Have you seen How To SELL Anything?

This incredible sales handbook distils an expert's lifetime of sales and marketing experience and hands it to you on a platter, in a simple, easy-to-follow format. With existing customers being the most valuable source of income for any business, this book will teach you how to increase your return business and make more profit from your most loyal customers - and even how to reduce the costs of dealing with your least profitable customers.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

US retailers at real risk if they don't meet expectations

More than half of us will defect after one bad experience

55% of shoppers say just one bad experience would stop them returning to a brand. A third (29%) say shopping isn't as fun as it used to be, with 36% feeling that what shoppers today have gained in convenience, they've lost in experience.

Where brands used to think of loyalty in terms of reward schemes or points, the findings show that for today's shopper, the drivers of loyalty run much deeper than a transaction or offer. And when it comes to what drives disloyalty, a bad returns process (46%), and a drawn out online checkout without payment options (28%) rank much higher for shoppers than retailers perceive them to be.

Retailers are recognising this shift and starting to evolve the way they think about loyalty. 39% of retailers agree that loyalty is no longer solely driven by rewards and 69% say they have to work harder than ever to retain customers. But, many (36%) are struggling to keep pace with changing consumer expectations around experience and are being held back by outdated tech (33%) and a short-term focus on sales (29%).

Shoppers demand more
This new research gives retailers some of the insights they need to help win the loyalty stakes and deliver the standout shopping experience demanded by consumers. It reveals that whilst the traditional drivers of loyalty remain important, it is no longer enough to only deliver value for money, quality products and a good online UX.

Shoppers today want more - craving things like brand values they can align with (49%), human engagement (28%) and flexible payment options (36%). This is especially true of millennial and Gen Z shoppers who care less about value for money, and more about brand image (22%, compared to 13% of over year olds) and flexible payments (32%, compared to 21% of over year olds).

Can retailers keep pace?
These insights demonstrate how important it is for retailers to focus on these broader concepts of experience to win back loyalty. It's encouraging to see forward-thinking retailers are already starting to invest in these 'newer' elements of experience. The top areas for investment over the next months are a smooth online UX (33%), additional payment options (34%), a curated experience (39%) and brand content (34%).

Michael Rouse, Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna commented: "Consumers now demand more convenient and flexible ways to pay for purchases. With over four million users in the US and counting, Klarna is proving that our pay later options - such as letting shoppers pay in interest-free installments - are integral to a great shopping experience. It's also clear that retailers must better understand their customers' needs in order to build a seamless commerce experience; not only to drive sales and loyalty, but differentiate from competitors in the current retail climate."

For more insights, the 'Experience is the new loyalty' report has been made available for download here: http://www.klarna.com/us/business/new-loyalty

Have you seen How To SELL Anything?

This incredible sales handbook distils an expert's lifetime of sales and marketing experience and hands it to you on a platter, in a simple, easy-to-follow format.

With existing customers being the most valuable source of income for any business, this book will teach you how to increase your return business and make more profit from your most loyal customers - and even how to reduce the costs of dealing with your least profitable customers.

You'll learn to sell yourself, sell your products, and sell your brand on the internet, writing high-conversion landing pages, social media posts, and more. You'll start attracting customers you didn’t even know existed, and learn the top trade secrets for customer retention.

You'll become a lean, mean selling machine. See how the experts do it and learn to adapt what they've done for your own profit. You'll learn to write strong, powerful, effective sales copy, whether it's for a sales script, sales letter, flyer, insert, advert or just about anything else.

You'll learn how to sell whether you're selling by telephone, by mail, or even meeting prospects face-to-face. You'll find out how to size them up, present yourself, nail down their true needs, close the sale, and learn to tackle the tricky ones.

You'll discover the biggest secrets of successful direct mail sellers, sales letter writers, and how to segment and choose the right prospects for each campaign.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)