
What happens when customers make repeated purchases over time? Your revenue grows without the high costs of constant customer acquisition. So, how do you motivate these repeated purchases? How do you turn one-time buyers into loyal fans? As always, it starts with data – measuring the Shopify lifetime value, to be more specific.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- What is Shopify LTV?
- Why is it important?
- How to increase customer lifetime value on Shopify?
TL;DR: Loyal customers spend more over time
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) predicts the total revenue a customer will bring over their relationship with your brand.
- CLV is crucial because it helps businesses focus on retention, optimize marketing spend, and boost long-term profitability.
- Understanding what works for your business takes time, as customer preferences evolve, and strategies must be adjusted to reflect these changes.
- How to increase customer lifetime value? Regularly monitor customer behavior, track progress, and continually refine your approach based on data-driven insights.
Strategies to increase customer lifetime value on Shopify
How to improve customer lifetime value? It requires a combination of personalized experiences, efficient systems, and thoughtful engagement.
Your existing customers already trust your brand. They’re familiar with your products and understand your value proposition. Pay careful attention to their behavior and preferences. It will help you determine what can encourage loyal audiences to shop more frequently and spend more with your store.
We’ve assembled a list of proven strategies you can rely on to increase lifetime customer value. You’ll also find examples of Shopify apps that facilitate their realization.
Implement a loyalty program
43.5% of shoppers are willing to join a brand’s loyalty program. The featured rewards motivate 50% of customers to continue buying from a company. Modern loyalty programs go beyond simple point systems. To design an engaging one, businesses must pay much attention to its logic. This may include, for example:
- VIP tiers with exclusive benefits and early access to sales.
- Bonus points for referrals and social media engagement.
- Special rewards on birthdays or purchase anniversaries.
- Gamification elements to make earning points more engaging.
Apps like Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, and Rise.ai help set up loyalty programs. They also provide segmentation, gift card design, and other useful features.
Personalize the shopping for your audience
How does it help to increase lifetime value? Brands that shine in personalization are 48% more likely to outperform their competitors. They are also 71% more likely to experience improved customer loyalty. Some effective personalization strategies include:
- Using customer browsing history to show relevant products.
- Showing personalized product recommendations in the cart.
- Designing personalized landing pages for returning customers.
- Creating targeted email campaigns based on purchase patterns.
- Implementing smart search that learns from user behavior.
Personalization will be easier to manage with Shopify apps. For example, Shogun or PageFly are great for building custom landing pages. Klaviyo can handle customer segmentation and email marketing perfectly.
Optimize post-purchase experiences
Post-purchase experience is important for 93% of consumers. Interestingly, only 74% of retailers admit the same. Even less – only 40% – believe their post-purchase experience is fully optimized. There’s certainly a business opportunity here. Here are some examples of good post-purchase optimization techniques to increase CLV:
- Send immediate order confirmation with tracking information.
- Create detailed shipping update communications.
- Include product care instructions and usage tips.
- Request product reviews at the optimal time without being too annoying.
- Consider including surprise thank-you notes or small gifts.
Omnisend allows you to send personalized thank-you messages. Apps like AfterShip provide real-time updates. You can also generate discount vouchers with one of the loyalty apps.
Review your customer service strategy
75% of consumers return to businesses that have once provided excellent customer experience. 73% admit they would rather choose a competitor after more than one bad experience. Some strategies that can help you get into the primer group include the following:
- Train your customer support team in product knowledge and soft skills.
- Implement omnichannel support (email, chat, phone, social media).
- Consider 24/7 customer service through help centers and chatbots.
- Create detailed self-service resources (guidelines, recommendations, etc.).
- Monitor customer satisfaction metrics and use feedback to improve.
Help desks like Gorgias or Tidio are good tools to set up an effective customer care framework. Connect Tidio for a live chat via a chatbot to offload the team and optimize support costs.
Use upselling and cross-selling
The world’s most successful companies drive 80% of value from existing customers. You can unlock new opportunities through strategic upselling and cross-selling. Both can significantly increase average order value and, thus, Shopify customer lifetime value. Meanwhile, they go hand in hand with personalization. In other words, they also provide additional value to customers. Some effective techniques for this approach are:
- Displaying complementary products on product pages.
- Creating product bundles at slightly discounted prices.
- Offering quantity-based discounts (for selected items).
- Suggesting relevant or popular add-ons during checkout.