[FR] 4 customer loyalty levers to activate in e-commerce logistics

As an e-tailer, you know all too well: your customers are increasingly volatile. While the explosion of e-commerce has created growth opportunities for you, it has also increased competition. Hence the need both to win over new customers and to retain those who have already placed their trust in you. Did you know that a recent study sums it up as follows: keeping a customer costs 5 to 10 times less than winning over a new one.

There are a number of levers you can use to build customer loyalty. You’re probably already using your customer data to personalise your service, setting up loyalty programmes, and various other marketing initiatives.

But do you know how much your logistics strategy can impact on customer loyalty?

In this article, discover the four logistics levers for building customer loyalty that you can activate right now to make your e-commerce memorable in the long term.

What role do logistics play in building customer loyalty?

When we think of “customer loyalty” in e-commerce, we often think of the marketing strategy put in place by the company.

Among the levers you might consider putting in place are :

• Newsletters, emails and other content sent out frequently to stay top of mind with customers
• Advertising campaigns, particularly retargeting
• Loyalty programmes and regular promotions to reward the most loyal customers
• Social networking to keep in touch with existing customers…

But we often forget that logistics itself can play a crucial role in customer relationship management, especially with the customers you want to retain! In fact, the logistics phase is the last stage in the customer journey before the consumer has their product in their hands – a key moment for deploying levers that motivate them to restart their purchasing journey afterwards.

Logistics play a vital role in the care you give to your customer experience, and therefore in your site’s brand image… and in whether customers come to buy your company’s products.

4 logistics-related drivers of customer loyalty

Do you want to establish a lasting relationship with your existing loyal customers, and increase the loyalty of those who have just placed their first order on your site? Consider activating the following four logistics-related customer loyalty levers!

1.Unboxing, or the care taken when unpacking products

Perhaps you’ve already heard ofunboxing. Unboxing refers to the process of unpacking products, but also, by extension, to the practice among today’s customers of filming or photographing their products in the packaging when they receive them, in order to share them on social networks.

As an e-tailer, it’s important for you to take care of this unboxing. The idea is to win the loyalty of existing customers by offering them a memorableexperience of unpacking products, which will make them want to buy from your company.

But the aim of this loyalty-building strategy is twofold. The second aim is to make satisfied customers want to take photos or videos of their products being unpacked in beautiful packaging, and so, by word of mouth, to bring other potential customers back to you. In this way, packaging that takes care ofunboxing becomes a real channel for turning your customers into brand ambassadors.

To do this, think about :

• Choose carefully designed packaging that enhances the value of your products, in particular by using elegant cushioning materials.
• Offer promotional codes for future purchases when each customer places an order, especially those making their first purchase with you.
• Include goodies in the packaging, such as stickers or small gifts.

What kind of packaging is best forunboxing?

As well as the containers in which you send your goods, it’s the method of cushioning your parcels that will make all the difference in terms ofunboxing.

Here are some suggestions from our experts:

2. Customised packaging: one of the key communication channels in e-commerce

The second way of building customer loyalty in e-commerce is to personalise your packaging. This technique ensures strong brand recognition and an optimal customer experience.

What’s more, this personalisation also plays a part inunboxing: it can encourage your customers to show off your superb packaging on their social networks, helping to promote your brand to potential new customers.

For example, you can choose to personalise your packaging by printing or embossing. All types of packaging products can be personalised, from the containers themselves (bags, crates, cases, etc.) to adhesive tapes and your tissue paper.

What does it mean in practice?

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

For example, you could print a QR code on the packaging that leads to a satisfaction questionnaire. This technique allows you to take the pulse of the customer experience you are offering, and to identify satisfied customers who can be retained or, on the contrary, dissatisfied customers who you need to work on.

This will enable you to create a fine segmentation of your targets in your CRM, and therefore of your loyalty marketing campaigns, so that you can address your customers with a genuine relationship marketing strategy, truly tailored to their expectations.

Want to know more? Discover our tips for optimal personalised packaging.

And to personalise your packaging directly, use our Rajaprint service.

3. Your customer returns strategy: a neglected customer retention lever

In e-commerce, looking after the customer experience also means looking after the smooth flow of potential returns from your customers. By making this process clear and simple for your targets, you can turn it into a driver of customer satisfaction (and customer loyalty) in its own right.

What’s more, this technique avoids overloading your customer service department with dissatisfied customers who make complaints or ask for a refund because they don’t know how to go about it themselves.

Hence the need to make your e-commerce returns policy very clear, both on your website before you order and in your packaging (for example, on the packaging itself, or on the invoice).

Which packaging is best for customer returns?

The good news is that the packaging itself can also help you to simplify your customer returns, and offer a smooth end-to-end experience to anyone who wants to return their products to you! This type of packaging is known as round-trip packaging.

4. Eco-responsibility, or CSR as a lever for customer loyalty

Keeping customers today and working towards customer satisfaction cannot be achieved solely through your products or the quality of service you offer. Behind every e-commerce business, today’s customers see values, societal impacts… but also environmental impacts!

That’s why it’s crucial to implement an eco-responsible logistics strategy if you want to build customer loyalty. This means not only using environmentally-friendly packaging for your products, but also monitoring the way your parcels are transported.

What eco-responsible solutions are there to build customer loyalty?

On the one hand, you can opt for postal packaging or flexible packaging. These are designed to be delivered directly to letterboxes, reducing the number of rounds made by carriers. The ideal way to easily reduce the impact of your e-commerce on the environment!

On the other hand, you can’t do without a genuine eco-responsible packaging strategy. To do this, take a look at the 5Rs of packaging. 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 over-packaging while protecting your parcels as best you can.
• Reuse, by sending your orders in reusable packaging designed to withstand several shipments.
• Replace, by finding greener alternatives to your existing packaging – for example, by changing your petro-sourced plastic packaging for recycled plastic packaging.
• Renew, by choosing packaging made from naturally renewable materials (such as bio-sourced packaging) or recycled materials (such as recycled plastic or cardboard).
• Recycle, by offering recyclable packaging, with the appropriate logos and acronyms, to guide consumers towards the right sorting channels.

From recyclable packaging to bio-sourced packaging and reusable packaging, you have a wide range of options for making your shipments eco-responsible. To find out more, read our article on the 5Rs of packaging here.

Congratulations: now you’re armed with four logistical ways of building customer loyalty, which you can activate without moderation. Ready to retain customers by meeting their needs in terms of customer experience?