Retail Tips: 7 Ways To Boost Loyalty In 2016

Congrats! You’re already over half way through the first month of 2016!

It’s time to start thinking about how to stand out and keep customers coming back in 2016. It’s a new year with several new ways to market and promote your store. We have put together some solid tips:

Send out email offers and reminders.

Now is the best time to take advantage of your customer loyalty list. Be sure to remind employees to invite customers to join the list.

When sending emails, use catchy subject lines and graphics. Keep it simple, personable, and easy to read. If an email is too wordy, people won’t bother to read it at all. Make sure the discount or offer is bold and highlighted so it catches readers’ attention.

You can use a free service such as MailChimp to send out emails to your customer loyalty list. Take advantage of the free templates which are quick and easy to customize.

Promote all sales on social media.

Be present where your customers are already active. Promote your sales and special offers on social media with catchy images and engaging captions. Reward customers for being a loyal “fan” on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Facebook is one of the most affordable and effective advertising platforms. You can easily target a post to a specific audience based on location, age, and interests. Take advantage of this feature to spread the word about all your offers.

Utilize customer mailing addresses.

If you collect customers’ addresses with your loyalty program, you’re in luck. The new year is the perfect time to send out direct mail (snail mail) with coupons and promotions. Postcards are one of the most effective and affordable forms of direct mail promotions.

If you don’t have access to a designer or professional software, Canva is a great free web app to use. You can easily design a great-looking postcard for printing and mailing in no time!

Customize your email receipts.

If you have a point of sale that lets you email receipts to customers, this is a great way to promote new products and offers! Customize the email receipt with a relevant graphic and reminder about any upcoming sales and events.

Offer exclusive discounts to loyal customers.

If your point of sale system lets you sort customers by most dollars spent and visit frequency, you have the perfect opportunity to reward your most loyal customers with exclusive discounts.

Send a New Year’s email.

Thank the customers who shopped with you during the 2015 holiday season. Bring them back in ASAP with a discount or special appreciation sale. Here’s an example:

Thank you for shopping with _______ in 2015! To show our appreciation, we’d love to offer you a discount for _____ off ________. Just let us know you got this email and we’ll apply the discount at checkout next time you’re in store. Wishing you a happy New Year!

Measure your growth.

Take note of how sales compare to this time last year. With an advanced point of sale system, it will be easy to compare and analyze by the week, day, or hour. You can even track employee performance and reward those who made the most sales in 2015. With an advanced reporting system, you can easily see which methods impacted sales the most.

What have you done to get 2016 started on the right track? Share in the comments below, or shoot us a tweet.