Why a good shopping experience is not enough for customer loyalty

Trust from regular customers boosts sales

And it makes sense to want to turn new customers into regular customers. Those who have had a good experience once are happy to come back and no longer need to be "persuaded" with expensive advertising measures. New customers always incur costs - whether through the advertising campaigns with which companies fight for their attention or indirectly through the loss of sales caused by the discounts and coupons.

[tooltip title="Stammkunden" color="blue"]Regular customers ensure regular sales and are even willing to pay somewhat higher prices as long as they feel they are in good hands with "their trusted retailer."[/tooltip]

The personnel who take care of all these acquisition measures and new customer care also cost money. - And then there's no guarantee that these measures will pay off and that the new customers will really become regular customers, or whether it won't just be a one-time order instead.

One customer taken care of could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.

Jim Rohn, US entrepreneur and motivational speaker

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A wide product selection, an attractively designed website and fast delivery - these are the "ingredients" most online retailers use to build customer loyalty. Sensible, of course - but now assumed by many customers.

Because if the shopping process doesn't run smoothly or it's difficult to navigate through the store page, that's already a criterion for exclusion for many. They certainly won't become regular customers. But what if everything fits, the customer has a good shopping experience and happily clicks on the "Buy" button?

###10 tips for brand loyalty and customer retention

After the purchase, it's mission accomplished, isn't it?

From this moment on, logistics service providers such as DHL, Hermes and Co. take over for many online retailers - and the carefully built customer journey that the customer has gone through so far breaks off. Just like that. At most, the customer receives an impersonal "Thank you for your order" from the retailer, and then the journey is effectively over. After all, the customer has bought and had a great shopping experience, right? Mission accomplished, task fulfilled?

Relationship killer: routine

But it's not that simple. As in any relationship, the danger here is called routine. Because business relationships also suffer when one part suddenly no longer feels valued and thinks the other is no longer wholeheartedly involved.

[tooltip color="orange"]If an online retailer no longer takes proper care of its regular customers, they may end up looking elsewhere for their (shopping) fortune and migrate to the competition.[/tooltip].

You quickly get used to a nice shopping situation and eventually take it for granted. The website is beautifully designed? Great. But should that be it? Where they are received with all means of good new customer acquisition. Because regular customers also want to be wooed.

A good post-purchase experience makes regular customers

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So what to do? One solution: don't let the customer's shopping experience end with shipping, but add a good post-purchase experience. If customers are given a special experience even after they have made their purchase and are actively accompanied through the shipping process, they will feel valued and well looked after all round.

The online retailer thus controls how and what is communicated during this part of the customer journey. Sending the most important messages to the customer in their own style and keeping them actively informed; this is what makes a good shipping experience - and turns new or occasional customers into regular customers.