Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Building A Loyal Client Base For Our E-business!

Posted by Anonymous on 9/16/2006 at 7:10 AM ET 250 Points
Hi,
We are a big retail high street store who deal in buying and reselling of used/graded items. Recently we have started dabbling on online auction sites, primarily e-bay, which is going very good. As the incharge of this business section I like to-
1) Develop a solid mailing list(as we automatically get e-mail/postal addresses of all buyers).

2) Figure out what caimpaigns to start to change those one time buyers into return customers and eventually loyal client base.

I understand the ethics of permission based marketing so first communication would obviously be opt-in mail. BUt I am running short of ideas regarding what to exactly do to build a client base who actually buy and a way of measuring all this!

Best,
Hersh
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Stafford on 9/16/2006 at 3:45 PM Member
    Segment, segment, segment!

    If I bought this size, only send me items that size. If I bought in this price range, only send me that price range, etc. Targetting by dividing your lists, rather than mass mailings, is the key to e-mail messages.

    - Stafford
  • Posted on 9/17/2006 at 6:14 AM Member
    Reward your Customers!!

    We have to pamper our customers with rewards.Good reward program keep them coming for more. What better way to tell your reward programs from the e-mails you are sending out.
  • Posted on 9/17/2006 at 8:20 AM Accepted
    As stafford says, when you ask them to opt-in, you could also ask them to check off categories of items they're looking for and interested in seeing (even if they haven't already bought them from your site). Suggest that when the right kinds of items come up, you'll let them know. You might ask them for desired price range info, too. Also, are they interested in reselling? That could be a category of its own, with its own tips and successes news items.

    Combining a rewards program with effective segmenting and then creating ongoing relevant communications has potential for building a working relationship with these folks. The mechanics of the rewards program allow you to track their purchases. Keeping useful content going out is an ongoing effort, as is the technology effort to get your database applications to support this program.

    But keep in mind that loyalty is probably not the right word for what you would be building here. There's not much loyalty in the second-hand goods market. But if your prospects can know when you've got something they want without combing your store or online inventory every week, that could help make them into regular purchasers. Good luck!

    Marge
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