Attracting and Retaining New Customers with Mobile Technology

Today’s consumers are smarter, more empowered, and better connected than ever before. With competitors only a click away, few businesses are truly ‘THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN’ anymore, which makes attracting and retaining customers infinitely more challenging.

Focus On Retention, Not Just Acquisition

According to Flowtown, acquiring a new customer is 6 TIMES more costly than retaining a current one. This underscores why loyalty programs are such a powerful way to boost profits.

In 2011, loyalty programs generated: $300 Million

In 2015, the are projected to generate: $1.7 Billion

Learn more on loyalty programs at http://merchantwarehouse.com/topic/Loyalty-Programs

Meanwhile, Forbes identified a sizeable opportunity for business owners who have yet to implement or fully develop loyalty programs of their own.

2 Billion loyalty programs in total.

18 different loyalty program memberships per U.S. household.

Only 8 programs actually used per household, per year.

Make It Easy For Customers To Buy

It may come as a surprise to learn how many business owners still, in 2013, do not accept credit card payments.

55% of America’s 15 million businesses don’t take credit cards.

Non-acceptance of credit results in $100 billion in lost revenue annually.

Learn more on accepting credit cards at http://merchantwarehouse.com/credit-card-processing

Accepting smartphone payment via NFC is another way to remove friction from the sales process.

95% of smartphones released in the latter half of 2012 were NFC-enabled.

100 million NFC handsets were shipped in 2012.

285 million will be shipped in 2013.

If your business doesn’t offer NFC coupons or redemption, now may be the time to jump in.

Embrace Mobile Marketing

Mobile has rapidly evolved into the next big marketing channel, thanks to an ever-growing audience of device owners.

821 million smartphones and tablets were purchased globally in 2012.

More than 1 billion are projected for sale in 2013.

Accordingly, eMarketer projects mobile advertising will skyrocket by as much as 400% over the next 4 years:• In 2012 $8.4 Million• In 2016 $37 Billion

In total, more than $1 trillion in purchases from mobile devices are expected by 2017.

In the battle to find and retain customers, it’s becoming critical to establish a mobile presence and firmly integrate mobile technology into your overall marketing strategy to engage customers on their own terms.

To learn about mobile payments visit us at http://merchantwarehouse.com/mobile-payments

Sources:

Merchant Warehouse

Forbes

eMarketer

Flowtown

Merchant Warehouse

A leader in the payment solutions industry since 1998.

Visit us at http://merchantwarehouse.com