Provide customers with consistent updates
through their shopping journey. This can
be done via Push Notifications from your
App, Emails, SMS messages or inbox
messages to them on social media. More
importantly when customers are giving
feedback on Social Media or via Reviews
on the App, acknowledge their feedback
and where a response/assistance is needed,
be keen to respond.
If you have an App, ensure that when
customers get to your store, you have a
free Wi-Fi that gives them access to an
internet connection on their phones.
Use this opportunity to send them
App download invite codes via SMS to
download your mobile application. Based
on the traffic/enquiries/sales to different
products on your website, Mobile App or
Store location, this data equips you with
the valuable insight needed when making
decisions on what products to stock at
different store locations.
If your store has a branch network, it is
a bad experience when a customer at a
particular branch or online, finds out that
an item they were interested in is out of
stock and the store attendants can't assure
them about finding it in another branch.
Acquire a centralized system that ensures
your store branches share inventory data.
Create fierce customer
loyalty by Rewarding
Loyalty
People love being rewarded, whether it’s
in points, discounts, or physical swag. A
Loyalty program increases a customer’s
loyalty to your brand and is a powerful
competitive differentiator.
You could take rewarding your loyal
customers a notch higher by making
shopping like a game. Incorporating
Gamification on your Mobile App or
Website where you apply typical game
elements, such as points, rules, and
competition to give your customers a more
exciting experience. If you have observed
the obsession many adult Kenyans have
with the game of Candy Crush or Angry
Birds on their phones, you know that this
would not appeal more to kids and teens
only.
Make sure every engagement a customer
has with your brand irrespective of the
channel, is tracked and rewarded. Such
as when they visit your store, download
As a retailer, the digital transformation
of your brand is the keystone to a suc-
cessful customer engagement strategy.
Adopt systems and processes driven by
Technology to spur the innovation that
will keep you relevant to your demand-
ing and savvy customers. Otherwise,
you will always be playing catch up or
worse you will bite the dust.
and login to your app/website, buy an
item, leave a review, complete a survey,
participate in a poll, rate a product
or the store on Social Media or refer
a friend. This begins by creating a
Loyalty program and acquiring a robust
system that creates transparency for the
customer to know how they earn more
points and what their points at any given
time are worth.
Have a VIP level for the most loyal
customers, which allows them to have
sneak peeks of sale offers ahead of regular
customers.
You can also have games both in the store
and other digital channels such as your
Website or App, such as 'Spin & Win'
where a customer spins a wheel to win
an item during a sale. Or a 'Gift Hunt'
where certain gift items are placed on
different pages on your App or Website,
or locations in the Store and the first
people to find the gifts, get to win and
keep the gift. If you are a Cosmetics
or Fashion Store where you want to
leverage the power of peer influence
buying, you may want to have activities
that reward group buying thereby leading
to customers coming in groups, thereby
tagging their friends along.
There's not a more discouraging
experience for a loyal customer than
learning that you just missed an offer
of a certain item you have been really
interested in and have been saving up to
buy at your favorite store, just because
you were not aware.
As a brand, if you have different branches
of your store, have location-based offers.
Where loyal customers of a particular
branch of your store receive notifications
of offers available at that particular branch
only, via your App or SMS on their
phones.
In a case where you have loyal customers
putting items in their shopping carts,
on the App or on your website, but
abandoning midway through the check-
out process, after a couple of days, you
could offer them a discount coupon
enticing them to complete the purchase.
These activities not only increase the
number of people visiting your store but
the amount of time they spent as well as
the positive feeling they have about their
engagement with your brand. Thereby
more referrals, both online and offline as
well as a higher sales conversion rate.
The Bottom Line
As a retailer, the digital transformation
of your brand is the keystone to a
successful customer engagement strategy.
Adopt systems and processes driven by
Technology to spur the innovation that
will keep you relevant to your demanding
and savvy customers. Otherwise, you will
always be playing catch up or worse you
will bite the dust.
Mungai Charles is a digital native,
speaker, consultant and a thought
leader. He is currently serving as
the Chief of Digital Media at
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.
You can commune with him on
this or related matters via email at:
[email protected].