Customer loyalty helps businesses to grow and expand, which is why they focus all services on maximum customer satisfaction. There are different ways a company inspires loyalty in its consumers and keeps them coming back. This article will discuss the importance of customer loyalty and how a business can enhance it over time. We will also talk about Atome and its customer loyalty program called Atome+.
Let’s first look at customer loyalty’s business definition. It is defined as “an ongoing emotional relationship between a business and its customers, manifesting itself by how willing a customer is to engage with and repeatedly purchase from your business versus your competitors. Loyalty is the byproduct of a customer’s positive experience with you and works to create trust.”
Customers who are loyal to one brand are not easily motivated to turn to other competitors. Their decisions are not influenced by pricing or availability. It means they would pay a higher price to enjoy the same product quality or service they love but still not switch to another brand. That’s customer loyalty and what businesses aspire to achieve.
Importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty
Customer satisfaction is paramount because that is the best way to keep your consumers hooked to your products and services, regardless of the business size. First-time customers are always hard to persuade because they haven’t experienced what you have to offer. For this reason, a business needs an elaborate marketing funnel to encourage the customer to make a purchase.
However, a consumer who has already shopped from a specific brand is likely to purchase more from it in the future because the brand has already won their trust. Here are a few reasons why customer loyalty is important.
Repeat customers spend more freely
First-time customers always hesitate to invest a considerable amount in a new brand. For this reason, they are cautious with their purchases and keep them limited to a minimum. Once the brand can satisfy them with good products and services, they will likely spend more.
This is different for repeat customers, though. Since they have prior experience with the brand, they spend freely, knowing they will be happy with their investment.
Loyal customers have a higher conversion rate
Whether it’s a new marketing campaign or the latest promotion or offer, the conversion rate of loyal customers is way higher than new ones. According to research, the average conversion rate of a repeat customer is 60% to 70%, whereas a first-time consumer is only 5% to 20%.
It improves profitability
Since loyal customers are willing to spend more on your brand and have a high conversion rate, too, they are great for your business. The more a brand focuses on the importance of customer satisfaction, the higher customer retention rates will be. Business profits increase by 25% to 95% when consumer retention rates are amplified by just 5%.
Retaining a return customer is less expensive
Research shows that encouraging a first-time customer to make a purchase is five times more expensive than retaining an old one. When your customers are loyal to your brand, retaining them will be easier and also cost-effective compared to low customer loyalty or acquiring new ones.
How to enhance customer loyalty
Before we discuss how to develop customer loyalty, it is crucial to understand what causes customer loyalty in the first place.
Customers will choose a brand over others if it can satisfy them with the quality of its products and services. Besides the product itself, how a business engages and interacts with its consumers directly impacts customer satisfaction. Another factor that really helps with winning customer loyalty is customer reward programs.
The following are ways a business can foster customer loyalty.
- Reward customers with a loyalty program
A reward system is the best way to keep your existing customers engaged. A point system is the simplest yet most effective loyalty program that encourages your customers to come back. The idea is simple: customers get points every time they make a purchase. These points can then be redeemed for rewards.
- VIP tiers
People like being called a VIP because it makes them feel important and cared for. Customer behaviour can be influenced by adding VIP tiers for customers who are most loyal. It helps improve loyalty among existing consumers and encourages new ones to engage more with the brand. An excellent example is Forever 21, which gives its VIP customers a whopping 50% discount through email campaigns.
- Personalize your approach
A single approach will not work on all your customers because one size doesn’t fit all. If a brand wants to cultivate customer loyalty, it has to make each customer feel special. By delivering a personalized message at the right time, a company can satisfy different segments of its customer base. The best way to do this is by dividing the customer mailing list according to age, gender, occupation, geographic location, interest, preferences, engagement, etc.
Atome+ customer loyalty campaigns
Headquartered in Singapore with over 15,000 partnered merchants and available in 8 markets, Atome offers its users the choice and convenience of flexible payment options for a variety of products and services. The app allows shoppers to split their purchases across three interest-free monthly payments by scanning a partner retailer’s in-store QR code or upon website checkout. By splitting their payments, Atome users will be able to better manage their budget while making quality products and services more reachable. The brand has recently launched a customer reward program to give back to its loyal customers called Atome+.
With Atome+, users get exclusive privileges, shopping points, and exciting rewards. The customer loyalty program is easy-to-understand and aims to enrich users’ shopping experience.
Here’s how it works:
Every time an Atome user purchases a product or service, they are awarded points. $1 spent equals 1 point. Therefore, the more they spend, the more points they earn. Now comes the question, what can they do with these points?
The earned points can be used to offset your purchases directly or redeem one of the many vouchers from Atome+ rewards.
You can use a maximum of 12,000 points per month, and these points remain valid for one year. You can keep an eye on the status of your points through Atome’s app. A good thing about Atome+ is that you can use both vouchers and points in the same transaction as long as point redemption is 30% of the transaction after voucher usage.
If you’re an existing Atome customer, you will automatically enroll in the Atome+ customer loyalty program. But if you still need to sign up for Atome, download the app (Get the app) and register yourself. Downloading the app now gives you a welcome voucher of $10 that can be used on your first purchase.
Simplify your shopping experience with Atome
Atome makes shopping fun and rewarding. It not only splits your bill into three flexible payments but also allows you to earn points as you go. This means you can manage your monthly budget smartly with monthly payments and also benefit from discounts and rewards with each purchase. Can it get any better than that? Download Atome’s app today and start shopping with convenience.
