One Stop Shop? Let Referrals Transform Your eCommerce Store

The situation is a familiar one. Your email inbox begins to fill up with emails that read “Labor Day Sale!” and suddenly you’re typing in the coupon code LBDAY16 for 20 percent off your purchase. Chances are, if you manage an eCommerce shop, your customers have also used vouchers or coupon codes at some point to make a purchase. It’s a great way to capture first time-buyers and bring back your most loyal advocates for repeat purchases.

While cash is certainly king when it comes to rewarding referrals, (77 percent of Americans prefer to be rewarded with cash for referrals), the ability for eCommerce businesses to upload custom online voucher codes is a necessary feature for any referral program software.

According to RetailMeNot, 93 percent of Americans shop with coupons and the same study even reported that on average, consumers will spend 2 hours a week dedicated to hunting for deals online. Furthermore, 65% of those consumers say that online voucher codes “often finalize their purchase decision if they are undecided.” eCommerce voucher codes are powerful, they are convincing, and more often than not, decision altering. And in recent years, the internet has revolutionized the way that eCommerce businesses leverage vouchers.

How Marketing With Vouchers Creates Brand Loyalty

Amazon is a prime (pun intended) example for how eCommerce companies can use vouchers and discounts to seize the attention of their customers. Daily deals are emailed each morning and sponsored Twitter posts fill the timelines of their target audience. They entice potential purchases with the psychological implication that their customers can’t pass up a deal this good. While these vouchers may reduce the amount of profit Amazon makes on a particular transaction, the goodwill and brand loyalty they build amongst their customers leads to repeat purchases.

Check out today's #DealoftheDay - Shop Now! https://t.co/NxIeBfci8s pic.twitter.com/QHtfMSMcAW

— Amazon (@amazon) January 7, 2016

The newspaper industry had to rapidly adjust in the digital-age, and just like many businesses, they were forced to adjust their marketing strategy. Even publishers like The New York Times have begun to use one-time vouchers to encourage sign ups for digital access to their content. Like Amazon, they advertise through social media and utilize email marketing to send vouchers that could open up new revenue streams.

Referrals + Vouchers

Did you know that the lifetime value of a referred customer is 16 percent higher than a non-referred customer? It’s the reason many eCommerce businesses use cash or vouchers as rewards for referrals.

Back in 2013, Forbes.com saw the evolution of referral marketing amongst eCommerce businesses when they broke down how businesses ran referral programs: “To move things along, consider providing an incentive for sharing. Include a code on each coupon that correlates to an original customer, then keep track of how many coupons come in with that code in order to reward loyal customers with an additional discount or free item in exchange for their kindness.”

However, there is no longer a need to manually track each coupon, because referral marketing software does exactly that: tracks, automates, and builds your customer base through word-of-mouth. Cash payouts can still be part of part of your overall referral marketing strategy, but the ability to also reward with voucher codes will encourage purchase after purchase.  

Online businesses should be careful not to create a habit of offering discounts at every instance, but these vouchers coupled with referrals are a marketing tactic that has been proven to increase revenue, LTV’s, and brand loyalty.