Measuring retention, strategies for customer service and loyalty, and how to successfully implement feedback.

1. PDX Shopify
Strategies for retaining customers
Measuring retention, strategies for customer service and loyalty,
and how to successfully implement feedback.
Caravel
caravelapp.com
@_caravel
Max Folley
@maxfolley
max@caravelapp.com
pdxstartups.slack.com

2. Links & Deck
caravelapp.com/pdxshopify

3. We’re making getting to
the “why” less tedious
• Collect customer feedback without
sending surveys, copying from emails
and combing reviews and comments –
we give a complete view of the customer
using the communication channels you
already have
• Automatically centralize all of it, organize
it, and analyze it, giving instant insight
into issues and opportunities
• A space for product, marketing, and
operations teams to collaborate on
responses

4. caravelapp.com
Request early access at

5. Background
Flavor
Co-Founder
Small agency, eCommerce and marketplaces
Elastic
Founding team, Engineering and UX
b2b eCommerce
Wieden+Kennedy Lodge
Director of Engineering
R&D for Nike, Samsung, Intuit, Soylent and more
Downstream
ML Advisor
Automated advertising on Amazon

6. Customer Retention
The ability to get customers come back and buy from you again.

7. The metrics that matter
Average Order Value
Average total of every order
AOV
Customer Acquisition Cost
Tells you if your marketing is profitable
CAC
Total marketing costs / # of new customers
Customer Lifetime Value
Tells you the worth of each customer
over the span of a relationship
CLV
Total revenue / Number of orders Google “Shopify” + “CLV"

8. (it’s about more than getting their data)
Understand what your customers value, not just what your brand values,
and reward your customers with this value for engaging.
Customer Value Exchange

9. 01
02
03 05
04
Customer Service
What leads to a positive experience and expanding the CS role to sales01
Customer Loyalty
Building a loyalty program and building a community
02
Customer Feedback
Achieving a tight feedback loop03

10. 86%Don’t do business again
• On average, a customer will tell 9 - 15 other
people about a negative experience.
• A customer that experiences a negative
experience is much more likely to leave a
review than a customer with a positive one
• It takes 40 positive experiences to make up
for the damage from 1 negative experience
42%Purchase again
Outcome of a negative service experience
Outcome of a positive service experience

11. What makes a CS
experience positive?
Compassionate and kind
Don’t be an A**hole
Convenient hours of operation
8pm - 9pm is eCommerce primetime
Goes above and beyond
Consider CS as role in sales
Response times
Respond faster than the customer expects
Multiple means of contacting
Email, text, chat, social, and more
Competent and knowledgable
Consider your customer service team advocates of your brand

12. Case study
M. Gemi
• "Concierge" customer service
• Proactive with messaging to
encourage engagement
• Text, email, and chat – it’s in their
top nav, badge, and footer, on
every page
• 9am - 9pm hours of operation
• Repeat purchase frequency is
4x industry average

13. Recommended tools
Shopify Ping + Chat
Native app, ability to share products,
it’s free!
Help Scout
Priced great, Shopify integration with LTV
stats, great self-service solution with
instant answers and knowledge base
Gorgias
Purpose built for Shopify, powerful macros,
most robust set of eCommerce integrations

14. Customer Service
What leads to a positive experience and expanding the CS role to sales01
Customer Feedback
Achieving a tight feedback loop0301
02
05
04
Customer Loyalty
Building a loyalty program and building a community
02

15. Loyalty Program
Customers earn rewards, discounts, exclusive
products, and more
Community
A passionate, emotionally connected customer base

16. How to build a loyalty
program that works
Don’t build a rewards program early
Start with small tactics and work to understand what's working
Develop your own formula
Invest in getting a great understanding of what your customers
value first and design it around them
Seek out opportunities beyond discounts
Discounts and free fast shipping are table stakes

17. Case study
ThirdLove
• Removed 10% discounts
targeting first-time buyers
• Found success bundling
discounts to target repeat
buyers and increase AOV
• Launched program with
membership tiers based on
Customer Lifetime Value

18. Building a community
What people say to your brand or, even better, about your brand to
others is more important than what your brand says to them.

19. Case study
Glossier
• Into The Gloss editorial started
four years before first product
line
• An engaged community served
as “focus groups” to inform
development of first products
• Reward their most active
customers by making them
stakeholders and tailoring
products to them

20. Yotpo Disqus

21. Customer Feedback
Achieving a tight feedback loop0301
02
05
04
Customer Service
What leads to a positive experience and expanding the CS role to sales01
Customer Loyalty
Building a loyalty program and building a community
02

22. "At the scale the we operate, being able to operationalize quickly, and learn
quickly, is the only reason why we will or wont succeed in this world"
-Melissa Jo Brodil, CMO Amp Human

23. How to build a feedback loop
Start by personally reaching out to every customer
Timing matters, personal matters
Develop operational cadence
Regularly solicit feedback, collect it, organize it, and gather your
teams to discuss it
Iteratively improve
Your products, marketing, and service accordingly
Use it as social proof
Encourage customers to share feedback publicly to build trust & credibility

24. Case study
Allbirds
• Provides third party perspective
into comfort and gifting, a
confidence boost if I'm wavering
on a purchase decision
• Utilizing customer feedback on
fit to inform future customers

25. Recommended tools
Tiny Feedback
NPS surveys and scoring
judge.me
Product reviewsKlaviyo
Email marketing automation

26. Thank you so much!
Caravel
caravelapp.com
@_caravel
Max Folley
@maxfolley
max@caravelapp.com
pdxstartups.slack.com
caravelapp.com/pdxshopify