John White, MBA

6 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~100 ·

Blogging
>
John blog
>
How Data Savvy Brands Get to Know Their Customers to Gain Their Loyalty

How Data Savvy Brands Get to Know Their Customers to Gain Their Loyalty

Brand loyalty is evolving, and the emphasis is squarely on the consumers rather than the brands these days. Customers expect you to know them better than they know themselves and to treat them like the unique individuals they are. But this can be harder than it seems in today's fast-paced world -- gone are the days of shopping the local corner store where they know your name.

These days we buy things from e-commerce sites where we have probably never met a single person working there.

Is there customer loyalty in web commerce?

It's so easy to go from website to website that customer loyalty online almost seems counterintuitive. But there are certain incentives that keep people shopping at the same websites over and over -- things like memberships that give you free two-day shipping, cross-channel customer experiences, and even just name recognition keep customers clicking back.

This is good, because according to a Bain study, the average online clothing retailer doesn't make a profit from a customer until their fourth purchase. The race to gain loyal customers can determine whether a company will succeed in online retail: "Today, loyal shoppers visit their favorite sites far more frequently than they would any brick-and-mortar store.

This surprising degree of customer loyalty can have an enormous impact on website profitability. We simulated the long-term economics of websites in various industries, and customer loyalty proved to be a crucial factor in profitability, even more so than for offline companies.

Small changes in loyalty alone, especially among the most profitable customers, can account for the long-term divergence of initially comparable online companies, with some rising to exceptional returns and others sinking to lasting unprofitability."

And the longer a customer is loyal to your online retail outlet, the more they will spend on future purchases.

Repeat customers create a snowball effect.

Not only do loyal customers spend more with each transaction, they also make more referrals than first-time or one-time customers. The longer they are loyal, the more referrals they will give your company. According to that Bain study, "Word of mouth is the single most effective and economical way online retailers grow their sites. And loyalty, it turns out, can be a key lever for referrals.

On average, an apparel shopper referred three people each to an online retailer's site after their first purchase there. After ten purchases, that same shopper had referred seven people to the site."

Yes, Millennials still practice brand loyalty. It's just different.

Millennials still report that they are as brand loyal as their parents, but their brand loyalty is often based on different criteria. Brands like YouTube, Amazon, Facebook, and Google are some of the top brands for Millennials, but they are also loyal to things like cell phone carriers and health and beauty products.

But retailer beware -- Millennials care much more about your business practices and how you treat the environment than previous generations did.

How can retailers stand out?

A Zappos employee once sent a woman flowers because she was having trouble finding comfortable shoes. This is a far cry from a tired cashier pushing yet another loyalty card on a customer because her manager tells her to. Passive loyalty programs just don't work anymore. There are too many of them, and customers are starting to resent them.

Today, 79% of customers say they want brands that understand and care about them as individuals. Customers assume you have detailed information about them from past transactions and searches as well as complaints and questions. The thing is, retailers probably have this information, but they just don't know what to do with all of it.

Big data saves the day.

Just having the data isn't enough. You have to be able to know what to do with the data, how to sort through it and make sense of it. Then, most important, you have to know how to act on the data you have. Those flowers Zappos sent to the woman who couldn't find comfortable shoes?

That's not the only time they have done it. They've also sent flowers to folks who were having trouble finding the time to return shoes they'd bought for loved ones who passed away and more, hundreds of times a year. This is probably why 75% of Zappos' sales come from repeat customers.

Keeping track of your customers that well means you have an opportunity to brighten someone's day -- and gain a customer for life. Learn more about knowing your customers from this infographic from Semarchy.

How to

Know your
Customers

Better Than They Know Themselves

   

A Zappos employee once sent flowers to an ailing
SYED able shoes —that

 

A

The Elusive
Loyal Customer
Value of Repeat Business

5% increase in customer retention | = | 25% increase in profit

 

Average online apparel
retailer doesn't make a
profit off a customer
until he or she had
shopped 4 times

customer for
just to break even

 

 

oO Oo

31.36 than in months 0-6 Sth purchase 10th purchase:
40% Larges than 1st 80% larger than 1st

Referrals

 

 

Over 3 years, referred customers spent an additional 75% 50% in esectonics
of what the onginal customer spent at online grocers. and apparel

Consumers Don't Often Come Back
What would make you "break up” with a brand?

Negative review remains unaddressed while
simular products continue to be offered

Data leak/breach
No live/real-ime customer service support
No timely sales and promotions o'fers [| JETER 38%

Millennials’ special brand of loyalty
Brands with highest customer scores among Millennials

3 YouTube facebook Google amazoncom

of Millennials are as brand
loyal as or more brand-loyal
Dr TRTYTEeTro,

 

Know Your Customers to Gain Their Loyalty
Traditional Methods Don't Work

Loyalty programs run rampant

2012 2014
90% of companies have loyalty program
(oo Pp yaity 9

customer engagement memberships grew 26.7%

at's 29 per household in the U.S

| I Il or loyalty programs 3.3 billion loyalty program memberships

Generalized incentives aren't enough

Clam loyalty rams do not improve loyalty [|

Switched their business from one brand 10 another [ast yea
Retract loyalty more quickly now than they did 3 year: 1
Have a negative or non-existent reaction 10 loyalty ef 1 Rak 7% | 23% |

Need Personalized Experiences

 
  

 

    

 

“I'm special”

"i
Customers assume you have &

PE | © | Q
that deeply understand | |

\ \ and
LTE HERE | previous questions an

  

preferences

Knowing customers pays off

Upselling
Encourage buying additional a
features or upgrading to “Even More Space” initiative,
more expensive models pd Fostenga oN

seats with more legroom

Cross-selling

9 0 Encourage adding

similar items to
of Amazon's revenue comes from

@ 9 a purchase “Frequently Bought Together" and “Customers
Who Bought This Item Also Bought” features

Customers want you to know everything —t

(EERE EIRP RE

 

Improve Your Customer Knowledge
Master Data Management

MDM-organized information

Master database system
that organizes and shares
huge amounts of data

on every aspect of an
enterprise company CLS purckmee Joon) a rt le

Reasons driving MDM implementation

mprove business agility [J

Improve business outcomes.
Create intemal/operational efficiencies |
Ty EN
Benefits of MDM

YI XY X) N°)
J E

LT Le) Recognizes patterns that yd
stored in different databases. [EEE Pe)

spreadsheets, and branches Te
Er TTY

 

Mastering customer data leads to success in B2C, B2B, and mobile commerce
—xDM from Semarchy can be the key to knowing your customers

Semarchy
XA newsouRcingOriginally published on Inc.
"
Comments

Lisa Gallagher

6 years ago #7

Thanks for sharing this John White, MBA, a lot of pertinent information contained within!
Need some info on retaining customers? John White, MBA's post will help!
Lots of truths there, John White, MBA! And the graphics are fascinating!

Jim Taggart

6 years ago #4

Your sentence "Just having the data isn't enough. You have to be able to know what to do with the data, how to sort through it and make sense of it. Then, most important, you have to know how to act on the data you have." captures the issue beautifully.

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #3

John, Let's hear it for real Customer Service! The buzz and info graphic are now on the way to clients, former clients and prospects. Well put!

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #2

Thanks for another excellent blogging buzz, John. I love your infographics, in addition to your wonderful writing. I'm wondering if you have any unique insights into how brand loyalty and customer service issues differ from Generation Z compared to their Millennial predecessors?

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #1

Thanks for another excellent blogging buzz, John. I love your infographics, in addition to your writing. I'm wondering if you have an insights into how brand loyalty and customer service issues differ from Generation Z (the youngest) compared to their Millennial predecessors?

Articles from John White, MBA

View blog
6 years ago · 7 min. reading time

When it comes to going viral on the Internet, there may not be a bigger expert on the planet than Ol ...

2 years ago · 1 min. reading time

I had the flu this week. As I struggled to cope with the demands of my busy life, anxiety reared its ...

5 years ago · 4 min. reading time

I was humiliated. I had just been fired. I said goodbye to my boss and team. · Then, I had to do th ...

Related professionals

You may be interested in these jobs

  • Agape Care Group

    Registered Nurse, Immediate Care

    Found in: Jooble US O C2 - 6 days ago


    Agape Care Group Jackson, SC, United States Full time

    As a registered nurse on our team, you'll evaluate patients and create care plans, all while communicating with everyone involved — the patient, the patient's family, and the care team. · You'll serve ...

  • Prime Searches

    Senior Project Manager

    Found in: ZipRecruiter Test10S US C2 - 4 days ago


    Prime Searches Tampa, United States

    Job Description · Job DescriptionRESPONSIBILITIES · Manage multi-discipline water/wastewater/conveyance and environmental projects up to the $500M + range within the engineering and construction secto ...

  • Epic Travel Staffing

    Cardiovascular Travel Nurse

    Found in: Jooble US O C2 - 3 days ago


    Epic Travel Staffing Atlanta, GA, United States

    Epic Travel Staffing is seeking a travel nurse · RNCardiac Cath Lab for a travel nursing job in Atlanta, Georgia. · Job Description & Requirements · ~ Specialty: · Cardiac Cath Lab · ~ Discipline: · ...