How To Entice Customers To Spend More On Your Shopify Store

E-commerce sales are growing tremendously and are expected to reach $7.9 trillion by 2027. With this scenario, online businesses should do everything possible to retain their existing customers and urge them to spend big bucks on their brands. 

You might be thinking, "What should store owners do to hold and entice customers to spend more”?

However, there is a long list of widely applicable customer retention strategies that store owners can opt to reach their goal. But, with a finite budget and limited time, upsells incentives, and referral programs are what assure you real success. 

And, to make all these things as simple as sharing a post on Facebook, let Duo be your partner. The tool helps you set instant post-purchase cashback rewards that motivate your existing customers to bring new sales to you. 

In case, you are curious to learn more about these effective strategies without making significant time investments, keep reading!

Why Do Customers Spend More with Incentives?

Customer incentives are the secret sauce that influences purchase decisions and skyrockets customer engagement, brand loyalty, and sales. Studies also agree that 75% of customers make another purchase with a brand that offers incentives. But do you know why customers spend more money with incentives?

Remember that humans are wired to get rewards, part of psychology. That's why incentives have such a great pull. The rewards or incentives release dopamine, which triggers the brain to make a purchase and get the rewards as it will bring happiness. That's why anticipation of joy makes the incentives a powerful motivation in decision-making. 

But, neither all the incentives are created equally nor is their influence on customers or sales. Remember that the magic can only happen when you offer what your customers want, like immediate cashback rewards. Everyone loves instant gratification, and that's why instant cashback rewards prompt quick buying decisions. 

How Businesses Have Successfully Used Incentives To Drive Spending: Examples 

Let's look over the different examples of other businesses that are using these incentives to drive spending and get some inspiration:

1. Deepnote

It is a cloud computing resource provider with a free plan with 50 monthly usage hours. To motivate the customers to interact with the platform, Deepnote provides a list of various tasks as creating teams, inviting friends and following Deepnote on social media. 

Once customers have completed these tasks, they can enjoy monthly free usage hours. It urges the customers to use their services and fosters engagement and community with the platform. 

2. Uber 

Saying that Uber has revolutionized the taxi industry would not be wrong. It has introduced the concept of ridesharing. As many of the customers were hesitant, therefore, Uber introduced the referral program. The program incentivizes existing customers when they refer Uber to their loved ones. In return, customers can enjoy free rides. This program has also helped Uber build trust and a customer base, benefiting the company. 

3. HP

HP runs the customer incentive program encouraging customers to sell more HP products. For that, HP offers them various benefits like marketing tools, cash rebates, dedicated support from HP, and training. HP has divided this platform into three tiers (Silver, Gold, and Platinum) to make it more interactive. The tier a customer can be part of depends on the level of engagement and sales. 

Understanding Emotional Impact Of Receiving Instant Rewards And How It Fosters Loyalty

When the customers get an immediate reward just after making a purchase, it satisfies the desire for quick satisfaction. The brain releases dopamine, which is associated with happiness and reinforcement. 

Businesses use this response to drive more engagement and boost Shopify sales. Therefore, the more quickly the reward is provided, customers will likely repeat this behavior. For instance, instant cashback, which customers can use for their next purchase, will urge them to return to you. 

That is because they feel they were rewarded for their previous action or got immediate value for their money. It also boosts brand awareness, and you get loyal brand advocates as they spread positive words about your brand or products. 

Effective Upsell Strategies to Increase Spending

Upselling is a technique to push customers to purchase more expensive, premium, or upgraded versions of the products. The purpose of upselling is to make larger sales. It is based on selling to the same customer who has already purchased (instead of selling to a new customer). 

With strategic upselling, the store owners can increase customer spending Shopify, which is the biggest benefit of introducing the upsell. But, you can benefit by introducing the upsell at strategic points in the customer journey, which helps you grow order sizes. 

In addition to that, upselling also helps you boost the conversion rate. That is because these post-purchase tactics target the customer as a convenient point. The buyer intent is higher, so they are more likely to make the purchase. 

But, understand the benefits are not one sided. The Shopify store owner ensures customers choose the right products at the right pricing. For example, when a customer is looking for standard earbuds, the store owner will suggest an upgraded model with noise-canceling features.  

Best Practices For Post-Purchase Upselling 

A customer adds a single item to the cart while shopping on your Shopify store and then clicks away. It is common for most stores and leads to stagnant AOV (average order value). But, the good news is that several effective upsell strategies for Shopify can help you increase average order value (AOV) without needing constant new traffic. Let's learn more about them in detail here:

1. You should always engage the customers even after they have made a purchase. For post-purchase upsell, you can suggest additional but related products that complement what they have already bought. Remember that here, timing and relevance matter the most. For example, when a customer purchases a smartphone from your store. You can send them an email upsell for the protective cases, which matches their model and protects their investment. Besides that, you can also experiment with different timings to find which is most effective for your target audience. 

2. Offering data-driven suggestions tailored to your customer's preferences and shopping behavior can be a good practice as it amplifies customers' shopping experience. Personalization offers an invaluable touchpoint and lets the customers feel you know them. For example, customers were looking for the running shoes. When they have made the purchase, you can suggest premium insoles or performance socks. It will enhance their gear and ensure a better running performance. 

3. You can also use the free-shipping thresholds to motivate the customers to add more products to their carts. Remember that when you set a minimum purchase limit to unlock the free shipping, you encourage customers to add as many extra products as possible. It ultimately increases the average order value. You can also add the cart page reminder, checkout incentives, and persistent storewide notifications to inform the customers about this offer. 

4. The time-limited promotions are one of the best sales tactics that create a sense of urgency. The businesses can offer special deals for a short period and incentivize the customers to make quick buying decisions. For example, you can highlight the "Deal of the Day" on the homepage, where you can bundle a regular accessory with a specific product at a discounted price. Don't forget to add that the offer will last only 24 hours. You can add countdown timers or limited stock indicators to your Shopify store. 

5. Remember that quantity break is a technique that encourages customers to purchase more units of a particular product through discounts. It can significantly increase the average order value. Customers feel they are shopping smartly by saving on valuable products. You can inform your customer about these offerings through marketing campaigns, cart and checkout pages, and product pages.  

6. If you want to make your ecommerce upsell strategies more effective, don't forget to integrate the ecommerce cashback programs during upselling. That's because it will sweeten the deal and let the customers feel they are saving money. Resultantly, it will urge them to add more products to the cart!

Combining Cashback and Referral Programs to Drive Repeat Purchases and Increase Spending

The customer referral program incentivizes current customers to recommend your products to others in their network. Referrals can be friends and family or anyone searching for products like yours. In return for the referrals, the existing customers can get a reward encouraging them to share your products and convince their loved ones to buy from your store. 

By rewarding customers for referrals, you motivate and excite them to become your brand advocates. That's why you must be very careful when choosing the rewards. Though rewards can be anything from a complimentary product to a discount on the next purchase, you choose what your customers need. 

In this regard, cash incentives are more effective. After getting the instant cashback, the customers not only refer your store to others but also tend to add more products to their cart, which ultimately boosts AOV. 

Also, the customers you get through referral marketing are more loyal and tend to spend more. And that is why referral programs with instant cashback rewards are the best Shopify marketing tools. If you want to implement the post-purchase referral with instant cashback rewards on your Shopify store, let Duo help!

You can set up the referral program with DUO within a few minutes. With this program, your customers will automatically generate a unique post-purchase code they can share in their circle. 

When any of their friends or family redeem this code, the referrer and the referee will be rewarded, instant cashback for the first one and a discount for the second. Ultimately, it encourages the present customers to make repeat purchases and encourages customer acquisition. But wait a minute; before running your referral strategy, don't forget to get inspiration from the mentioned real-life examples below:

• PayPal’s Referral Program

With this referral program, both referral and new users get cashback as a reward. But, to get the reward, the referee has to complete certain activities like making transactions of a specific amount. 

This double-sided reward payment system encourages current customers to promote PayPal. Besides that, it also offers incentives to new customers to sign-up with the platform. Ultimately, it builds a customer base and brand loyalty and drives higher order values.

• Tesla’s Customer Referral Program

Tesla offers many escalating benefits to motivate existing customers to become brand ambassadors. Refers can get smaller rewards through this program, including limited-edition accessories and cashback. But, the Tesla also offers premium vehicle accessories and significant discounts to the customers who continue to refer more friends. Ultimately, it brings more sales and loyal customers to Tesla. 

• Swagbucks’s Referral Program

Swagbucks gives another example of a successful referral program that offers cash rewards. The users earn points for referring Swagbucks to their loved ones. Later, these points can be redeemed for rewards like premium products, popular retailers, and cash prizes. Users become more motivated to keep refereeing Swagbucks when they see their points accumulated. Resultantly, it drives sustained growth and boosts customer loyalty!

Case Study: How Shopify Stores Can Use Incentives Effectively

Below, you can find examples of Shopify brands that have been using upsells and referral programs to boost customer loyalty and customer spending: 

1. UNTUCKit

The brand started its journey as a DTC brand, and now it has physical stores where smart-casual apparel is available for both men and women. The brand runs a successful referral program where new and existing customers get 25% off. 

Now, why does the brand offer such a big discount? There is a reason behind that. When men find a fit, they will never change it. So, current customers get that bigger reward, which urges them to make repeat purchases from the brand and ultimately increases AOV. 

2. 310 Nutrition 

310 Nutrition used upselling to reduce customer churn and boost the profit margin. Over 30% of their customers took the upsell, boosting the average order value (AOV) by 25%. This extra revenue helped the brand to expand a lot. 

Combining Upsells And Referral Strategies

Many businesses combine upsells and ecommerce referral marketing to boost revenue. Let's take the example of Dropbox here. Dropbox is a cloud storage service that offers extra space to refer and referrer for every successful sign-up and upsells the premium plans with better features and benefits. 

Likewise, Evernote (a note-taking application) offers points to both referral and referrer for every sign-up. Aside from that, Evernote upsells the premium plan with more storage, support, and functionality. 

The combo of referral marketing and upsells offers greater flexibility and lets the businesses offer customers additional options. Ultimately, it improves profitability and builds loyalty.  

Best Practices for Enticing Customers to Spend More

Below, you can find the best practices that any business can follow to entice customers to spend more:

1. Personalization: 

Understand that gone are the days when one-size-fits-all approaches used to work. Now, customers expect tailored experiences that resonate with their unique needs and preferences. Through personalized rewards or offers, customers feel valued and understood. The emotional connection is translated into higher satisfaction, which leads to loyalty and higher revenue. 

To suggest offers tailored to customer's preferences, you can start by segmenting the customer base by considering different factors like browsing behavior, purchase history, and preferences. Likewise, you can track customers' shopping behavior before offering any reward or product. 

2. Strategic Placement Of Upsell And Referral CTAs 

To make the CTA (call to action) button effective, you must ensure it is easily visible and noticeable to the visitors. So, if you want to assure your target customers see that easily, then you should place it:

1. At the top of the page or within the menu 

2. At the bottom of the page or in the footer menu 

3. Adjacent to the social proof 

4. In the pop-up box 

3. Use of A/B Testing And Analytics Tools 

A/B testing, which you may also know as split testing, is one of the most popular tools many businesses use to compare the two versions of anything. It lets them find which performs better. So, you can also use this testing system to find which incentives or offers your customers showed the best response to. Likewise, the following are the different tools that you can get help from: 

• Google Analytics

Google Analytics provides you complete understanding of how your customers interact with your products of offers across different platforms and devices. You can get reliable measurement with its intuitive and flexible reporting, built-in automaton, and cross-platform attribution. Besides that, you can also use Google Analytics with other Google solutions to track the performance of your marketing efforts. 

• Shopify Apps

Referral Factory is the referral program software that lets businesses run and manage their referral programs. The best thing is that the software has a built-in tracking system that provides detailed analytics. So, Shopify businesses can easily monitor the ROI and performance of their referral program. 

Conclusion

Upselling encourages customers to upgrade or purchase higher-priced products. At the same time, referral programs through instant cashback rewards bring more customers who are loyal and make repeat purchases. Consequently, upselling and referral marketing boost customer spending. What about combining all these techniques to generate higher revenue and customer loyalty? That sounds like a great idea, and let Duo help you with that. 

Duo’s instant cashback solution