Your customers make your business. Without them, your store is just a Website. No doubt you are thankful for the loyal customers who buy from you regularly. It is important to thank customers; to keep them loyal, and hopefully even encourage them to share their great experience with friends.

There are so many unique ways to say thank you that there’s no reason why your appreciation shouldn’t delight customers, even when it’s done on a shoestring. These gestures don’t go unnoticed either. When you thank customers in unique ways, they’re likely to share it publicly. Consider our favorite ways to surprise a customer with a thank you:

Write a note

A handwritten note is probably one of the most inexpensive and effective ways to show a customer your appreciation. It is not often we receive handwritten notes now, so this will really stand out to your customer.

Your note should be specific and personal. Write fewer notes if you need to, but maximize the impact. The extra time is worth it. You’ll make your customer’s day — everyone loves receiving real mail!

• Use the customer’s name
• Consider your choice of stationary

Give the gift of knowledge

Share your knowledge in ways that your customers will find useful. The more educated your customers become, the more they will appreciate your products, thus the more valuable they are to your business. Longer pieces of content can be shared via a blog, but shorter things can be shared via Facebook or Instagram. Facebook live is one area where merchants are getting really great engagement, and its the ideal place to share quick tutorials or product videos.

Start a loyalty program

A point-based loyalty program where frequent visitors earn points is a great way to reward visitor loyalty. Your rewards program doesn’t have to be complex; it can be as simple as offering customers free shipping for x number of points.

• Make it easy for visitors to determine the value of their points. Use round numbers. Don’t set up something like 27 points is worth $1.
• State clearly how points can be exchanged for rewards. Don’t roll out mystery rewards where customers can’t even determine what their points mean, or why should they care.
• Use apps like Sweet Tooth with Shopify or BigCommerce to customize your loyalty program and have frequent visitors access it from desktop as well as mobile.

Remember Special Days

Thank visitors who shop on your site frequently by greeting them on special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Doing so will help you develop an emotional bond with your faithful visitors on a more personal level and trigger positive responses when they visit your site the next time. While you write greetings for all your visitors, take time to write a separate message for the regulars.

Give to Charity

Nothing says thank you like a thoughtful donation to someone in need. Donating a portion of profits to charity helps customers to understand more about your brand values, and encourages them to buy. You can this a step further by donating a small amount in honor of each customer. You can send a personalized note to every member of your community describing the gift and make everyone’s day.

Upgrades

The element of surprise is a powerful thing. Thank customers with a free, spontaneous upgrade. You can play database roulette and pick five customers at random, or make a list of your most loyal customers and send the upgrade to the highest-ranking. In e-commerce, this works really well with offering selected customers unlimited free shipping for a month.

Airlines mastered this practice decades ago with their frequent flyer programs, and it remains a great way to delight customers. It also acts as a great way to build customer loyalty and creating brand advocates.

Thank for feedback

This one probably comes naturally when the feedback is positive, but it’s even more effective to thank customers for the improvement areas they bring to our attention. All businesses have room for improvement. By thanking customers for their feedback, you show that you are a business which values customer’s opinions and embraces the opportunity for improvement.

Reach out to customers to tell them how you’ve implemented their suggestions. There is no better way to communicate with a customer than to show them you were listening.

Let the conversation also be an opportunity to gather more feedback. You want customers to feel like they have an open line of communication to you at all times — whether that’s for praise, complaints or questions.

Family and Friends Discount

If you have a customer who really loves shopping on your site, send them some discount vouchers to share with family and friends. This is a double win, as the customer will feel appreciated, and also act as an advocate to their family and friends, winning you more customers!

Excel at customer service daily

Nothing says thanks for your business better than a friendly, informed service. It’s incredible how customers relax and become more receptive when a human with personality and feelings answers the phone, rather than a robotic voice reading from a script.

Same goes for email — personal and friendly replies make customers feel valued. Let your customer service team’s personalities shine through!