In the digital age, your customers have apps that let them search for products, compare products, review products, check prices, compare prices, and even buy the product without ever stepping foot in your store. It’s convenient when you’re the shopper and an added challenge when you’re the retailer. With the option to  order a product from half a world away, how do you build customer loyalty? In the digital age, is it still possible to build brand loyalty?

The short answer is yes, it’s possible, but it will require trust, advanced customer service skills, a quality product, and the willingness to make a concerted effort.

Trust

One of the best ways to instill trust in your brand is to protect your customers’ personal information. Data breaches, hacks, and credit card fraud leave customers vulnerable. When they do business with you, it’s your responsibility to protect them. For more on using fraud prevention to protect your brand and your customers in the digital age, download the free whitepaper, iPad POS Security: The New Wave of Hacking and Credit Card Fraud.

Advanced Customer Service Skills

Anything you can do to serve the customer, to make them feel special in some way, will help you build customer loyalty. Rewards programs are helpful, but they’re not enough on their own. Do you give your customers birthday gifts? Can you call them by name based on their digital footprint if not by recognizing them in your store? Are you familiar enough with their shopping habits that you can suggest items they might enjoy?

A Quality Product

Nothing builds a brand better than a quality product. Just ask Apple, who did very little advertising after announcing the original iPhone. Don’t just listen to and soothe customer feedback, find a way to exceed their expectations by implementing it.

Make A Concerted Effort

Just like any other relationship, customer loyalty doesn’t just happen; it requires effort. In the digital age, the primary effort will have to be made by you, the retailer, in order to maintain the relationship. Fortunately, there are some tools available to help you. Bindo offers retailers integrated customer relationship management by tracking customer spending habits with your company both online and in store. See how much and how often a customer buys from you, use customer profile images to help you recall their name, and build customized rewards based on the purchasing history of your most loyal customers.

The digital age is here to stay. You might as well use the technology to keep customers coming back for more.