One of the most effective ways to grow your business and increase repeat orders is by providing an open dialog with your customers. When they experience a personalized shopping journey, they feel comfortable and trust your brand. As they build trust, they become more loyal, which drives repeat purchases. 

Although customers are shopping online more than ever, they still want assistance from brands they get in a store. Brands can use conversational commerce to provide this assistance and create the one-on-one shopping experience that customers are accustomed to. 

Conversational Commerce Is the Answer

Conversational commerce is a one-on-one conversation between a brand and its customers. It uses chat, messaging, and SMS to converse directly with customers, and the conversation can be relevant, responsive, and personalized. 

In the past, businesses have focused on one-way communication with customers through email blasts, pop-ups, flyers, catalogs, and more. However, customers today aren't interested in that approach. They want communications to be personalized and relevant, and they want brands to be responsive. Conversational commerce fulfills this need. 

What Are Repeat Orders and Why Do They Matter?

A repeat order is when your customer returns to your store to buy a product that they have purchased in the past. For example, if you have a customer who purchased shampoo and conditioner, you want that customer to return to you when they run out. The challenge is ensuring they return to you when it's time to buy again.

Repeat purchases are essential because they measure brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is one of the keys to your future success. The Pareto principle states that nearly 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers, which tells you just how important retaining your customers is. 

How SMS Can Drive Repeat Orders

You can use SMS with your existing customers, which is the most effective way to get their attention. Research shows that text messages have a 90% open rate and are opened within a minute and a half. 

SMS messages are short, clear, and to the point and designed to encourage customers to take action. Take a look at how you increase your repeat orders. 

1. Send Reminders

You can send out reminders post-purchase to nurture your relationship with them. When it is approaching the time for a customer to reorder, send a message with the product link, and give them the option of frictionless checkout. They can reply to the message with "Buy" to complete the purchase. The simplicity of conversational commerce will keep customers returning whenever they need to reorder and potentially allow you to offer a subscription-based model.

2. Offer an Incentive

Customers want to feel valued, and when you offer them an incentive, you show them that you want them to return to your ecommerce store. With repeat orders, the customer will likely purchase the item when needed, so you don't need to "sell" it. You do need to show them why they should return to your store. 

You can offer a small discount, a free gift, or free shipping to customers for returning to make a repeat order from you. Using conversational commerce, you can send out a reminder with your offer. Send them a text with a product recommendation, and tell them to reply "Buy" to complete the purchase with a discount, free gift, or free shipping included in their cart automatically at checkout.

This is a great way to encourage repeat orders because it is easy, customers need to make a minimal effort, and they get a deal. Altogether, it builds brand loyalty so they will think of you the next month when they purchase again. 

3. Use a Loyalty Program

You can also increase repeat orders with a loyalty program. After their first purchase or at checkout, allow them to join your program. Let them know how it works, and send out reminders via SMS. 

You can tell them how many points they have, what rewards they have earned, how many points they need to get to the next award, and more. You can also offer perks for your loyalty program members, encouraging them to return. 

When you send these reminders out by SMS, customers are more likely to open them and take advantage of your offers. 

4. Use SMS for Ongoing Customer Engagement

Customers have more choices about where to shop today, and you need to stay on their minds if you want them to return for a repeat purchase. You need to balance sending enough messages to keep them engaged and not sending so many that they unsubscribe. 

All customers are different in terms of their behaviors, but you can segment them into groups. You need to find the right metrics to know when you should respond. For example, if you offer shampoo, some customers may repurchase every 30 days, while others may wait for three months. You need to evaluate each customer's behavior to send your messages at the right time. 

One way to "check-in" with your customers is by sending them an SMS about upcoming sales or events, or you can send limited offers. You can ask them to fill out a survey, provide feedback, and remind them of how many loyalty points they have. Make sure that you have the data to understand individual customer behavior and preferences so that your messages are effective. 

5. Personalize Your Messages with Segmentation

Text messages are more personal by nature, but your messages also need to be relevant to your customers past behavior and current needs. 

You can use customer data to make specific offers and deals for customers based on what they already buy. If you want them to make a repeat purchase, use this data to make an offer that gets them back to your store.