How Are New Customers Going To Find Your Business?
February 26, 2018 (0 comments)
There's no doubt that one of the biggest problems in ecommerce is customer retention. According to research done by Optimove, a Gartner’s analytics company, nearly two-thirds of customers who make a purchase never return to make a second one. Jewelers have two valid avenues to remedy this situation. The first is to make a concerted effort to continue the relationship with those customers who have made a purchase; the second is to secure a steady supply of new customers.
Customer acquisition doesn’t happen by chance. Successful ecommerce is dependent on having a clear, consistently implemented plan to attract new business. There are several important parts to this plan. You need to have a clear understanding of your target customer – a profile that can be developed by making good use of the data collected by your website analytics. You want to be able to fully leverage your website and social media to expand your store’s visibility. At a minimum, this means making sure your tech and your team is prepared to handle an influx of new customers, who may have questions or need customer support to make a purchase. And finally, you need to provide an experience that captures the customer’s attention for a significant period of time.
Begin with the Customer Profile: Website Analytics are Key
For the jeweler who is trying to manage all of this on their own, this can sound like a daunting task, especially when you’re also running the store. Make the best use of your available time by focusing on the target customer profile first. The information and insights you derive here will inform everything you subsequently do, and they can help you become more effective with the efforts you’re already making.
It’s essential that your website analytics are configured properly. Over the course of the past year, Google has updated several of the Google Analytics reports most of interest to online retailers. If you discover that your analytics haven’t been set up properly, take action to have that addressed immediately. If you’re doing this on your own, Google Analytics Help is here. If you’re using any other third-party analytics tools, it’s a good idea to review your settings periodically and make sure everything is working the way you want them to be.
Trends in the data among your existing customer base can and should inform your target customer profile. It is very common for retailers to have an idea of their target customer profile in mind, only to find that their existing customer base was rather different. The more objective understanding you have of your customer base, the easier it becomes to attract more of them. As an added bonus, you can use this data to strengthen your relationship with your current active customers as well as those who haven’t shopped with you in a while.
Be Aware Of All Data Sources
All social media platforms and many third-party applications capture some degree of data about users who connect with your brand. Data dashboards are useful to manage multiple sources of customer data, but again, you need to be sure your settings are configured properly. Reliable data makes it easier to accurately target your new customer acquisition efforts precisely.
Schedule Regular Data Reviews
As you move forward with the creation and implementation of your customer acquisition plan, schedule regular times to review the data captured by your analytics tools. Doing so ensures configurations continue to remain correct while providing an overview of new customer traffic sources and behaviors. If you like what you’re seeing, great! Continue with the plan. If you want to see those numbers improve, it’s time to examine what you’re doing and make adjustments to generate better results. We’ll talk about that next time, as part of our ongoing conversation about customer acquisition for jewelry retail.
