In your Customer Relations Management system, your CRM, you have data that can help you change customer behavior. In a time when many are cautious of going to the physical store, you can use your CRM to find customers who need extra support to make purchases in new ways. Start using your CRM to segment customers, and communicate with them based on their needs.
Relevance is crucial
As always, the relevance of the message you communicate to your customers is crucial for the conversion.
An important group to target is the customers who are in your CRM today but who have not started to use your e-commerce for shopping. With the right strategy you can help many of them become online shoppers. This is a cost-effective way of recruiting new customers to your digital channels.
Filter out who they are and identify their obstacles or motivators for shopping online. You can help those who have not shopped online before by sending them practical information, but they might also need customer service help when they cannot ask staff in the store. Maybe you can let you best customers call their local store for help placing their online order? Store staff often have the skills to help in customer service. And if you are not offering curb-side pickup – now is the time.
To the customers who are used to shopping online, you should communicate how you help them through a friction-free purchase. More generous terms regarding shipping, returns and home delivery should be communicated often, preferably all the time. The customer is not necessarily aware of them just because you wrote it in a module in last week’s email or on the start page. Keep the information visible, for example, in the preheader and the subject line in your email communication - because it is worth repeating.
Use your CRM to communicate with more relevance
As many are working remotely, shopping behavior is changing, especially in terms of how and when. If you have your CRM set up to track it, analyze when customers open your mail, and then test and optimize communication based on that. The same goes for when customers come to the site.
Research shows an increase in customer journeys that starts with social media and referral whereas organic search has decreased. How are your customers shopping? Review your media mix, test and optimize. Do a social audience analysis and segmentation, start communicating in relevant channels and make sure your customers get the right message based on what they usually buy. To reach a wider audience - find twins to these segments. Don't forget to exclude the customers who recently bought the goods so as not to persecute them with offers on products they have already purchased.
