You need loyal customers to sustain in the online world. And one of the toughest things to do for an ecommerce business is to make a loyal customer base. It is tricky because for physical businesses, they get a chance to meet their customers. But in an online setting, you have to impress a customer you have never seen, met, or spoken to before.
So, the onus is totally on the business owners to make the customer comfortable and serve according to their demands despite not being in a traditional setting. And what can you do, as a Shopify business owner with a limited Shopify development setup, to build customer loyalty? Let’s find out!
How To Increase And Measure Customer Loyalty On Shopify?
The era of endless choices has certainly affected true loyalty of customers. According to reports, true loyalty has dropped by 5% from 2024 to 29% in 2025, declining to an unprecedented level within five years.
These five ways will help you increase your customer loyalty and improve your customer relationships — read along to find an additional tip that will boost your customer base like anything.
Build Customer Relationships From The First Time
Whenever a customer appears on your website and tries to make a purchase, encourage them to create an account on your website. Now, if you force your customers — it may increase the cart abandonment rate. So, you have to use a trick to ensure your customers don’t feel that they are compromising their data. You can offer some loyalty points or discount codes or a free delivery for customers who make a purchase.
Also, you have to ensure that you will not be misusing their personal information (including their email address and payment details) to gain their trust and build healthy customer relationships.
Be The Best For Your Customers
Most people are selling more or less the same quality products. But what makes a business successful is their exceptional customer service. When you provide excellent customer service by valuing quick and helpful responses to their issues and questions. You can invest in a strong support team, offer efficient and multiple communication channels such as email, whatsapp, or live chat, and the ambition to resolve your issues promptly.
Always take care of these factors while improving your customer service experience:
- Make sure your customers receive relevant and timely responses
- Train the staff to cater to different customer inquires and needs
- Try to use a friendly and empathetic tone while communicating with your customers
- Offer 24/7 support to meet your customer expectations
- Use AI to provide assistance when the workload increases
Work On Different Customer Loyalty Programs
Before you start creating different loyalty programs for your customers, you must understand what your customers need from you. Your target customers are actually your buyer persona — which almost every brand has one, depicting their customers.
Your buyer persona has to show your customer’s pain points, goals, and dreams along with the demographics. If you put extra attention to your customer’s buyer persona, you will be able to build great customer loyalty programs.
Some customers may require points for purchases, referrals — while others may appreciate discounts or free products or free delivery. Many brands including Starbucks, Sephore, and Amazon Prime offer different programs to retain their customers and to ensure that the customers stay at their website for a longer time.
Offer Discounts For Return Buyers
Do the customers leave your shop after making one purchase? If you manage to collect their email addresses, you can offer them a “welcome back” discount which would encourage them to make more purchases — showing that you value their presence. These little bonuses and discounts can go a long way in building customer loyalty.
However, this is a tricky pathway as the customers expect discounts on almost every purchase which is not a great way to run a business. If you are running an ultra-premium brand, you can lower the brand value with frequent promotion or discount offers. It may also reduce the profit margins on each product.
Value Your Customer’s Feedback!
There is a saying that “the customers are always right” while they may be wrong, your brand must ensure you listen to your customers’ feedback. Asking for regular feedback not only shows that your brand values the opinions of the customers, but also reminds them of the purchase they made which opens the doors for future purchases as well.
You can use email requests, social media polls, and surveys to gather information. But what is more important is to act on the feedback you receive. If someone thinks your packaging needs some work, put some work into it and make sure you never receive such complaints.
Tip: Make Your Return Policy Clear And Very Easy To Claim
Your customer satisfaction has to be the top priority. If you have a customer who wants to return your product, it should be easier than purchasing the product. Outline your return policy clearly with the window when a customer is able to return the product, eligible items, and conditions required for return, and most importantly, how are you going to return the money.
How can you clearly state your return policy to your customers?
- Clearly state the number of days within they can return the product, for example 30 days from the purchase date.
- Clearly state which items your customers can return and which are non-returnable.
- Specify whether your customers will receive full refund, store credit, or an exchange of the exact product.
Despite clearly mentioning everything, you must assist your customers whenever they are looking to return the product. You have to make the process transparent, simple, and customer-friendly.
The Secret Is To Take A Customer Centric Approach
Customer loyalty measures are usually to ensure that you stand with your customers on every step of their journey. If you try to make their purchase journey better, you will more likely retain your customers — helping in building a loyal customer base. All you need to do is to ensure your website is equipped with all the necessary features. Following a customer-centric approach in 2025 is the best and most effective way to build customer loyalty.
