BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - November 12, 2009) - The recession is turning the focus of online
commerce organizations away from overreliance on net new customer appeal
and towards maximizing existing customer value. According to a report from
Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks
Company (
NYSE:
HHS), 42% of top performing online commerce organizations
have a formal online loyalty program in place for more than two years, and
63% of these same organizations consider the expectation of a highly
personalized experience to be their number one online loyalty-related
business pressure. The report,
"
Online Customer Loyalty: Converting Occasional
Shoppers into a Loyal Customer Base," details the business benefits
derived from upgraded e-commerce performance and cost optimization.
According to Aberdeen data, as a means to increase the overall value of
existing customers, top performing online commerce organizations are taking
a two-pronged approach to conversion and retention. First, these
organizations are implementing a formal online strategy that rewards the
shopping experiences of existing customers with points or similar credit
system. Second, these same organizations are using proactive market
personalization and effective post-purchase support to bolster their formal
efforts with increased customer touches.
Given the challenging economy categorized by decreased consumer spend, and
given the ultra-competitive online environment, it seems logical that
e-commerce organizations are turning towards maximizing existing clients
versus relying on new opportunities to present themselves.
"Top performing organizations have realized that increased customer touches
before, during and after an online transaction is key to increasing the
value derived from existing customers. These touches come from a
combination of effective customer loyalty strategies such as point
redemption and effective personalization though the customer buying
lifecycle. In an economy where the customer has more options and less
available spend, online commerce organizations will be judged not only on
what they sell, but the strategies they use to sell it," says Greg Belkin,
chief author and e-commerce analyst, Aberdeen.
Aberdeen has found that top performing online commerce organizations are
prioritizing customer loyalty all throughout their enterprise. Sixty-one
percent of these top performers are incentivizing their employees to
increase sign ups for customer loyalty programs. At the same time 44% of
these same organizations are also incentivizing repeat customer rates among
merchandisers, marketers, and post-purchase support staff. This strategy
helps organizations increase effective customer touches both from two
perspectives: formal loyalty programs and advanced personalization
strategies. The former includes point-based redemption programs, customer
experience and customer relationship management, while the latter includes
utilization of personalized promotions, email marketing, merchandising,
site content display, and search optimization.
"Online loyalty systems and personalization strategies work in tandem for
increasing customer value," says Belkin. "The smarter and more exact these
strategies are when it comes to servicing the specific needs of a customer,
the higher the overall lifetime value will be from their customer base."
To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=6191.
For additional access to complimentary
Retail Research,
please visit
http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/-retail
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers
demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the
past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving
market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering
meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the
global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that
drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in
context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's
analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of
Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement -
Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role
Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit
Aberdeen or call (617) 723-7890, or to
learn more about
Harte-Hanks,
call (800) 456-9748.
© 2009 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com
Contact Information: Media Contact:
Greg Belkin
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(617) 854-5228
greg.belkin@aberdeen.com