Early Customer Retention Programs that New Ecommerce Businesses can Learn From!


Customer retention programs pave the way for sustainable business growth. While many ecommerce brands choose to prize acquisition over retention, this is a real problem, primarily because acquisition is 5 to 7 times costlier than retention, as per most research estimates. So, your ecommerce business needs to understand the importance of retention. Loyalty programs may incentivise purchases, but these client retention programs take businesses to a whole new level:

  • Offer Bonuses That Cut to the Chase

Most loyalty programs offer incentives for sales. But if the customer buys a product only once in five years mostly, how can a brand leverage loyalty and win big? Ecommerce brand Leesa cuts across the chase, offering $75 via PayPal for every referral. Since over 84% of the online shoppers trust recommendations from known individuals, Leesa bonuses make money and mobilise existing customer bases. The program works for this mattress brand very well. Leesa also makes referrals easy with pre-filled emails customised on site before sending.

  • Trigger Well-Times Retention Strategies

Kopari Beauty uses events like VIP-tier earned, referral completed and coupon redeemed to send decisive retention mails. The aim is to use well-timed, trigger-based emails to access a cost-effective way to retain customers.

  • Gamify Engagement

Leading loyalty programs by theCHIVE generate over 6,800 referred monthly visitors, $135K per month per rewards and 6% of annual revenue. How is this achieved? This answer to this lies in gamification.  TheCHIVE runs a gamified customer retention program across 3 connected websites, rewarding 10 onsite activities including social sharing, scoring and photo uploads. Leaderboards rank the Chivers. Fans are quickly able to navigate such customer retention programs and deliver solid sales.

  • Insider Programs

Beauty brand Sephora has been recognised by Fast Company as one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies. Its Beauty INSIDER program drew over 10.6 million members in 2016, besides offering standard fare like reward points on sales and free shipping. Additionally, Sephora also releases fresh products through the program on a bi-weekly basis. 

For those customers spending more than $1000 per year, Sephora upgrades the account to a VIB Rouge tier, providing members access to insider releases and premier access to back-in-stock goods. VIB Rouge members are offered early access to upcoming promotions and insider access to a 15% discount code on numerous sales, such as the Spring Sale.

VIB members are those who spent $350 a year, while there are also standard memberships with fewer perks. Sephora is an ecommerce brand synonymous with luxury and beauty. Their top-of-funnel positioning and marketing and their unique client retention programs make them a leading brand.

  • Tiered Benefits at Different Spending Levels

Nordstrom Rewards in 2017, put together a loyalty program increasing the membership base by 35% to 10.5 million customers. This represents 51% of its sales. The reason for its success is its tiered spending benefits program, where customers spending different amounts get different incentives.

  • Devise a Loyalty Currency

Ecommerce brands that can bridge the online-to-offline gap can script the ultimate success story. In today’s digital era, coffee chain Starbucks achieves this admirably, through its app-based loyalty program with perks like free refills, events, ordering ahead, and more through a currency called stars. When users get gold status, they receive monthly double star days which incentivise purchases. Starbucks also leverages social media through its My Starbucks Idea site online.


In an industry beset by competition, customer retention programs can be the competitive differentiator ecommerce businesses need to surge ahead. Ecommerce brands will emerge supreme as they humanise their brand and build authenticity and credibility by reaching out to loyal customers. In a digital-driven world, it’s ultimately the personal touch that counts most.

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