By Karl Stone, head of Voyado, UK
Even though consumers continue to feel the pinch of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, revenues are projected to blossom once more in the lead-up to Mother’s Day this year. The growing sentiment around this popular spring event follows the success of 2021, when UK consumers spent over £1.34 billion for Mother’s Day, according to data provider Statista.
Retailers should make the most of this eagerly anticipated rush. Providing strong customer service on celebration or gifting days – like Mother’s Day – is a fantastic opportunity to secure customer loyalty. That means getting the strategy right – optimising your on and offline approach to build long-term customers.
But how can you take full advantage of this? At Voyado, we’ve produced four top tips for building customer loyalty this Mother’s Day.
- Paying attention to channels
If you want to increase customers’ loyalty, you’ll need to motivate them. Almost all retailers run promotions for Mother’ Day – so how will you stand out?
Knowing customers’ channel of choice is the first step. You want to start getting to know them from that first interaction: if they bought something from you in-store, how can you convince them to sign up for an email or SMS mailing list? One great way to encourage this is to offer a personalised customer service experience. The customer will enjoy the extra attention, and this can kickstart a new relationship.
If the purchase was online, think of ways you can encourage them to visit you in-store next time. This could be an in-store Mother’s Day event or promotion or limited-time discounts when you click and collect. Personalisation is the key to creating a winning experience for customers.
- Keeping customers
Securing new customers is great – now you have to keep them! Meeting customers on their terms is an important part of building and retaining loyalty. Some might have only consented to contact via email or SMS – in this case, stick to those channels. Segmentation based on channels and reachability will mean you can connect with the most customers possible.
Overcommunication is one thing to avoid. Customers will get annoyed if they keep receiving irrelevant or overly generalised messages. This is why maintaining personalised contact with customers is vital. It’s also important to not bury customers with ‘cold’ messages – this will also put them off. Instead, retailers should strike a healthy balance of relevant content that isn’t sent out too frequently.
Why not optimise your website to recommend customers the perfect gifts for mothers while they shop? This will improve their overall experience by reducing the time spent searching, increasing your brand’s online presence. Don’t limit this treatment to Mother’s Day! Yes, it’s important to show appreciation to customers on special days – strong promotions will bring customers in, but customers want to experience the same service each time they make a purchase, so make it a regular thing!
- Improving campaign conversation
Remember that not everyone celebrates Mother’s Day for various, often intensely personal, reasons. Show you sensitivity towards this cohort of shoppers by sending out an email or SMS to current customers asking if they would like to opt out of Mother’s Day-related content. Think of a way to offer a unique discount to those accepting the option. You could even consider offering promotions for alternative celebrations, such as celebrating a special family member, close friend, or even oneself.
These more inclusive takes on the special day should definitely be reflected in your communications. Try to make your messaging appeal to the widest audience possible.
Optimising your website and e-commerce platforms will improve your online presence. A great way of doing this is creating personalised gift guides for customers to help them find the perfect gift for their mums.
It’s best to automate the upselling process as much as possible, while maintaining high levels of personalisation and care. For example, you could automate an email after a purchase with another gift recommendation.
- Creating customers who come back
Increasing brand loyalty is all about making existing customers feel cherished – getting this right could see an otherwise one-off purchase blossom into a long-term relationship. Since it’s so costly to acquire new customers these days, you need to think of ways to rekindle your relationship with them.
Once again, it’s all in the experience here. So, think of ways you can provide the best experience both online and in-store. As well as extra attention, you could offer unique events and product-related workshops to really engage with customers. It’s all about creating something that’s memorable and will boost your brand’s image.
Another part of this is after-care communication. Sending out reminders to customers post-purchase on how to care for their new products means they will last longer. This will make the customer more likely to buy again, making the initial investment in acquiring them worthwhile.
Tying all this together is ‘omnichannelling’. That is, thinking of your online and in-store shopping experiences as one entity. Having strong channels across the board means that customers can engage with you on their terms – this convenience makes them even more likely to buy again.
Not just a Mother’s Day gift
Building up a solid, omnichannel experience for your customers is going to be well worth the effort you put in. Providing customers with a personalised shopping experience that’s convenient for them gives them a fantastic reason to come back for more.
Ultimately, it’s all about building up trust and an authentic connection with your customers. So, while it’s certainly important to show them plenty of love this Mother’s Day, every day should be a special day for your customers!
