10 Top Myths about Small Retailers and Why They’re Wrong (+2 More)
Small businesses make up the bulk of the economy, employ 61 million people, create most new jobs, and make up over 40% of GDP in the United States! Here’s where we debunk the top 10 top myths about small businesses and bring the truth home!
Much has changed in the world of retail since March of 2020. But a few constants remain, including the importance of customer experience and customer loyalty.
Small brick and mortar retailers depend on customer loyalty. Foot traffic from local customers who purchase everything from specialty items to necessities is the lifeblood of local retail. And there are over 130,000 small retailers nationwide! Small retail not only makes up a significant portion of the US economy (worth $34 billion annually), they drive innovation.
To these businesses, customer loyalty is everything. Yet acquiring new customers is expensive, costing businesses anywhere from 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing customer and building on that loyalty. There is a clear correlation between brand loyalty, customer retention, and increased profits. The Loyalty Report gathered feedback from 22,000 Americans reporting on over 200 different loyalty programs. 79% of the consumers surveyed reported that loyalty programs made them more likely to continue doing business with a brand.
With so many loyalty solutions available, researching which one is right for your business can be a daunting task.
At SnowShoe, we’re committed to helping retail stores find the perfect loyalty solution for their business. With so many options available, it can be a daunting task to try to understand each different program enough to choose one with confidence.
Our research team took a deep dive into the current landscape of loyalty solutions. We interviewed retailers. We talked to leaders in the retail industry, including Intel Retail, retail software developers, and small grocery store innovation leaders. We also interviewed a variety of loyalty program providers, from Loyalti to CouponTools to global leader Merkle. We looked at over 100 loyalty solutions.
Our research uncovered a set of key questions business owners should ask themselves when choosing a solution. And here’s everything we discovered about loyalty programs and what makes a program successful over the long term.
How to Optimize Each Touchpoint to Create an Ideal Customer Experience
Every interaction with an existing or potential customer is an opportunity to reaffirm their decision to do business with you.
If your retail business is looking for an immediate and cost- effective way to increase sales and retain customers, look no further than the retail customer journey. Every interaction you have with an existing or potential customer is an opportunity to move that customer closer toward their next purchase with you. In order to create a truly exceptional retail customer journey, retailers must have a deep understanding of their customers, account for every customer touchpoint, and deliver an unmatched experience that meets consumer expectations.
How to Turn Casual Shoppers into Loyal Customers
Some customers are fair weather friends. These intermittent visitors only drop by when the time is right. Their purchases can be small and unpredictable. The patronage of such customers just isn’t worth as much to your average retail brick and mortar store. And it costs five times more to acquire them. (Research: National Law Review)
But there’s a different type of retail customer whose visits are worth gold. Truly loyal retail customers are money-generating metronomes — their patronage can be counted on, day after day, season after season. When loyal customers keep coming back to your business, it means that less time and money is needed to attract new customers. It also means higher sales, as their purchases are actually worth more than a purchase from a one-time buyer. In fact, highly-engaged customers spend 60% more per transaction and buy 90% more often than less engaged customers. (Research: Customer Loyalty in the Time of COVID)
Avoid the Crossfire and Deliver Privacy-Protecting Experiences that Help Your Customers
Is your data private? If you’re a regular online user, you’ve probably experienced that creepy experience of seeing a private preference expressed in advertising that “follows” you across many websites and tracks your behavior to predict shopping habits. One of the most famous examples is “early pregnancy detection.”
Targeted advertising works like this: a small piece of information, (such as a preference for hot dogs), has been married to your name, your location and your browsing history. Then whenever you are near a small business that has hot dogs for sale, you’ll receive advertising specific to that preference and location. This has been nirvana for hot dog vendors. And for tech companies. In fact, Google and Facebook made their initial billions from planting small bits of code (“cookies”) on websites and gathering information on users based on that clandestine data collection strategy. Information targeting is today worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
