How AI Drives Customer Loyalty

Shifting consumer behaviour and expectations means customer loyalty is becoming increasingly challenging to maintain.

Visitors are just one long load time or inaccurate result away from clicking off your site and purchasing from a competitor.

Don’t fret too much, this doesn’t necessarily mean customer loyalty is dying. Paul Martin, KPMG’s Head of Retail says it is simply being “reinvented for the digital age.”

A reinvention led by the convenience of AI technologies.

This tech creates personal and intuitive product discovery experiences that simplify the buyer’s journey and keep customers returning.

Let’s take a look at how AI improves brand loyalty and helps eCommerce sites retain customers.

Why should you care about increasing customer loyalty?

You’ll have noticed the increasing cost of acquiring new customers, which has risen by 60% in the last 6 years.

An increase that can be credited to the exponential growth in competition amongst online retailers and the need to win customers over.

This leaves a simple answer to this question, you can’t afford to not care about customer loyalty.

Simultaneously, a decline in customer loyalty has been created by companies failing to keep up with high consumer expectations.

Expectations include a seamless experience, from the homepage to checkout, that is unique to them as an individual.

Actively working to improve your service can retain customers in a cost-effect way that will ensure business growth – a priority for any eCommerce brand – and a simple way to do this is through the use of AI.

How AI boosts customer loyalty for eCommerce retailers

1. Anticipates a customer’s wants and needs

In building a loyal customer/brand relationship, it is almost a requirement that sites show they know their customers.

Given this, eCommerce retailers should focus on showing a customer what they want before they know themselves, similar to how a shopper would rely on a salesperson in brick and mortar stores.

Predictive product recommendations replicate this experience online by meeting your customer at the beginning of the sales funnel and minimising the effort they need to put in on your site.

This use of AI tech saves a visitor from scrolling through irrelevant products and connects them with relevant cross-sells based on similar user journeys, effortlessly responding to their needs.

In the mind of a customer, an eCommerce site should anticipate why they are on your site.

When you successfully do this, you can increase the number of one time purchasers that convert into returning customers.

2. Simplifies product discovery

Online attention spans are becoming shorter. Make sure you don’t lose a customer forever due to a lengthy product discovery process.

AI technology can simplify this process and keep your customers engaged and happy.

A visual search tool works to connect a customer with their desired product by eliminating the frustrations of translating their inspiration into words.

Replacing pain points with a seamless experience gives a customer the quick and convenient product discovery they want.

Making the product discovery as simple and painless as possible leaves a lasting impression on your customers, boosting loyalty.

3. Personalises the customer journey

When introducing AI technology to your site to boost customer loyalty, one question should be kept in mind – what will make the customer return?

Deploying dynamic content tailored to a customer’s intentions is a sure-fire answer to this.

A visitor can feel motivated to make repeat purchases from you when your site reacts to their on-site behaviour.

Don’t just take our word for it, the statistics back this up. 79% of consumers say the more personalisation tactics a website uses, the more likely they are to remain loyal.

And with AI technology, automated personalisation is simplified for your team.

As AI-powered tools learn the behaviours of your customers, they will continuously improve the accuracy of personalised product suggestions and search results.

So the longer it’s on your site, the more intelligent it will become and the happier your customers will be.

4. Replicates the convenience of social commerce

The average internet user spends 145 minutes a day scrolling through social media.

Inevitably, this means they have come to expect the user-friendly functionality of social commerce to be available whilst shopping online, including on your eCommerce store.

The journey from social media to on-site browsing can be a seamless one when you replicate social commerce.

You can do this easily thanks to the implementation of tools such as recommendations. An AI technology that mimics the ‘natural’ product discovery experience of the social media algorithm.

Using intelligent tools gives your site an edge that unifies the user experiences on social and eCommerce platforms.

This frictionless crossover is necessary for creating the satisfaction necessary to gain loyalty from your customers.

Related: How Has Social Media Influenced the eCommerce Product Discovery Experience?

Conclusions

Meeting consumer demands and preferences continues to become increasingly important to retaining brand loyalty.

With the help of AI tools, eCommerce brands can enjoy repeat customers who enjoy a convenient and seamless online shopping experience.