6 Reasons Why Repeat Customers Are Better Than New Customers

If you noticed your business isn’t generating enough revenue and you wanted to make a change, what would be your strategy? For many business owners, a bulk of their time and marketing budget goes into the acquisition of new customers to increase revenue. While acquiring new customers is equally important for most business owners to convert them to repeat business, channelling your marketing efforts into customer retention can be more profitable for businesses. These repeat customers are usually loyal customers that increase their value to your business with every repeat purchase.
Still not swayed? Check out 6 reasons why repeat customers are very valuable to your business.

1. Repeat customers spend more money

According to the survey reports of small businesses analyzed by BIA/Kelsey

More than 50% of their annual revenues were generated from repeat customers. Repeat customers were also found to spend 67% more than new customers.

The more times you are able to get a customer to make another purchase, the greater their potential lifetime value becomes. With the profitability of your business in mind, you can encourage your new customers to keep coming back by enticing them with great deals.
In addition, the more often repeat customers convert, the higher their average order value compared to first-time customers. This is largely because repeat customers tend to make more purchases over time due to development of brand trust, making them valuable for business success. Obviously repeat customers offer business owners a high lifetime value, contributing significantly to a higher value per purchase over a long period of time.

2. Repeat customers spend more during the holiday rush

During the, spend only 17% more per transaction, but repeat customers spend 25% more.

According to Adobe, “first-time customers spend about 17% more per transaction during the peak season. While this is great news, your repeat customers spend 25% more per transaction.”

However, that’s not all!
The percentage of revenue from repeat purchasers has been proven to increase even during a recession.
The same study found that during recessions, repeat purchasers are even more important. For instance during Europe’s recession, studies showed that there was increase in revenue generation from repeat customers. This shows that your repeat customers will remain loyal even during hard economic times.

3. Repeat customers are easier to sell to

Gaining new customers is the goal of every business owner. However, when you’re marketing to a prospective customer, bear in mind that there is only a 13 percent chance of converting prospects to paying customer. According to a Forbes article written by best-selling author Paul B. Brown on Forbes

it is far easier to sell products and services to existing customers than it is to sell to new customers.

Don’t waste too much time and resources on potential customers who may end up not buying anything. Ensure you are paying enough attention to your existing customers and putting efforts into your customer retention.

If you have put in measures to ensure customer satisfaction, existing customers are usually easier to sell more of your products to. Since there is an established between you and your existing customers, they are easier to convert to repeat customers. There is at least a 60-70% chance of repeat customers buying from you. This is good news for businesses as the more repeat customers you can retain, the better for your business.

Also, repeat customers are also much easier to cross-sell to without spending much on marketing. Some of such ways to market and track marketing efforts are email newsletters, WhatsApp messages, etc. You can track your marketing efforts and re-marketing for customer retention via SMS, Telegram, WhatsApp with the Tracksend app. Tracksend allows business owners to easily automate and track your marketing campaigns.

4. New customers cost you more

Keeping existing customers is much less expensive and has greater advantages than finding new ones.

According to research, attracting a new customer cost 5 times more than keeping existing customers. Not only that, it costs 16 times more to bring that new customer to the spending level of your repeat customers.

If you’re a small business, you should save cost and channel your marketing efforts into ensuring customer retention. Businesses that want their customers to keep coming back for more purchases can retain their customers using a SMS and messaging app like Tracksend

5. Repeat customers promote your business

Marketing campaigns can be quite expensive. Getting a brand ambassador for your products can be even much more expensive. But what if you have product ambassadors that you didn’t have to pay for their services? Or better still, who best to promote your products or services than satisfied customers that have first-hand experience? Satisfied customers can invariably market your products and services at little or no cost.
Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth referrals. Repeat customers can become your product marketers and acquire new customers for you at reduced costs. A study conducted by The Bain & Company showed that

repeat customers refer 50 percent more potential buyers than one-time buyers.

Across several industries, the more customers return to make another purchase, the more new customers they refer to that brand. These new customers in turn increase the revenue generated by that brand. By increasing your marketing efforts on existing customers, you will be able to create a group of loyal customers that will happily sing the praises of your business.

6. Businesses are built on customer retention

The average Nigerian customer is usually on the lookout for the best deals and is more likely to engage with a brand that rewards loyalty. According to a report by Manta and BIA/Kelsey,

64% of businesses with customer loyalty make more money than it costs to retain them.

Repeat customers are a much needed support that helps in keeping your business running. Your existing customers have the largest short-term potential to increase your revenue at low sales costs. They also have higher chances of making referrals, spending more money, and forging meaningful long-term relationships with your brand.

Implementation of loyalty programs can make a huge difference between succeeding or failing in your business. Increasing customer retention by just 5% can cause a company’s profitability to increase by 75 percent. Since 80 percent of future profits potentially comes from 20 percent of your existing customers, then why not? Businesses that are able to incorporate customer loyalty will ultimately become more profitable than their competitors.

In general, business owners that are able to retain existing customers tend to be more successful. To achieve customer retention, get the Tracksend app for better insights on your marketing campaigns and customer behaviour.