Recently, experts have started labeling customer loyalty and retention as growth factors. As more and more ecommerce brands realize the importance of these two metrics, they’ve been doing their best to improve customer retention.
Thanks to a volatile market, high inflation rates putting pressure on consumers, and an ever-growing amount of choice, striving to improve customer retention is the logical thing to do. Especially considering that 80% of US consumers and 78% of European buyers are changing their shopping behavior (opting for cheaper products and switching retailers).
But, while you can inspire customer trust and improve customer retention rates by lowering prices and maximizing customer value, it’s also safe to say that employing the right web design hacks could be of use. After all, scientific research identified website design as one of the key factors influencing online purchasing behavior (along with information quality, customer service, and privacy). Rest assured that investing in your site will help you reach your customer loyalty goals.
So, if you’re ready to take your website to the next level, these are the most effective ecommerce web design hacks to improve customer retention in 2024 and beyond.
Optimize Your Value Propositions
One of the best ecommerce design tactics you can employ to help nurture customer loyalty is to optimize your value propositions. Why? Because without proper customer attraction, you won’t even get the chance to nurture first-time shoppers into regular customers of your brands.
With this in mind, do your absolute best to compose and position your value propositions in a way that will:
- Grab web visitors’ attention through design, placement, and addressing consumer pain points.
- Instantly communicate the unique value your brand’s solution offers.
- Set clear expectations regarding the results your audience can expect.
For example, if you check out the Vivion homepage, you’ll see that the hero section presents a marvelously composed value proposition. By stating that the brand provides “safe, ethically sourced, and contaminate-free ingredients,” Vivion perfectly sums up the benefits consumers unlock by purchasing. Seeing how the business has been operating for more than six decades and can back up its claims with social proof, web visitors quickly realize that this is a supplier that can take care of all their needs.
Alternatively, you can also take inspiration from ShopSolar, a brand that aims for high customer attraction levels with a straight-to-the-point website header. Note how the brand advertises benefits like free shipping, price guarantee, lifetime customer support, and experience. Seeing how these all play a role in getting people to consider a supplier in the first place, they’re excellent ways to secure an initial conversion that will, hopefully, improve customer retention and transform into a loyal customer base.
If you decide to play around with your brand’s value proposition, remember that promising stellar results makes for a great customer acquisition strategy. However, to improve customer retention and ensure those buyers really stick around, you will have to make sure you meet and exceed their expectations. After all, 46% of consumers say that the way to win their loyalty is to provide them with high-quality products and services they enjoy using.
Improve Customer Retention with a Subscription Model
Another excellent web design strategy to improve customer retention is offering a subscription model to your brand’s customers.
Admittedly, knowing that people are trying to spend less these days may make you wonder how a subscription model can help you reach your goals. But here’s the deal. This type of repeat purchase saw a 300% growth rate between 2012 and 2019. And the reason behind the impressive number is that subscriptions give consumers what they want from brands. They are convenient and cost-effective. They help buyers maintain a preferred lifestyle. And, of course, subscriptions offer a solid level of personalization, which is among the top priorities consumers have these days.
So, if you’re trying to get more of your customers to stick with your brand, consider giving them the option of re-purchasing your products automatically.
For instance, knowing that it sells consumable products that customers are bound to run out of at some point, Native allows shoppers to choose a subscription instead of a one-time purchase. What’s great about this brand’s approach to subscriptions, however, isn’t just that it points out that this mode of buying comes with a 22% discount. More impressively, Native allows buyers to choose the frequency of how often products are delivered, ensuring that they get the highest level of convenience possible.
Make Customer Service Easy to Access (and Unmatched in Quality)
According to Deloitte’s Consumer Loyalty Trends report for 2023, one of the new things consumers expect brands to provide (in return for their continued business) is exceptional customer support. And survey data confirms this as well. In its latest State of Customer Loyalty and Retention survey, Yotpo discovered that 36.5% of online buyers consider re-purchasing from a brand due to good customer service. (A loyalty program is the only incentive outperforming this element of customer experience).
So, if you’re looking for design hacks to improve customer retention, explore ways to make your next-level customer support obvious and, more importantly, easy to access.
For example, something as elementary as pointing out that you offer 24/7 customer service is an excellent way to win your audience’s loyalty.
Take a look at how it’s done with the “24/7 help” button on the Chewy homepage:
However, to guarantee your target audience remains loyal to your brand, consider that it’s personalization that makes great customer service stand out. Use simple UX web design techniques to ensure you can collect relevant data to give future and existing customers the kind of personalized experience that helps improve customer retention.
For instance, if you check out the Bay Alarm Medical homepage, you’ll notice that the Live Chat button in the bottom right corner of the page brings up a short form. By asking prospects to provide a name, customer status, and the type of help they require, the brand can ensure that each query solicits a response that’s personalized and relevant. The customer support agent handling the query has access to the necessary information to resolve any issue in a timely and efficient manner.
Invest in Helpful Pre and Post-Purchase Content
In many ways, managing your web visitors’ expectations represents the best method to improve customer retention rates. After all, customers who receive what they expected (or more) are far more likely to enjoy your products and re-purchase them in the future.
But, if you’re looking for advanced design hacks to manage customer expectations (other than optimizing your value propositions and working to improve the overall shopping experience), it’s a good idea to consider how web design hacks can help you further elevate the customer experience.
For example, by providing web visitors with helpful pre and post-purchase content, you’ll ensure that they know exactly what they’ll be getting from your business. But more importantly, this can allow you to present them with ways to receive even more value out of their purchases.
If you look at the Sokisahtel homepage, you’ll notice that, in addition to the standard commercial links, this page also includes text aiming to make the shopping process more manageable for web visitors. By addressing the differences between men’s and women’s models, materials, and sizes, Sokisahtel does as much as it possibly can to educate web visitors about its different product categories. The brand obviously put in effort to steer them toward the right choice for their specific needs. This kind of effort definitely helps improve customer retention in the long run.
Or, if you want to guarantee that your buyers get as much use out of your products as possible, do something similar to Fabric House. This textile seller understands that the key to fabric (and garment) longevity is to take proper care of it. That’s why it created a dedicated Care Instruction page. Here, it takes existing and future customers through the ins and outs of caring for different types of yarns, from cotton to linen to silk and wool.
Recognize the Value of Your Newsletter Sign-Up Forms
Lastly, as you explore strategies for adapting your website to improve customer retention, don’t forget the value of having a direct line of communication with your brand’s clients through email marketing.
After all, science confirms that consumers often choose brands and products they are familiar with. Keeping your solutions at the forefront of their minds could make the difference between winning the customer loyalty lottery and losing money due to high customer acquisition costs and low customer retention results.
Fortunately, encouraging web visitors (and first-time buyers) to sign up for your newsletter — which will allow you to nurture brand loyalty — doesn’t have to be challenging. Something as simple as offering a discount code to new customers in exchange for their email address, like on the Dress Forms USA homepage, can be enough to populate your list of subscribers with qualified leads you can slowly transform into loyal clients of your business.
Alternatively, you can use prominent areas of your website — like the homepage — to encourage new customers to join your loyalty program by promising sought-after benefits. This can be a very simple and direct strategy to help improve customer retention. For instance, knowing that its target audience appreciates freebies and exclusive offers, Waterdrop invites all web visitors to join its Club to unlock exciting perks and benefits.
In Closing: Get Ready to Improve Customer Retention Rates
Do you already have satisfactory customer retention rates? Or do your results leave some room for improvement?
Remember, sometimes, the best way to boost your brand’s growth potential is to admit that providing a first-rate customer experience doesn’t work without the right web design strategies that call your audience’s attention to the immense value you can deliver.
So, don’t hesitate to implement the design hacks discussed in this article to improve customer retention on your site. On their own, these changes may not make a huge difference. However, if you utilize them along with other customer satisfaction-driving techniques, they’re guaranteed to produce next-level results.
