Retailer Marketing

CEO & President of Ascent360, Scott Buelter, recently sat down with Heather Mason, President of the National Bicycle Dealer’s Association to discuss the importance of relationship marketing and enriched, reliable customer data for bicycle & specialty retailers. This conversation is crucial right now — inventory has started to regulate again and ridership numbers are up, but people aren’t coming into the store as often. We examined how we can look to the services bike retailers provide to increase gross margins and help retailers stay in touch with their customers.

There are a lot of ways to communicate with your customers, but the key element is communicating with them in the right way. Mass marketing will reach your database, but it’s not likely to engage them or convince them to make a purchase. Instead, if you have data that tells you something about your customers (e.g., female, 55 years old, who just purchased a road bike), you can use it to market in a much more familiar and friendly way.

Recently, Scott Buelter, CEO of Ascent360, sat down with Lee Miller of FISH307 to discuss the specialty retail industry and how data driven marketing automation has created new paths of growth for their company. They have also found that upgrading to a next level tool that seamlessly integrates with their existing systems makes all the difference in creating a unique customer experience and driving more sales.

Creating a prospect conversion journey can be quite simple, but only if you’re using the right marketing tool. Most email service providers like MailChimp and Constant Contact don’t put an emphasis on data and therefore limit what you can do with it. While other tools allow you to add a single subscriber to an audience, they don’t provide any additional information about who your customers or prospects are. As a result, you end up sending blanketed emails or newsletters without understanding where they are in the conversion journey. Are they a first-time shopper or a returning VIP customer? Knowing and using these data points can be (and often times are) the difference between a sale lost and a sale made.

The beginning of a new year is when many retailers are strategizing fresh, new ways to accelerate sales and maximize customer retention. While there are many tactics out there, creating a unique and engaging customer experience starts with cleansed and enriched data. Today’s consumers no longer consider their shopping and buying experiences as simply transactional — instead, they are looking for a more personalized, “made for me” experience that makes them feel truly valued as a customer.

With the current state of the economy, outdoor and specialty retailers should be using their data to create stronger relationships with their customers. Now more than ever, businesses need to take the opportunity to get to know their customers and how they prefer to be communicated with.

While acquiring new customers is crucial to grow your business, customer loyalty is the fuel that keeps a business sustained and is the foundation of any brand. Loyal customers are usually willing to stick around through ebbs and flows of a business, they deliver valuable nuggets of information, and can drive word-of-mouth marketing. In fact, 80% of revenue comes from existing customers and 77% of customers would recommend a brand after a single positive experience.