posted on December 17, 2002 09:22:04 PM new
You know I receive wonderful feedback from buyers about how quickly I ship, what a wonderful seller I am, etc. But according to my feedback, only 7% are return buyers. Any recommendations on retaining your customers?
posted on December 17, 2002 10:25:30 PM new
If you're selling houses, a 7% return rate is pretty good.
If you're selling Kleenex (tm), a 7% return rate ought to make you wonder what you're doing wrong.
Customer loyalty is alive and well on eBay. I have at least three customers (haven't checked 'em all) who have NEVER bid on or won anyone else's auctions.
posted on December 17, 2002 11:29:32 PM new
I divided the number of unique feedback to total feedback. Granted some are one time multi sales, but some are returning customers too. 7% in the category I sell is not customer retention!
posted on December 18, 2002 04:57:02 AM new
Customer Loyalty is Definitely possible in my categories ~
I have 20% repeat bidders under one ID and over 30% on another.
There is also crossover between the two ID's.
If you do it right, the bidders will be back!
BUT...
as fluffy showed, some categories are not conducive to repeat business.
posted on December 18, 2002 08:06:50 AM new
I have 14% return buyers acording to my feedback but many return buyers do not leave feedback. I have 2 buyers that have won over 100 auctions each that never leave feedback so figuring your return buyers by feedback is probably not very acurate.
posted on December 18, 2002 09:06:21 AM newCustomer Loyalty
If you get repeat bidders, thats great! However, just like in real life there is no such thing as loyalty.
Buyers may stay with you more out of habit than anything else.[known factor]
But if they can get a so called better "deal" they drop you faster than enron stock.
posted on December 18, 2002 09:10:21 AM new
I think what you're saying can only go so far, Trai.
Trust is a big issue for my loyal returning customers.
Other sellers sell the same items for less.
I sell first quality, clean items. I ship fast, and don't profit on shipping.
You have no idea how many stories I hear about bad experiences with other sellers.
Loyal customers may be tempted to leave for price but they come back for the service & quality.
I am happy that they try elsewhere, makes them appreciate me more
posted on December 18, 2002 09:11:01 AM new
Ebay is the only site that I haven't had repeat customers, even though I have more items listed on ebay. It's because of too many sellers. It's irrelvent though, it costs the same 30¢ to list.
posted on December 18, 2002 09:25:43 AM new
zoomin
This is where the known factor comes in. I hear the same thing as you do from my buyers, however what im talking about is buyers as a whole.
posted on December 18, 2002 09:39:26 AM new
sun818: I think your ultimate customer retention strategy will depend at least in part on what you sell.
I sell lots of "girlie" stuff: single pieces of jewelry, loose stones, and odd assortments I throw together that are somehow appealing. There's a lot of crossover. Someone who only buys my necklaces and bracelets sees the loose stones and goes nuts.
Whether you can achieve product line crossover or not is something only you can determine.
It's funny, I used to throw away the beads and CZs that came off broken jewelry, then decided what the heck, why not try selling them. It's been good. And since I would have thrown it away, it doesn't cost anything. Maybe you have something like that.
I don't think it's possible to go wrong on eBay by making your auctions fun. People like that and they respond to it by coming back again and again.
posted on December 18, 2002 10:27:13 AM new
I very seldom have a repeat customer, but that is not unusual when selling china. The buyer buys a piece or pieces to fill in a set, & then is done. Also I very seldom have duplcates after the initial run of auctions.
posted on December 18, 2002 12:06:21 PM new
hi, without revealing too much. I sell in the computer and electronics category 99% of the time. They tend to be mass produced items. Reamond got it right... the price seems to be what is attracting people.
So, fluffythewondercat, do you think if I include free accessories with the main item it would help retain customers? How about little thank you notes?
posted on December 18, 2002 12:17:45 PM new
I think return customers on Ebay are quite good!
I used to list on the same day at the same time every week.
A lot of items were up less than 2 min. and were getting hits and bids.
The only way this can happen is if the customers are looking for your items, as they weren't in search yet!
They had to be watching for me to list.
posted on December 18, 2002 12:24:57 PM new
When I buy, I buy or bid in the products that I am interested in, not by the seller. For example, there are a certain type of jeans that I bid on often and check the new auctions listed everyday, so I search by the product and not by the seller. I think this is how alot of bidders bid.
posted on December 18, 2002 12:35:55 PM new
We have well over 1000 repeat customers and many of our eBay buyers are also regular customers on our retail website.
It is possible to build loyalty on eBay, despite what the critics will tell you.
posted on December 18, 2002 01:08:46 PM new
Again, it really depends on what you sell.
In consumer electronics, low prices are the way to get attention. But you won't get many repeat bids, I'll wager. Heck, I buy maybe one item per year from Best Buy.
sun818, I'm not sure you *can* build repeat business, except by expanding your product line.
posted on December 18, 2002 02:37:03 PM new
Reamond and other sellers make a good point about the difficulty building a franchise or name selling on eBay. They've pointed this out in past discussions and their reasoning has merit. The truth is that eBay does everything in its power to keep you anomynous to your buyers. They want buyers to feel as though they are buying from eBay, not by an individual seller. They've gone to great lengths to do this...
The way to create a name for yourself is primarily done on the back end of the auction sale. How? Below are a few ways to accomplish this task. I'll try to keep them short and would be pleased to elaborate any any if you wish. Consider it a shopping list to build your individual identity and business:
1. EMAIL
All email correspondence after the sale should include your company name, address, phone, website and should encourage inquiries by your buyers. They should be written neatly, professionally and in a friendly manner and should make you easy to reach by these customers, should them want to contact you.
2. ORDER INSERTS
Each and every order you send out should include a packing list, catalog or perhaps a premium or gift that provides your company name and business information. We provide a free pen with all orders that says www.shadesaver.com. It refers buyers to our website for additional savings on our products. A Thank you message is also provided which invites inquiries and questions. These small gestures are appreciated by buyers and leave them with the impression that they are dealing with a caring and professional company.
3. eBay "ME" Page
The eBay "ME" page says alot about who you are and how you operate. It's an opportunity to tell the world of potential eBay buyers about yourself without cost. It's also the only location on eBay where you are able to provide information about your individual website and/or business. Use this asset wisely. Create a professional and informative page and it will let buyers know you mean business. A well done "ME" page tells everyone that you are a professional and organized business who has the ability and know how to properly service their customers. A messy page often means a messy seller, so take the time to build this page up well and you'll be using a very powerful tool wisely. I've spent a great deal of time on our me page and created an individual search engine within the page, which allows our buyers to search within our auctions by brand. I've also created a frequently asked questions section to further aid buyers with questions they may have about us and our selling policies. You can check out what we've done at the following link:
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/[email protected]/
BUSINESS FORMS
Invest in professional business cards, letterhead, envelopes and other printed items and use them appropriately. There are times when a good old fashioned written letter is better than a short email. They can be used to smooth over a customer complaint or to thank someone for an unusually large order. Customers appreciate these types of gestures and increases the likelyhood that they will be back as a repeat buyer.
INDIVIDUAL WEBSITES
It's quite easy today to create a lowe cost individual website. This tool can be used to both sell and promote product and can get your company name out to a large number of potential buyers at a low cost. There's a multitude of ways to benefit from this, so I won't elaborate.
GOOD SERVICE
Good service is the best way to capture a customer and to make them aware of your company. By providing accurate listings, good customer service and by offering efficient shipping and handling of orders, you're increasing your likelyhood of being noticed in a favorable way.
Hope some of the above suggestions are useful. There are many more things that can be done, but it's almost 5:00pm and I'm ready to call it a day...
posted on December 19, 2002 04:38:50 AM new
C-boy is right. You have to do your own BRANDING at every opportunity. If you become successful at it you will become far less dependent on eBay. eBay can become an extemely economical advertising resource for your business if you're wise like C-boy.
Every serious seller on eBay should be BRANDING their own business to become independent from eBay. But one of the problems of doing this is that most sellers on eBay have no real longevity in any specialty. The sellers that are Branding do have a specialty that allows them to Brand.
If you always sell books, or computers and peripherals, or dolls, or belt buckles, etc., then you can Brand. If you are selling something different each month, then it becomes much tougher to Brand.
By comparision though, the return customer rates on eBay are abysmal. Unless the item you sell is an extremely long lived durable good, your return rate should be at least 80% - 90%, or you're doing something wrong that is driving away 30% of your buyers.
At first 90% may seem high, but look at it in context of your own purchases. Do you go to a different grocery store 95% of the time, or a car dealer, or beauty salon, or bar or resturant ? If you do, there is something lacking in the vendors service or products.
posted on December 19, 2002 04:50:46 PM newfluffy - Whether you can achieve product line crossover or not is something only you can determine.
Do you have a systematic way of determing what the crossover items are? Did you just stumble upon them? I was thinking the Bidder History search could be a useful tool to search on what your buyers also purchased.
