives for returning customers, too. With a referral program, you can offer customers a discount or a percentage of your sales for referring friends to you.
Amazon also comes with built-in tools to help you boost loyalty. One of these is the Subscribe & Save program, which gives customers a discount for ordering the same products regularly. The more items customers add to their Subscribe & Save list, the bigger their discount will be.
Subscribe & Save is good news for you because customers won’t have to remember to reorder. Amazon automatically ships products to subscribers with no extra effort by the customer or you.
5. Have a Good Return Policy
No matter how great your products are, some customers just won’t be happy with their purchase. That’s especially true if you sell clothes or shoes. If an item doesn’t fit or you send the wrong color, customers want an easy way to return it for a refund.
Spell out your return policy clearly so customers can buy with confidence. If customers know they can make returns for any reason, they’ll be more likely to buy from you.
6. Respond to Customer Feedback
No seller likes to get slammed with bad reviews, but if you’ve been around for a while, a bit of negative feedback is nearly inevitable.
When you get a bad review, the worst thing you can do is ignore it. Not only does it mean that that buyer feels ignored and unlikely to buy from you again, but it also shows other customers that you don’t care what they think.
Instead of burying your head in the sand, reach out to the disgruntled customer and offer to make things right. Ask if they’d like a refund or replacement. You might also consider offering an apology discount. If it’s tempting enough, the customer may be willing to give your business another chance.
Retain More Customers With Click Fluency
Customer retention can be a challenge, even for well-known brands. If you need help with your advertising impressions or customer service strategy, reach out to Click Fluency! Our talented team will help you improve customer retention on Amazon with personalized account management services and listing optimization.