Between rising inflation and worries about recession in 2023, you might wonder how to recession-proof your e-commerce business. One of the best things you can do right now is to gain a better understanding of consumer behaviors.
Consumers are most likely to stick with brands they trust when the economy turns. And you build trust with a deep understanding of their pain points and perspectives.
In other words, customer retention can help recession-proof your business. Read on to find out how to implement a solid retention marketing program.
Retention Marketing Starts by Understanding Consumer Behavior
A well-planned customer retention program begins with data. From acquisition to retention, it's essential to connect customer data touch points, including:
- Website Activity
- Social Media Platforms
- Customer Relation Management
- Cart Abandonment
Retention.com provides one-click integrations with over 50 of the world's leading marketing automation platforms, such as:
- Stripe
- Drip
- Marketo
- Salesforce
Why is connecting the information necessary? Using and combining analytics helps you paint a complete picture of consumer behavior.
Additionally, implementing a combination of analytics allows you to understand how new customers find your business, products, and services. You can also determine what keeps them coming back.
It's vital to know what drives consumer behavior in the overall market and specifically for your industry. According to McKinsey and Company research, two-thirds of Americans are worried about inflation.
Additionally, 19% are concerned about climate change and sustainability. How can your business use these two critical pieces of data?
It depends on your specific customer.
Targeted Messaging That's Personal
Not everyone is equally concerned about sustainability or inflation. Research indicates 75% of baby boomers say increasing prices are their top concern.
On the other hand, only 44% of Gen Zers worry about inflation. For this segment, personal and political issues top their list. Ultimately, it's all about perception.
For instance, 30% of respondents on the McKinsey Report believe there's been a significant markup in the prices of skin care products, makeup, baby supplies, toys, and consumer electronics. However, the inflation on these items was only 2% in 2022.
On the other hand, only 25% of respondents believed prices had increased for home and garden supplies. But, in fact, inflation in this category has risen over 11%. The point is that data can help you create targeted messaging that reflects your customers' perceptions.
Targeted messaging works best when you create buyer personas that represent your customers. Then you can generate articles, social posts, emails, and ads that speak directly to their needs and pain points.
Tailor Customer Retention Efforts
You can recession-proof your business by combining buyer personas with a retention strategy. Tailor retention to fit your brand's consumer touch points and business model, and map out post-purchase scenarios.
Some of the key point indicators (KPIs) you should use include:
- Returning Customers
- What they purchase
- How long do they take between purchases
- Customer lifetime value after a year
- How many customers sign up for loyalty programs?
- Revenue generated through email campaigns
These KPIs can help you continually optimize your offers and understand how customer lifetime value grows. Customer retention marketing offers a proven ROI and is vital to recession-proof your e-commerce business.
Develop a retention marketing flow based on the data you've gathered. Personalize these communications from the beginning as soon as your customers make their first purchase.
Follow up by introducing them to your brand philosophies as well as your products. Provide added value with personalized incentives, such as a loyalty program.
Today, brands can stand out among the crowd by offering the most value. Remember to use data to define incentives based on customer pain points and perceptions to increase their lifetime value.
Doing so will help you recession-proof your business and benefit from customer loyalty. To that end, remember to create personas for those who abandon their carts or start shopping elsewhere.
When you have a solid idea of who these consumers are, you can create messaging that speaks directly to them.
Target Cart Abandonment
You can use insights into your customers' reasons for cart abandonment. Not only that, but you can also use identity resolution technology to find out who the consumers are across platforms.
An automated email and SMS customer journey are vital for e-commerce businesses because it helps you help shoppers who abandon their carts.
A series of targeted emails will remind your customers about the items they want to buy. And targeted emails allow you to add an incentive to encourage them to buy.
Otherwise, you're losing out on numerous potential sales. What's more, an effective email automation program enables you to create those personalized experiences customers are looking for these days.
Using customer personas can also help you segment your email list. That way, you can send targeted emails that speak to their pain points and perceptions.
Creating engaging customer experiences reinforces why your customers purchase from your brand. And it keeps them coming back, even in a poor economy.
Retention Marketing and E-Commerce Solutions
Retention.com is a marketing solutions provider specializing in retention marketing and e-commerce solutions. We can help you improve cart abandonment and re-engage potentially lost customers with one-click integrations.
We help businesses reclaim up to ten times more cart abandonment revenue with industry-leading Identity Resolution technology. What that means for you is identifying otherwise unidentified customers.
Then you can create a personalized retention marketing flow that automatically triggers messaging. Help recession-proof your e-commerce business. Contact Retention.com today to set up a demo. We're here to help.