With ecommerce sites a dime a dozen, it is important to nurture customer loyalty to increase your revenues with the help of repeat orders. Here are a few tips on how to encourage customer loyalty on your ecommerce site:

1) Use Social Media in an efficient fashion:

Social media is a powerful tool in building customer loyalty. You must use it to spread a unified brand image and speak to your customers on a personal note. In case your company messes up on social media, you might wake up to the nightmare of a mistake going viral and damaging your brand substantially. Respond to any customer complaints in a prompt fashion. Correct any problem areas highlighted by your customers in double quick time. Doing so will result in an increase in your customer loyalty.

2) Build customer loyalty using special offers:

Discounts and special offers for existing customers help them stay loyal. Use these in a judicious fashion on special occasions. Incentivize sharing of your pages and products on social media. You can also use re-marketing as a tool in your arsenal to target existing customers who have not purchased recently from you.

3) Implement personalization:

Customers love feeling valued. You can achieve this by using personalization. Do so by sending an email which has a list of products similar to the ones your customer has purchased or viewed. It will help in establishing a connect with your customer and make him or her feel special. Implement personalization to send special offer emails on birthdays and anniversaries. Doing this helps in increasing customer loyalty towards you and your eCommerce site.

4) Use loyalty programs and customer reward points:

Loyalty programs and customer reward points are an excellent way of increasing customer loyalty. Keep your loyalty program as simple as possible. Have a simple payout system which is easy to understand. An example is giving a customer a gift card of a certain denomination depending upon the number of points they stack up on purchases. Be sure to reward more frequent customers if they buy more from you.

5) Offer to ship items for free to your frequent customers:

According to a poll held by National Retail Federation, 66% of online buyers selected free shipping as “very important” in making a decision to buy online. Offer free shipping to customers who regularly buy from you. But, have a minimum order threshold to ensure that you don’t end up breaking the bank by offering free shipping on your products.

Customer loyalty is vital for e-commerce sites to survive in a highly competitive marketplace. Keep your customer engagement levels high using email, social media, and special offers. Try to convert them into brand advocates who do not hesitate in spreading the word about your business to friends and family.