Nothing is better for a business than loyal customers who keep coming back for more. As 4.20 comes to an end, you should still focus on maximizing customer retention.
So, how do you maximize customer retention, especially for niche industries such as dispensaries?
What is customer retention, and why is it important?
Customer retention refers to any strategy that aims to engage existing customers and reduce the number of customer attrition. In simpler terms, it means making sure that you’re keeping your current customers happy so you won’t lose them.
For brands, customer retention is crucial since it’s more cost-effective. A study by Invespcro found that attracting new customers actually costs 5x more than retaining existing ones.
Customer retention also helps in boosting conversions and profits. The same study revealed that increasing customer retention rates by as little as 5% could increase profits by as much as 25% to 95%.
Retaining customers is even more important for dispensaries, in particular. Since the industry is highly regulated and competitive, leveraging existing customers can be extremely helpful in sustaining your business.
Customer retention also equates to brand loyalty, and nurturing a good relationship with your current customers means they will trust your dispensary over others.
Why is maintaining customer retention after 4.20 important?
April 20 is a special day for users of regulated industry products, but the days after 4.20 are also crucial. It’s an opportunity for businesses to share their connections with their customers.
With the right strategy, you can amp up your sales and engagement after 4.20. During the day of celebration, it’s essential to make a good impression, especially to first-time buyers:
- Fffer special 4.20 promos
- Doll up your shop with celebratory decor
- Play upbeat music to match the party vibes
However, your strategy doesn’t have to end there. After 4.20, it’s essential to implement follow-up marketing to your customers to cultivate retention and loyalty, which we will discuss in the next section.
4 Ways to Maximize Customer Retention at Your Dispensary
Now that your target customer has shopped with you, what are some ways to reel them in to shop again? Here are some methods on how to effectively retain your customers:
1. Set up a loyalty program and offer incentives
One of the cornerstones of a customer retention strategy is setting up a loyalty program. As the term suggests, a loyalty program rewards and recognizes customers who make regular, repeat purchases at your shop.
One thing we want to emphasize here is that it’s equally important to make sure that your loyalty program is easy for customers to engage in. There are many ways to do this, but one of the most effective ways is to gamify your loyalty program.
Gamification means making the engagement more challenging yet at the same time fun. For example, customers who reach a certain tier based on the number of their purchases can “unlock” more benefits. And for each tier, you can assign certain rewards.
The more engaging your program is, the more your customers will participate. Ultimately, you will retain them among your loyal customers.
2. Collect and value their feedback
Customers naturally desire to feel valued and be heard, and a good way to achieve this is to send out follow-up surveys after checkout. Listen to your customers and see what they like and don’t like. Find opportunities where you can improve on and work from there.
Aside from providing you with valuable data, collecting feedback from customers and hearing them out sends a strong message that you as a brand are committed to. This way you give the best possible shopping experience to your customers.
3. Offer customer education
Marketing your regulated industry business can be tricky, especially with all the regulations surrounding it. However, in the field of recreational and medical use, there’s so much value in offering customer education. This not only helps in marketing your products — it also helps customers in cultivating trust in you and in building your brand’s reputation.
Just like the staff should be knowledgeable about your products, the customers should be, too. Every piece of content you offer to your customers, in whatever form, should aim to deepen their trust in you and your products. This, in turn, leads to customers coming back to you and boosting your retention and sales.
4. Be welcoming and open
There are many stigmas and myths surrounding the regulated products industry, and people often form their own opinions about it. Offering customer education is one way to dispel these, but it’s also essential to be open and welcoming when customers themselves seek answers from you.
When this happens, you want to make sure that you have the right information and the right tools to answer each of your customers’ questions. Ensure that all members of your staff are well-trained to answer commonly asked questions. For more specialized questions, be sure to provide credible sources.
Additionally, simply being welcoming and open to your customers will make them feel at home with you.
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For brands, attracting new customers is just the first stage of the customer journey. Being able to retain them is a life-long commitment, and we’ve discussed some of the ways here to successfully engage customers and keep them coming back to your store.
The key takeaway here is to make your existing customers feel valued and rewarded. When you keep your customers happy, they are more likely to stay loyal to your brand and even refer you to their friends and family.
If you’re a dispensary looking to start a loyalty program or aiming to improve your existing one, Alpine IQ is here for you.
Our loyalty program solution offers a streamlined and engaging program that’s catered to your unique needs. We also put compliance as our top priority — when you use Alpine IQ’s loyalty program, your dispensary stays compliant with local regulations even as they change.
Ready for the next step? Contact us at https://alpineiq.com/ to learn more.
