To increase sales, it is essential not only to acquire new customers but also to implement measures to increase repeat customers. Many people who run businesses or services may be concerned that they are not seeing growth in their number of repeat customers.

There are various advantages to gaining repeat customers, and it makes a significant contribution to business growth.

In this article, we explain the benefits of gaining repeat customers, the factors that turn customers into repeat buyers, and what you can do to acquire them.

Winning repeat customers is the fastest route to higher sales

If you aim to increase sales, it is advisable to focus on gaining repeat customers. First, we will explain the reasons for this approach and introduce the three stages based on the customer’s status.

There are three stages of customer status.

Customer status can be divided into the following three stages.

・General customers
・Trend-conscious customers
・Valuable customers

General customers are users with a low purchase frequency. New customers are also included in this category.

Trend-driven customers make purchases during sales or promotional campaigns. Unlike regular repeat customers, they are characterized by being temporary users.

Because price and discount rates are often the trigger for purchase, profit margins tend to be relatively low even when the unit price is high.

Customers who make repeat purchases and buy from you many times become your valuable clients. Among existing customers, the proportion of such high-value clients is not large. However, because they account for the majority of sales, they are the customer segment you should prioritize most.

Why is it necessary to acquire repeat customers?

According to the Pareto principle, it is said that 20% of customers generate 80% of sales. In other words, loyal customers who make repeated purchases are the ones who sustain a company’s or brand’s revenue.

Valuable customers make a significant contribution to sales, for example by purchasing regularly or by having a high average order value. Increasing the number of these valuable customers leads directly to higher sales.

Everyone starts out as a new customer, and the key question is whether they will then become repeat customers and eventually loyal clients. To achieve this, you must first consider how to encourage them to come back again.

Benefits of Acquiring Repeat Customers

From here, we will explain the specific benefits of gaining repeat customers.

Reducing customer acquisition costs

It is generally said that acquiring a new customer costs five times as much as retaining an existing one.

To acquire new customers, you must first make them aware of your products, services, or store. Once a customer has made a purchase, they already recognize your brand, allowing you to significantly reduce the customer acquisition cost for subsequent purchases.

Another major advantage is that once a purchase has been made, you already have the customer’s information and can approach them individually. Use the products or services they have purchased as a starting point to encourage repeat purchases from the second time onward.

Stabilizing sales

For business continuity, it is not only important to increase sales, but also to keep them stable. To prevent sales from dropping beyond an acceptable range, aim to raise the baseline by gaining repeat customers.

Repeat customers who have become loyal clients make regular purchases and support your sales. Because they have a favorable impression of your company, they are positively inclined to buy, and you can expect both higher purchase frequency and higher average order value—key advantages of repeat customers.

Continuously attracting new customers is important, but relying on that alone will eventually hit a ceiling. By gaining repeat customers, you can build a solid foundation for your sales.

New customer acquisition through word of mouth

Repeat customers have a favorable impression of your products, services, and stores. If their affection deepens further and they become true fans, those repeat customers themselves can effectively become promoters who advertise your company.

If repeat customers share the strengths of your products, services, or store with people close to them, this can serve as a trigger for acquiring new customers.

In the case of physical stores such as restaurants, there is a strong possibility that repeat customers will bring in new customers themselves. This, in turn, may lead those new customers to become new repeat customers.

On e-commerce sites, word-of-mouth and reviews have a significant impact on third parties’ willingness to purchase. When repeat customers who have become fans of your company post reviews, it can strongly encourage first-time purchases by new customers.

Improving LTV

One of the advantages of acquiring repeat customers is that it can lead to an increase in LTV (lifetime customer value).

LTV is an abbreviation for “Life Time Value,” and is a metric that represents the total profit a single customer generates for a company over the course of their relationship.

By gaining repeat customers and increasing LTV, you can boost profits while keeping sales costs under control.

Improving LTV has a major impact on generating stable, ongoing profits and enhancing management efficiency, so it should be treated as a priority.

There are various initiatives to improve LTV, but among them we particularly recommend leveraging chatbots.

Reasons why it does not lead to acquiring repeat customers

Winning repeat customers is not easy. However, there are clear reasons why your efforts may not be leading to repeat business.

First, let’s review the reasons why this is not leading to repeat customers.

I was dissatisfied with the service.

The main reason you are not gaining repeat customers is that you are not providing what they are looking for. It is a basic point, but if customers are dissatisfied with a product or service, they are unlikely to become repeat customers.

However, customers do not necessarily feel dissatisfied only with the products or services themselves.

Even when customers are fully satisfied with the products or services themselves, there may still be cases where they are dissatisfied with aspects such as staff response, delivery services, or payment methods.

In that case, if we improve the service, there is a strong possibility it will lead to repeat purchases.

We are not conducting customer acquisition aimed at gaining repeat customers.

Simply waiting will not easily lead to acquiring repeat customers. It is important to actively attract customers with the specific aim of gaining repeat business.

If customers form a negative impression of a product or service, it is only natural that they will not become repeat buyers. However, even in cases where the experience leaves no strong impression, whether good or bad, it will not lead to repeat purchases.

For your products or services to be considered as one of the options, people must first be able to recall the existence of your website or store.

Incorporate initiatives to acquire repeat customers, such as after-sales follow-up after the first purchase and outreach via email newsletters and direct mail.

Why customers become repeat buyers

Next, we will explain why customers become repeat buyers. If you understand the reasons new customers turn into repeat customers, you will be able to develop initiatives that can be replicated.

High frequency of contact

We mentioned that in order to turn customers into repeat clients, it is necessary to make them remember your website or store. As the number of contact points increases, it becomes easier for them to feel a sense of familiarity, and you can expect the distance between you and your customers to shrink.

When we see or encounter something repeatedly, our sense of wariness toward it diminishes and we begin to form a favorable impression. This is known as the “Zajonc effect.”

It is also a rational course of action, in line with the mere exposure effect, for sales representatives to visit customers repeatedly.

In the case of websites or physical stores, you cannot proactively go out and meet customers yourself. Therefore, initiatives that help customers remember you and increase points of contact with them are crucial.

Let’s consider how we can increase the number of touchpoints with our customers.

Feels worth visiting

To leave a lasting impression on customers, it is essential to provide products and services that exceed their expectations. Delivering a user experience that truly moves customers can be considered the first step toward turning them into loyal fans.

However, if you identify the only point of excitement for customers as “price,” you will attract trend-driven customers rather than loyal, high-value ones. Once you enter a price war with competitors, even if sales increase, your profits may decline significantly.

Furthermore, trend-driven customers who are attracted by low prices will leave as soon as you lose the price war.

Identify the unique value your company offers—beyond just price—that keeps customers coming back to your website or store. When you provide something special that only your company can deliver, that is where genuine excitement is created.

It is important to base your thinking on how to delight the customer.

How to Acquire Repeat Customers

So then, what specific methods can you use to gain repeat customers? From here, we will introduce ways to acquire repeat customers.

Gaining the empathy of new customers

Gaining the empathy of new customers leads to second and third purchases. What you want them to relate to are the fundamental aspects, such as the concept behind your products or services and your corporate philosophy.

For example, if you have a concept such as “We focused on being gentle on the skin and made this with organic cotton,” the impression people get will be different, even though it is the same towel.

People who struggle with sensitive skin are likely to be drawn to organic cotton towels. Similarly, there are customers who resonate with a company’s philosophy and therefore wish to purchase that company’s products.

In some cases, clearly communicating your commitment and passion for your products or services can generate empathy and resonance. This can also become a trigger for purchase, so make sure to highlight these points effectively.

give special treatment

Treating repeat customers as special is also an effective way to gain more of them. By giving repeat customers special treatment as valued clients, you can increase their satisfaction.

This will also enable you to communicate effectively to new customers the benefits of becoming repeat customers.

It is effective to offer services and events that feel special, such as holding sales exclusively for purchasers and distributing birthday coupons.

Conversely, if you only offer discount coupons for new customers, existing customers will not feel any benefit in becoming repeat buyers, and you will lose one of the reasons for them to purchase again.

It is especially important to take an approach that clearly conveys your appreciation to repeat customers who purchase from you many times.

Encourage regular visits and purchases

Because repeat customers already have at least some positive feeling toward your products, services, or store, they are more likely to make a purchase when given the right opportunity. To achieve this, it is important for the store to take the initiative in encouraging regular visits and purchases.

Specifically, effective measures include distributing coupons at the time of the first purchase that can be used for the next purchase, as well as sending follow-up emails and regular email newsletters.

Even when sending email newsletters, segmenting customers based on specific products they have purchased will enable you to provide information that is more useful to them.

It is also important to send follow-up emails on a regular basis at times that are likely to lead to repeat purchases, such as one week after the product arrives or one month after purchase.

Listening to buyers’ feedback

Complaints and requests from customers are a major opportunity to gain repeat business. Think of customer complaints as advice on how things could be improved if you can resolve them.

Fundamentally, the majority of customers leave without communicating their complaints to the store. The fact that a customer takes the trouble to voice a complaint means that, if improvements are made, there is a possibility they will become a valuable customer.

Respond to complaints sincerely and make every effort to implement improvements.

In addition, feedback and questions about your products or services can provide many hints for improvement. Actively collect customer feedback to identify the strengths and areas for improvement of your products and services. Follow-up emails asking customers to post reviews are also effective.

Build a community

If there were a community where buyers could exchange opinions, repeat customers would be able to connect with one another, which would deepen their affection for our company.

In Q&A communities where users answer questions about products and services, you will often find many enthusiastic fans who regularly use and appreciate those products and services.

Inviting buyers to share how they use or customize the product, as well as their impressions after using it, is another example of fostering connections among customers. There are various possible approaches, such as encouraging them to share information on social media.

Successful case studies of acquiring repeat customers

Finally, we will introduce some successful case studies of how companies are specifically implementing initiatives to gain repeat customers.

Tokyo MEAT Tavern Kichijoji

At Tokyo MEAT Sakaba Kichijoji, we focus on training staff who can understand and respond to customers’ feelings and requests.

For example, at a restaurant you visit for the first time, customers may not know what the signature dishes are and struggle to decide what to order. In such cases, you proactively suggest what they should choose.

Proposals that are thoughtfully tailored to this customer create a moving experience and lead to repeat visits.

This is a case where the store’s approach has improved customer satisfaction.

Plus One International Co., Ltd.

Plus One International Co., Ltd., which produces original T-shirts, is winning repeat customers through effective email distribution.

We send emails at times when demand increases, such as around sports days and cultural festivals, to drive repeat purchases of original T-shirts, which do not have constant demand.

Another key point is that the email delivery time is set to 12:00 noon, so it can be checked during the lunch break.

Excellent Medical

Excellent Medical is working to increase repeat customers by using the cart system “Rakuraku Repeat,” which is highly effective at driving customer repeat purchases.

We value the moment when customers open their packages, and we create a memorable experience by enclosing the most suitable flyers for customers who have purchased specific products.

This is a case study where the company focuses on package inserts and follow-up emails to acquire repeat customers while keeping advertising costs as low as possible.

Winning repeat customers is the fastest route to higher sales

There are always reasons why you are able or unable to gain repeat customers. By building on the factors that lead to repeat business and improving the factors that prevent it, you will be able to attract even more repeat customers than you do now.

If you can gain repeat customers, you can increase and stabilize your sales. Acquiring repeat customers is also a key initiative for business continuity, so be sure to devote sufficient time to considering how to approach this effectively.