Retain and grow your customer base

Selling more to existing customers can be faster and less expensive than attracting new customers. An effective customer retention strategy depends on understanding your customers, competitors and market.

Understand your customers

Use your sales data to understand:

• how often your customers buy from you
• the type of products or services they buy
• the cost of the average transaction
• the average value of their order

Understand your competitors

It is important to understand your competitors. If you know who your competitors are, and what they are offering, you can:

• set your prices competitively
• improve your products and services
• respond to rival marketing campaigns with your own initiatives

You can also use market research and market reports to help you understand the marketplace you are operating in.

Tailor your offering 

Technology can help automate some of these processes. For example, you can set up different mailshots or emails for different customer segments. E-commerce software can allow you to offer discounts to particular customer groups, or send selected customers 'e-coupons' to use in your online store.