For our garden centre clients, unlike FMCG and other retail, we don’t worry about 8 weeks churn we trigger at 12. We carefully monitor lapsing customers with a tried and trusted strategy to create immediate impact to swoop at 12 weeks. Customers want to be “courted” it’s all part of being in a relationship which loyalty very much is. Brand new data for 2024 shows that 63% of customers who have shifted loyalty from a brand have said they could be ‘wooed” back.
Firstly, let’s check the lapsing landscape.
What do you really want them to do?
As a business this is an easy question because bottom line is you want them to make a purchase of some sort. For marketing the question can be harder as you also want them to engage with a wider range of campaigns. Both form customer loyalty. Here’s the conundrum – is it better to have someone that buys regularly but rarely reads your messages or a serial clicker who never buys anything?
What is the average need for a customer to visit/use your products?
The definition of ‘lapsed’ varies depending on what you are selling. We generally find the average loyalty customer visits a garden centre 6.7 times a year, and in reflection this comes as no surprise. Groceries have a very different purchase cycle businesses the lack of purchase for a few weeks in a row may push a customer into lapsed. Whereas for a holiday retailer a lack of engagement with value-add communications over many months may signify a need to try and re-engage.
Do you experience seasonality?
Garden centres it’s a resounding yes!! If so, then we need to take this into account when defining ‘lapsed’. Remember, looking at a lapsed or inactive customer is a snapshot in time so be careful about the picture you capture.
Ok, so we know what our lapsed customer looks like – how do we get them to reconnect with the brand again?
Get personal with lapsing customers
Customers expect any company they’ve given permission to (important one that!) to tailor their offering and experience to them. With lapsed customers you really need to make it personal to them or you won’t reconnect, the customer knows you have a 360 degree view of their shopping habits and expects you to use this data to personalise communications to them.
Make what you know about these individuals, the marketing data you hold, work hard for you. Being personalised is more than a simple ‘Hi {first_name}!’. Make use of relevant content such as product recommendations for things they love to buy - remind your lapsed customers what they enjoyed with you in the past and introduce what they could enjoy in the future.
If you aren’t tailoring your communications segments in your customer base, your competitors who do will certainly be getting the advantage!
Seasonal event reminders
Don’t miss those recurring moments in your customers lives. It’s straight-forward to send out a bulk campaign when it’s Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s, Easter etc. But what about using automation to capture their attention for example, the individual’s birthday or anniversary of joining a loyalty scheme. Look for peaks in basket value or a switch in product interest that could indicate a special event.
Find out why they haven’t visited
If you don’t know the causes of lost engagement with your customers, then it’s going to be impossible to address them and turn things around. Surveys to lapsing customers can garner insights into their intentions and will likely bring new ideas to the fold.
Recapture their attention with a break from the norm!
It’s very easy to slip into the habit of ignoring something that is regular and familiar. If you want to recapture someone’s attention, then think about changing the customer experience up. Over the years we have used e-newsletter resends to non-openers as a simple technique to increase the number of views without too much additional effort. Employing this tactic effectively can reward you with +50% open rates for a campaign.
Finally, don’t leave it too long before reactivating customers. Avoid running your reactivation campaign every 6 months, and instead make it part of the marketing automations you have working hard for you every day.
The further away from their last engagement/visit/purchase/App use you get, the less likely they’ll be to engage again.
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