There’s a well-worn axiom in the business world that it’s easier to retain customers than it is to replace them. In the online age, customer retention can be a harder proposition than it used to be.
After all, online businesses don’t get the opportunity to nurture and cultivate relationships with their customers in the way that traditional businesses can. Let’s examine how different sectors encourage and leverage customer loyalty in the online age.
Banking
Banking is one of the most traditional industries, and one in which relationships used to be everything.
A bank manager was right up there with a clergyman or doctor as a trustworthy pillar of the community, and people would stay loyal to the same bank through generations without question.
Today, loyalty isn’t something that banks can take for granted, and as for the bank manager – few of us even venture into branches these days, and if we do, we’re unlikely to see the same customer service agent twice.
More than 80 percent of bankers expect their loyalty to be rewarded in some way. Bank rewards typically revolve around rewarding customers for spending money by giving loyalty points of some description. However, some have taken different approaches.
For example, Utah and Idaho-based Zion bank’s Pays for As program rewards students who get high grades.
Casinos
There are dozens of casinos out there, many of which offer loyalty programs, with PlayAmo being one of them.
Rewarding loyalty is vital in this sector, as it is so competitive and there is always another new casino opening its doors and offering some new welcome deals for new members.
Most casinos offer top-up bonuses and the like, whereby they add up to 100 percent to a customer deposit. But they need to go further. PlayAmo, for example, offers bonus points for every spin of the reels or game played, and these points can be exchanged for rewards.
The platform also has different tiers for VIP members, so the higher you rise, the more impressive the returns.
Best of all, though, are the exclusive tournaments that can only be accessed by VIP members. These provide a genuine incentive to stay loyal to a specific casino provider.
eCommerce
eCommerce is another sector in which customers expect more in return than might have been the case a generation ago if they are to remain loyal to a seller. Loyalty points are almost a misnomer.
Of course, customers will claim the points, but they will do the same for every seller they might use, there is really very little happening that has anything to do with loyalty.
Saying that customers expect more does not necessarily mean giveaways. They will return to a brand when they feel a connection to it, an affinity. That comes straight down to old-fashioned marketing skills such as personalization and exemplary customer support.
For example, requesting feedback on a purchase and then publicly sharing it provides exactly that kind of connection that will keep the customer coming back for more.