[ES] 4 actions to build customer loyalty with your e-commerce logistics

As an online retailer, you know that your customers are increasingly volatile. Although it is true that the rise of e-commerce has created opportunities for many businesses, it has also increased competition in this sector, making it more and more challenging to attract new customers and/or retain current ones.

At RAJA® we want to help you make use of all your company’s resources not only to increase your customer base but also to retain them.

So pay close attention to this post because we will tell you about many actions you can take, not only from Marketing, to achieve this goal.

It is very likely that you are using your customer data to personalise your service, set up loyalty programmes and other marketing actions. Butdo you know how much your logistics strategy can impact customer loyalty?

There are four key logistics actions that you need to activate in order for your e-commerce to remain forever in the minds of your shoppers.

What role does logistics have to play in customer loyalty?

When we think of “customer loyalty” in e-commerce, we often think of the marketing strategy implemented by the company, for example:

• Newsletters, e-mails and other content that is sent frequently to stay in the minds of customers.
• Advertising campaigns, in particular retargeting
• Loyalty programmes and regular promotions that reward loyal customers
• The animation of social networks to maintain a presence with established customers…

But we often forget that logistics itself can play a crucial role in customer relationship management, and in particular with the customers you want to retain! In fact, the logistics phase is the last stage of the customer journey before the consumer has your product in his hands, a key moment to deploy all the machinery that motivates him to relaunch his buying journey afterwards.

Logistics comes to play a major role in the care you give to your customer’s experience, and therefore in the brand image of your site… and in the fact that a customer comes to repurchase your company’s products.

4 customer loyalty actions related to logistics

1. Unpacking, or the care taken when unpacking products

You have probably heard ofunboxingYes, this process that has become so viral on social networks for unboxing products.

Nowadays, it is very common, for people to film or photograph not only their products but also the packaging, and unboxing, to spread it on social networks.

So, as an e-merchant, it is important that you pay close attention to this unboxing, because the idea is that for your customers the moment of unpacking the product is so memorable that they want to buy again in your business and live that experience again.

However, the objective of this loyalty strategy is twofold, because once you have captured their attention, ideally that satisfied customer will want to take a photo or film the unboxing of your products and, not only tell their social media channels, but also tell their family and/or friends about it and thus attract other potential customers to you.

In this way, the packaging that takes care of the unboxing becomes an authentic channel to turn your customers into ambassadors of your brand.

To do this, consider:

• Choose clean and rewarding packaging for your products, in particular by configuring elegant cushioning materials.
• Offer promotional codes for future purchases at the request of every customer, and in particular those making their first purchase.
• Integrate goodies into the packaging, such as stickers or small gifts.

What packaging to take care of unboxing?

Beyond the containers in which you send your products, it is the method of filling your packages that will make the difference in terms of unboxing.

Here are our experts’ suggestions:

Filling papermade from 100% recycled and recyclable kraft paper, quality 90gr/m². Ideal for wrapping products and filling the gaps inside boxes.

Tissue paperis an original element that not only decorates but also protects products. It is available in many colours or can be customised to brighten up your packaging.

Filler chipsThe filling chips perfectly fill the empty spaces and cushion the shocks to protect the product.

RAJA® coloured filler paper chipsis made of accordion-folded paper fibres, which gives it elasticity and flexibility that allow you to secure your products.

2. Packaging personalisation: one of the key communication channels in e-commerce

A second opportunity to build customer loyalty in e-commerce: personalising your packaging allows for a strong brand memorisation and an optimal customer experience.

Moreover, this personalisation also contributes to unboxing: it can make your customers want to reveal your excellent packaging on their social networks, which allows your brand to shine with new potential customers.

For example, you can choose to personalise your packaging by printing or embossing. All kinds of packaging products are customisable, from the packaging itself (bags, boxes, cases…) to adhesive tapes and labels.

You can choose to print your logo, your marketing slogan or even other communication elements on your packaging to help you personalise the customer experience.

You can then send your customer a satisfaction questionnaire to find out what the customer experience is like, and identify the satisfied customers you can then build customer loyalty or, conversely, the dissatisfied ones you need to work on.

You will also be able to create a fine segmentation of your targets in your CRM, and therefore of your loyalty marketing campaigns, in order to target your customers in a real relationship marketing strategy, truly adapted to their expectations.

You want to go further on the subject?Discover our tips for optimal personalised packaging and personalise your packaging.

3. Your customer feedback strategy: an overlooked customer retention opportunity

In e-commerce, taking care of the customer experience also means taking care of the fluidity of your customers’ possible product returns. Making this process clear and simple makes it a driver of customer satisfaction (and customer loyalty) in itself.

Moreover, this technique avoids overloading your customer service with dissatisfied customers, who complain or ask for a refund because they do not know how to do it on their own.

Hence the need to clearly explain the e-commerce returns policy, on your website before placing the order, but also on your packaging (e.g. on the packaging itself or on the invoice).

What packaging should take care of your customers’ returns?

Good news: the packaging itself can also help simplify your customer returns and provide a seamless end-to-end experience for anyone who wants to return your products to you. This type of packaging is called round-trip packaging.

	Round-trip kraft paper envelopes.These are designed from two layers of kraft, and two adhesive strips, to simplify the reshipment of lightweight products or those requiring little protection.
	Round-trip cardboard boxesThe cardboard boxes are designed with a double thickness cardboard reinforced bottom and two adhesive strips for easy and safe re-shipping.

4. EcoResponsibility or CSR as a lever for customer loyalty

Retaining customers today and working to satisfy them can be achieved not only through your products or the quality of the service you offer, but also through values, social and environmental impacts.

This is why today, in order to retain customers, it is essential to implement an EcoResponsible logistics strategy. This not only involves packing your products with eco-friendly packaging, but also monitoring the way your packages are transported.

What are the EcoResponsible solutions to build customer loyalty?

On the one hand, you can opt for postal packaging or flexible packaging. These are designed to go straight to the mailbox and therefore allow you to limit the number of transport rounds – an ideal way to easily reduce the impact of your e-commerce on the environment!

On the other hand, you cannot do without a real eco-responsible packaging strategy. To do this, consider the 5R packaging method. Based on five pillars, it allows you to opt for packaging that follows each of these five precepts:

• Reduce the weight-volume of your shipments, to limit excess packaging and protect your packages as much as possible.
• Reuse, by sending your orders in reusable packaging, designed to withstand multiple shipments.
• Replace by finding greener alternatives to your existing packaging, for example, by swapping your petro-based plastic packaging for packaging made from recycled plastic.
• Renew by choosing packaging designed with naturally renewable materials (such as bio-based packaging) or recycled materials (such as recycled plastic or recycled cardboard).
• Recycle by offering recyclable packaging, with appropriate logos and acronyms that direct consumers to the correct sorting channels.

From recyclable packaging to bio-based packaging to reusable packaging, you have many options available to take care of the eco-responsibility of your shipments. To dig deeper, check out our article on the 5Rs of packaging here .

Congratulations: here are four logistics tips for customer loyalty, to activate without moderation. Ready to retain customers by meeting their customer experience needs?