Everyone has a go-to for online shopping. Me? I’ve bought so much stuff from Amazon and Etsy that I must be the one responsible for keeping them afloat. Myself and other returning customers to these sites all have our reasons to keep coming back for more, but one thing’s for certain: we’re immensely valuable to the success of these stores, and we see something in them too.
You’re Doing Something Right
Returning customers mean a lot of things: your store offers fair prices, high quality products, and even small things like fast, free shipping and a great website design. Your online business is your baby, and like a baby that’s well-cared for, people notice how cute it is—or how affordable and innovative your product catalogue is!
Online shopping has become as vast and at times as overwhelming as the Internet itself. When people choose to come back to your business as returning customers, it’s indicative of all the efforts that you put into it.
“We Value Our Customers”
Ever see a sign at a mom and pop shop that said that? It may seem schlocky, but there’s a lot of truth to it. It goes without saying that without customers, you wouldn’t have a business, and with the data to back it up, that age-old phrase speaks more about returning customers than new ones.
Returning customers are the ones who keep coming back for more, who have been customers to your store for years, and who—maybe like me!—can joke around and say they feel responsible for keeping your shop in business. Hey, a little self-deprecation makes us feel better about all the money we spend!
It’s All About Your Reputation, Baby
Okay, not exactly; I just wanted to talk about babies again. Reputation is everything, but it’s not as do-or-die as it sounds. Returning customers are the ones who leave rave reviews. Returning customers are the ones who will even talk about your store by word of mouth, and take the mythos of your online shop out into the real world!
In so many words, returning customers offer free advertising for your store, because they want to. If your store is in their eyes the best option for handmade jewelry, or vegan make-up, they’ll want to spread the word because they’re excited about your products! Take me: I have super sensitive skin and only certain kinds of bath products work for me. I am so in love with the Etsy shop that sells specialty soaps that I get TMI telling my friends about how eczema-afflicted my skin used to be, because the end result was just that good.
I’m no Freud and Jung, but something about human nature extends into how we communicate our experiences, and if buying a product and then loving it makes me want to tell my friends all about it, I’m not only a good human but a good consumer as well.
Your Legacy
Etsy’s been around since 2005; Shopify, 2004. Amazon’s been around since 1994, and that was before I was born! These stores have been kicking it for years because of how well-liked and -received they are. They’ve always been handy, they’ve always offered good products, and they’ve always had great deals.
And your store…? When you put your energy into more than just your products and think of bigger picture things—how your site looks, the way you advertise, your values, and of course, your customers—I promise you, it will be very hard not to succeed. And when you realize the possibilities that extend from your returning customers, you’ll easily see that they are immensely valuable to the success of your business. But of course, they always were.