How to Keep Your Customers Coming Back for More

E-commerce competition is heating up and makes attracting first-time buyers tough and costly. Although today’s shoppers are increasingly receptive to promotional offers and discount incentives, the real challenge is getting them to come back.

Building the repeat purchase frequency and making it higher is what brands aim for and is where things get challenging. So, whether it’s making a first impression to get attention or keeping it, a memorable user experience is key.

Related: The 4 Things You Need to Do to Get (and Keep) Ecommerce Customers

Bad habits that keep conversions low

The biggest one? Over-relying on paid ads in Meta and Google. While these platforms are important, they’re not the only game in town. Cost-effective alternatives — like campaigns created to optimize your website funnel to catch your shoppers or campaigns to improve customer journeys with interactive experiences — can work just amazing.

Another common misstep is ignoring retention alongside acquisition. Over 70% of consumers will keep buying from brands that raise their prices if they feel valued as customers. Landing that first sale is great, but keeping them coming back?

A thoughtfully created loyalty program can turn one-time shoppers into lifelong customers. Thinking of chasing quick wins without the bigger picture in mind? That’s a recipe for missing out on customer lifetime value (LTV), and your bottom line might feel it.

Consumer ambivalence is the biggest threat brands face today, as it’s easy for customers to become hooked by an initial discount. All your brand communication gets in the digital hole we know as ‘Promotions,’ whether it’s informative, educational or valuable in other ways, they’re likely to forget all about you and leave your emails unopened.

Last but not least, not keeping up with shifts in consumer behavior, like the rise of mobile shopping and social media engagement, means missing out on where your audience actually spends time. Fact: during BFCM, 70% of orders came from mobile and social media drove 19% of sales.

Related: 7 Steps to Winning New Customers

What actions to take to push your conversions

Driving repeat purchases and lifting LTV comes down to one thing: delivering an amazing shopping experience from start to finish. From the moment you catch their eye in a search to when your product lands in their hands (and even beyond), it’s all about keeping them engaged. Based on what’s worked for Claspo’s users, here’s what we’d focus on.

Gamified behavior-based acquisition and retention campaigns: Attracting high-LTV customers at the acquisition stage is key to making your marketing spend count. To avoid customers who don’t cover their own acquisition costs, start by analyzing your current high-LTV audience:

• Look at their product preferences, purchasing behavior and actions that lead to main conversion.
• Pinpoint demographic and psychographic characteristics that set them apart.

Then, use gamified campaigns with behavior-based triggers to capture visitors who meet specific criteria — like browsing high-margin products or hitting a spending threshold. Set triggers like cart value, page views or browsing time to keep it relevant.

For example, target customers who abandon their checkout and trigger an exit-intent gamification to play and get free shipping or an instant discount, addressing the main barriers to purchase. The more enjoyable and engaging the process, the more likely your shoppers are to complete their purchase. Plus, re-engage these high-intent customers with targeted messaging based on their purchase data. These initiatives not only enhance loyalty but also reduce reliance on expensive acquisition channels.

Limited-time and special-edition bundling: Bundling is historically offered every holiday season, and maintaining margins is a smart way to increase AOV. Instead of simply telling buy more, we’ve found that time-sensitive offers create urgency, pushing customers to make larger purchases before the deal expires at checkout. On top of that, gamification can be used to experiment with bundling options to maximize value for customers and motivate purchases. Offering unique value propositions and exclusive, special-edition products is not just about standing out in a heating-up market but also about giving value to customers and keeping them coming back for more.

Testing various offers over a few months and A/B testing can help you figure out which one resonates best with your audience, as shopper’s preferences are always shifting. From our experience, tweaks to messaging and value propositions or adding a countdown timer can double your conversions.

What’s more, leverage the user-centric metrics and event-based tracking in Google Analytics to investigate behavior and pinpoint opportunities for cross-selling and upselling during the shopping journey.

Related: Customer Loyalty Is Your Holy Grail for Success. Here’s Why.

Loyalty tier incentives: Personalizing a loyalty program by segmenting members based on their behavior and purchase history helps to increase retention and LTV. Gamify a loyalty program with product quizzes to increase engagement and guide users toward repeat purchases by giving them value for their actions, for example, a personalized discount for completing a challenge that features a new product launch. Loyalty members, who earn points for spending and actions like submitting reviews or following us on socials, show 55% higher repeat purchase rates compared to non-loyalty members.

Seasonal sale gamified challenges are perfect for loyalty members — tie them to high-margin or slow-moving products to protect profits. Add a countdown timer, as here it feels more like a helpful reminder of how much time is left to take advantage of the offer rather than pressure.

How to reward and retain without losing your shirt

Gamification, in general, can add some fun and flair to your site, increasing both acquisition and retention. But let’s be real — every game is about winning, and you don’t want to be the one losing. Here are a few key strategies to keep your margins safe:

• Reward smartly: offer rewards based on value, not discounts.
• Incentivize high-margin products: give rewards for high-profit products or bundles — because who doesn’t love a little extra on top of a good deal?
• Drive repeat purchases with personalization for loyalty program members.

Apart from growing sales, you can strengthen your funnels and reduce bounce and churn rates by transforming passive visitors into active participants.