Turning seasonal shoppers into lifetime loyalists is how brands operate. The end goal of top brands is to build and nurture a relationship between the brand and the customer so that they stick. Being a merchant, you can learn a thing or two from people who are already doing it.

So, what do you do to ensure that once a customer has landed on your page, they keep coming back for more?

In this blog post, we will look at a few strategies you can pick straight out of the playbook and implement to establish a personal connection with your target audience and turn them from seasonal shoppers to long-term customers!

‍

1. Implementing Chat Marketing

Running a successful eCommerce business requires not only time and effort but also developing key omnichannel skills that could help the brand connect better even with first-time customers.

Relationship building is a core area online business owners need to focus on if they plan on turning that one-time buyer into a lifelong customer.

Chat marketing is just one of the ways you can use to spark conversations to build a personal connection with your customers. Sharing blog posts, webinar links, and videos that solve customer challenges can be instrumental in bringing that one-time buyer back to your store.

But that’s not the only way. You can use a variety of communication, such as memes and interesting stories, to keep them engaged with your brand.

Moreover, giving out special deals and offers to customers subscribed to your lists can eventually lead them to share their contact information, which can be instrumental in creating that connection on a more personal level.

‍

2. Exceeding Customers' Expectations

Great brands treat their customers like royalty; that is how they get to the top. You can start replicating their success with a simple live chat option, giving your customers a direct line of communication with your brand.

Having a phone number or an email does work, but live chat is more personal, as it’s instant, faster, and a more efficient way of handling customer queries and offering solutions.

This is especially true when they are at the store browsing through products. Implementing a live chat option can thus lead to more customer satisfaction and an overall great shopping experience.

‍

3. Have a Personalized Approach

If you want that one-time buyer to turn into a loyalist, you will need to devise a plan to personalize their experience right from the first touchpoint.

Give them tailor-made experiences to make them feel welcome. Cater things to the customers' liking by giving them product recommendations and showing them related products to make the entire shopping experience more personal.

Personalization allows you to cut out the clutter to help customers easily find the products they want, and this motivates and encourages them to keep coming back to your store.

‍

4. Build a Customer Loyalty Program

Build the loyalty program and display it prominently on the site, as this will make it much easier to spot first-time customers.

Set up campaigns to capture customer information and use this to send out special deals and offers to motivate them to come back and sign up for the loyalty program. This can help you build a long-standing relationship with your customers.

Loyalty programs typically work by setting up milestones for the customers and giving redeemable points and rewards for hitting those milestones. You can also use this as an opportunity to provide special offers on their birthdays and other special occasions.

‍

5. Retarget Them

Retargeting is a strategy that is not going out of vogue anytime soon. It’s one of the most tried and tested methods in customer engagement and helps convince customers to return and buy more products from the store.

Personalize these campaigns to cater to different customers and use them as a tool to show off your best products to both repeat and first-time seasonal shoppers.

‍

6. Give Discounts on Recurring Orders

There are products that people keep buying all the time, such as skin care, pet food, grooming essentials, etc. These can be grouped as recurring orders. The trick is to provide deals and offers on products that customers are likely to shop for again.

If you hand out better deals than the competition on products that customers need on a weekly/monthly basis, you can turn many of those seasonal shoppers into long-term customers.

‍

Key Takeaway

It’s a competitive world, and offering your customers the best possible experience along with a direct line of communication to help with their queries can go a long way in forging a long-term relationship.

Couple that with personalization and retarget them with deals and discounts on their favorite products or products they showed interest in. All of these strategies can help bring them back to the store, sign up for loyalty programs and convert them from seasonal shoppers to regular ones.

Use this playbook to your advantage, and you will certainly see an uptick in traffic and sales!