Top strategies to retain customers in 2025
By Monica Eaton (pictured), Founder and CEO of Chargebacks911
As a retailer, it’s just as important to retain new customers as it is to attract them — especially in the months following 2024’s Golden Quarter. This is the time when businesses should promote the recurring benefits of their products or services because loyal returning customers are likely to spend more, make referrals to others and provide feedback or reviews that can help retailers improve and grow by 25% to 95%, according to some studies.
To start, the return customer rate (RCR) is one area that is crucial for retailers. It indicates the percentage of customers who continually choose one particular merchant’s products or services over competitors. This loyalty translates into consistent revenue, reduced marketing costs, and a solid foundation for business growth. Put simply, a retailer needs to divide the number of return customers by the total number of customers in a given time frame. While RCR is easy to calculate and provides a good foundation for building on existing customer loyalty, there are other variables to consider that can provide added insights into shopping cycles, such as alternative payment methods, emerging technology, and shifts in consumer shopping trends.
One shopping preference among consumers expected to explode in 2025 is more personalized shopping experiences, specifically with augmented, virtual and mixed reality applications. By using fun new tech like virtual try-ons, AR home decor apps, and AI-generated recommendations not only help consumers to virtually try before they buy, it also helps merchants decrease disputes that stem from products not being what they imagined.
In addition to adopting new tech, developing loyalty programs and rewards, incentivising referrals, building surveys and reviews into the sale cycle, and seasonal discounts during slow periods are great ways to learn from loyal patrons, as well as transition new customers into repeat customers.
Overall, a strategic approach is required to build loyalty and significantly increase turning first-time buyers into repeat customers. The key to growth is not just making the sale but cultivating a relationship that encourages customers to return time and again.
