COMMENTARY: Three Steps to Building Loyal Digital Customers for Your Brand

Creating lifetime, brand-loyal customers who return to your online store with what we call “surprise and delight” is not as easy as it once was.

The fact is, shoppers are not created equal. Some online shoppers are deal seekers. Hopping from site to site, these shoppers are easily lured away to a competitor by a lower price, a more convenient shipping and return policy, or other enticements.

Other shoppers are loyalists, looking for premium services or early access to products. These shoppers engage with and buy directly from the brands they trust. They sign up for membership programs, access research-and-development programs to help shape future products, and jump at the opportunity to buy limited-edition items or one-of-a kind product bundles. Loyalists are an incredibly valuable segment of online shoppers, and brands that have an e-commerce presence and sell direct have a critical leg up in earning their attention and business.

So what can brands do to create an online-shopping experience that will generate the most conversions and sales from all segments of shoppers? In my view, it boils down to three critical steps.

1. Start off on the right foot

Make sure the house is in order, the shopping experience is well organized and the information that is most relevant to customers’ search and buying intentions is easy to locate. Despite the changing nature of privacy requirements, it’s relatively easy to personalize sites for first-time visitors and for returning customers due to known behavioral characteristics.

With the help of new optimization tools, sites can be designed to quickly identify each shopper’s needs and understand the type of personalized experiences that need to be created. This immediate assessment provides critical insights to help brands begin building relationships with potential customers the minute they engage.

Additional optimization can be done upstream through paid-media channels or on-site by evaluating elements like new versus returning user status, browser, operating system, geographic location, and referring URLs. Brands should continue to optimize landing pages, modifying and tweaking them based on the feedback of shoppers and deeper insights resulting from A/B and multivariate tests.

As shoppers become ever more mobile, it is critical that brands offer lightweight buying experiences so shoppers can easily move from PCs to smartphones and tablets. Fortunately, it is now simple and relatively inexpensive to make these crucial investments in personalization and build the kind of shopping experience that is designed for maximum conversion.

2. Apply analytics to tailor the experience

When customers are looking for the best deal, brands need to make it easy to find what they want. That means simple navigation and speedy search and checkout. Behavior-based merchandising and clear call-to-action toolsets–like offer timers–prompt a sense of urgency.

Brands should strive to convert all browsers into returning customers who will visit their site even when they are not seeking a deal on a specific product. This is where analytics come into play. Brands need to gather as much information as they can about what motivates customers to move from landing page to checkout. Brands can implement technologies that learn from user behavior and create contextually relevant engagements as a follow up to build the relationship. The insights gathered from analytics can help brands differentiate the shoppers who always want the best discounts from those who are interested in investing in the brand and building an ongoing relationship.

Analytics can even help predict what shoppers don’t need. For example, predicting which site visitors value live chat and which don’t can save brands the expense of offering that service where it’s not wanted in favor of providing a service that is.

3. Gather customer input and make it count

Following the sale, brands must continue to communicate with customers. There are contact points thanking them for their purchase, order confirmations, shipping and delivery notifications, and follow-up communications to ensure they are satisfied. Leveraging the insights gathered about each customer, brands can send information about other deals and offers highlighting new products that the customer may like.

But relationship-building isn’t a one-way conversation. To cultivate loyalty, brands must truly listen to their customers. Brands can learn a great deal from what customers are saying about them on social channels or on unofficial user forums. Embracing this information and leveraging it to refine services, offers, or policies will help convert browsers into repeat customers.

Even the deepest discount won’t bring customers back if the brand isn’t giving shoppers what they want. Learning what motivates each customer—rapidly and continuously—and providing an experience that makes them feel understood and valued will, in turn, increase the value the customer places on the brand. And isn’t that what loyalty is all about?

—Brad LaRock is a vice president at Digital River, Minnetonka, Minn.