How to Generate Customer Loyalty and Repeat Business

//How to Generate Customer Loyalty and Repeat Business

How to Generate Customer Loyalty and Repeat Business

In today’s shopping world, consumers have many choices when it comes to where they want to shop. This poses a huge challenge for the retailer who wants to generate customer loyalty and repeat business. Also, consumers have very high expectations about the experience they will have when shopping and are easily disappointed when they are inconvenienced in any way. A retailer’s brand can be damaged by just one disgruntled shopper who leaves bad reviews online. Here are a few ways you can up the ante when it comes to your customer loyalty strategy.

customerloyaltyMake Your Website Work for You – One recent study reported that 60% of consumers will stop buying from a retailer if their website is not easy to navigate. As a paint retailer, you may think, well my website doesn’t matter that much because I don’t sell a lot online. Almost 75% of shoppers do research online before they buy, so your website needs to be easy to navigate with clear and engaging pictures. Consumers should not have to work hard to search your website for information about the products you sell. The services you provide as well as your hours of operation should be easily found, and you should always make sure there is a map to your location. Include FAQ’s and other information about your store’s policies on a clearly marked page. And last but not least, your website should work as well on a smartphone as it does on a desktop computer because those 75% of shoppers who do research about products they want to buy do their research on a smartphone. Don’t assume your website is mobile-friendly, check it now!

Services are King – Most people are so busy these days, they are looking for retailers who are quick and convenient, but who also offer services such as delivery and in-store returns for online purchases. For paint and decorating retailers, services such as color consulting are a must these days. You may even want to offer in-home color consulting, the height of convenience for busy consumers. DIY demos are also a huge draw for customers looking to do home renovations themselves. Many products a paint retailer sells can be intimidating and/or confusing to use, so holding product demonstrations is a wonderful way to reel in customers and keep them coming back. It also gives them ideas about new projects they want to do and makes you their go-to retailer for supplies.

ladycustomerExperience is Also King – While you are planning those in-store demos, why not also plan to hold classes as well, and let your customers actually use the products themselves? A paint and decorating store is the perfect venue to hold classes for all of the wonderful new products available in the home decor market. The list goes on and on – chalk paint, metallic paint, stains, tools, brushes, tapes – all of those products would lend themselves to being used in a class-type setting. A customer who learns a new technique using your products will more than likely purchase the products from you as well. Classes could be formed around a package of products you put together that are purchased by the customer, and the hands-on learning is a free service you provide. Pay attention to what products you and your staff get a lot of questions about or that you are selling a lot of. Those products will be the ones you hold classes with. Put your thinking cap on and you will come up with many demo/class ideas to keep those DIY-ers coming back over and over!

With all of the choices consumers have these days, it can be challenging for retailers to generate and keep customer loyalty. The good news is there are quite a few things you can do to encourage customers to keep coming back to your store. Convenience, services, and experiences are all things they look for when choosing a retailer, so just make sure you are providing them with what they want!