It’s not a secret that bringing in new customers to the online store of your apparel business is much more expensive than keeping the existing ones. It costs seven times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones, and with that in mind, delivering a superb customer experience is a must. Another reason you must build customer loyalty is that loyal customers tend to spend much more than regular ones, which will help you always operate on a profit and ensure your clothing line is widely popular.
However, the path toward customer retention is full of challenges, but some tactics can help you reach your goals. The savviest fashion businesses use various tools to deliver better customer journeys and improve customer relationships by keeping track of their orders, helping them seamlessly browse inventories and enjoy personalized fit recommendations, plus so much more.
To achieve success, sometimes your priorities as a business should shift. Rather than just pursuing transactions, you should focus on delivering the best customer journey and start working on improving customer loyalty.
Let’s explore how you can do that.
Put the Spotlight on the Fashionistas
Fashionistas are about pushing personal style, and they love expressing themselves through creative outfits and looks. Allowing them to take over and feature across your content output is a win-win. By leveraging user-generated content, businesses can give their most passionate customers an outlet to share their unique perspectives on social media, and in that process, they build loyalty while consumers enjoy a deeper bond with a brand they love.
This type of content not only provides potential customers with credible reviews and recommendations, but also helps to establish a new wave where customers share their unique views on fashion and current trends.
Additionally, by putting the spotlight on some of your most loyal customers and turning them into brand ambassadors, businesses can build a mutually beneficial relationship that leads to long-term brand loyalty and advocacy. User-generated content is therefore a powerful tool for connecting with and empowering the most cutting-edge members of the fashion community.
Imagine customers wearing some of your most elegant fashion items, discussing how much they love them, and sharing an online review for all browsing your store looking to expand their collection.
Don’t hesitate to give your loyal customer base a chance to be featured on your social media channel of choice, and join forces to grow your brand’s online presence.
Tell a Story
In today’s highly competitive business landscape, simply offering a great product or service is no longer enough to guarantee success. Instead, customers demand more out of businesses. So, to build customer loyalty, you need a different approach – one that focuses on the “why” of the product instead of just the “what.”
By crafting a powerful and authentic story that truly resonates with customers, brands can elicit a strong emotional response beyond simple transactions.
This emotional connection is what ultimately drives long-term brand loyalty and creates passionate brand advocates who will spread the word to friends and family. By understanding and relating to the product, clients become essential partners, helping you increase the satisfied customer rate.
Be There for Prospects
When it comes to the apparel business, customers don’t just buy an item of clothing – they purchase an experience. To make sure your customers are getting the most out of their interactions with you, prioritize delivering something other apparel businesses fail to do so.
Being there for prospects whenever there’s an issue or a commendation to be addressed is critical to differentiating yourself from competitors, building a solid brand reputation, and ultimately increasing customer loyalty and sales. Respond to your messages promptly and showcase your human side.
Social media platforms are the best place to do precisely that. There you can lay all of your fashion pieces on display, especially on Instagram, and seamlessly interact with all those interested in your products.
Extra Tip
As a professional in the fashion industry, you have the knowledge and expertise to guide your valuable customers on how to create stylish looks that are unique and captivating.
Mix-and-matching different pieces of clothing can often be intimidating for those who don’t know the ins and outs of fashion, but with your advice, you can help them find combinations that look great and make them feel confident.
Sharing tips on how to coordinate colors and patterns, pick the right accessories, or layer clothing appropriately can all go a long way in helping customers express themselves through their wardrobe.
By taking the time to provide helpful advice, you not only demonstrate your expertise but also foster relationships with your customers that will keep them coming back for more.
Loyalty Programs Translate into ROI
Often, the answer to the question of how to improve customer loyalty lies in how you set up the entire shopping experience. For instance, adding a loyalty program to the equation is like getting to know close friends even better – you get the chance to reward repeat customers, keep them coming back, and bond with their closets (and wallets).
A successful loyalty program should make sure everyone’s happy: exclusive discounts, gift cards, rewards programs, special offers, or points’ n’ perks are great incentives that show engagement with your brand can pay off.
Plus, you are creating a win-win situation for both your business and the fashionistas shopping from your inventory. To top things off, 75% of consumers prefer a customer experience filled with rewards, so don’t think twice about sending out a personalized accessory to the most loyal customers.
And, don’t forget to send some personalized emails every now and then, so they remember why it pays to be loyal.
Don’t Just Listen to Feedback – Take Action
Customer feedback is a hugely important factor for any fashion brand that seeks to increase customer loyalty. It’s not enough to just listen to the feedback – it’s essential that action is taken.
The risks of ignoring or dismissing customer feedback can be severe, leading to a dissatisfied customer base, loss of customer loyalty, and ultimately decreased sales.
In order to take meaningful action on customer feedback, fashion brands should look at implementing product improvements, implementing excellent customer service strategies, and strengthening communication between customers and the brand.
Taking action on customer feedback has many benefits, including increased customer satisfaction, stronger brand loyalty, and better business outcomes.
Ensure that you are always abreast of new trends and deliver a shopping experience customers want to enjoy. For instance, augmented reality is making serious headway in this industry as prospects can view and interact with the product they are interested in as if it was right in front of them. Of course, as the industry evolves, there will be a lot more trends to keep up with, and that’s why you need to keep an eye on the competition and consumer behavior closely.
Focus on Your B2B Sales
Building relationships with other businesses is a crucial factor for fashion stores to establish and maintain themselves as authorities in their industry. B2B sales have the potential to not only generate revenue but also expand markets and provide additional benefits. When providing services and expertise to B2B clients, it’s essential to offer customized solutions that meet their specific needs.
By focusing on B2B sales and building strong relationships with other businesses, fashion stores can increase their revenue and establish themselves as leaders in the fashion industry. While it might all sound too complicated to do manually, apparel businesses can use ERP systems to manage the entire business process. From sourcing the material to managing inventory, ERP systems can become your most valuable asset, which as a business owner, helps you deliver only the best, regardless of whether you are conducting B2B or B2C business.
Here are just a handful of the benefits you can enjoy as a business using cutting-edge ERP systems.
Order Tracking
Integrating order tracking into the ERP system can provide customers with real-time updates on their orders, including order status, shipping information, and delivery dates. This can help boost customer satisfaction by reducing customer service inquiries, as well as ensuring the timely delivery of products.
Seamless Order Fulfillment
Automated order fulfillment is made possible with an ERP system. As a result, businesses can generate shipping labels, track numbers, and send confirmation emails quickly and accurately, saving time and reducing errors in the order fulfillment process.
Operating in such a way will help you build customer loyalty and establish yourself as a brand in the industry that always gets it right, regardless of whether you are dealing business with other companies or retailers or directly with fashionistas interested in your clothing line.
Inventory Management
ERP systems can help streamline inventory management processes and optimize how you run your business. They provide up-to-date visibility into inventory levels and can easily track orders with available stock, helping to ensure that customers always receive what they expect.
This real-time data allows for faster delivery times, improved accuracy, and greater customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
If you want to effectively build customer loyalty and retain existing customers while bringing in new ones, the steps outlined above will work wonders. First, focus on delivering stellar customer service and experience for everyone that comes in contact with your brand and wants to dress in the fashion pieces you lovingly crafted.
Businesses that take that extra mile and focus on each point of the customer journey can build impeccable customer relationships and ultimately drive sales. Focusing on customer needs and wants, product quality, creating powerful stories, offering advice and support, loyalty programs, and acting upon user feedback can help build strong brand reputations and secure a place in the fashion industry in an increasingly competitive market.
And lastly, building relationships with other businesses can also open up growth opportunities and help you reach all your business goals. By adopting these tactics, apparel businesses are better able to create long-term relationships with customers and increase their profitability.
