In a crowded digital marketplace, retaining customers is just as important as attracting new ones. Loyalty is vital and if a competitor manages to snatch your customers away, it can be hard to get them back. One way to ensure their lasting commitment is through empowering them, and one method to do this is by providing choices. Below, we discuss how you can implement choice in your processes to retain customers. 

Why Provide Choice?

Giving choice empowers your customers, and this has a range of benefits. When a range of options are provided, customers have a much better experience, either in customer service or when making a purchase.

It may seem like giving more choices to customers increases your workload. But in many areas, it can lessen it. For example, when it comes to customer service, if people can only make inquiries by email, your inbox will quickly fill up. Yet if you have an FAQ section or a chatbot for them to use, they can choose to find answers themselves which will alleviate your workload. 

Does it Work?

Choice is all around you when you look online, particularly when using the biggest and most popular companies. Imagine your process when buying anything from Amazon. They have grown huge by using this tactic. You have a choice of postal options, products, and even additional items that can be bundled with your package. A customer does not have one simple buy option, and in many cases it can even add to the amount they spend, increasing sales. 

Even outside of the realm of retail, industries such as iGaming have used choice to become huge global powerhouses of entertainment. The choice of casino games at websites such as Playstar is one example. But it does not just end with gaming options. This stretches to everything from payment methods to the types of bonuses on offer. At its heart, the website has a simple premise, which is to provide casino games. Yet the choice it offers to customers empowers them, retaining loyalty in a crowded marketplace.

How Can You Provide a Choice?

Whatever your industry is, there will be plenty of options to provide choices to your customers. It may take some time to set up and may require some investment, but the results will be well worth it. 

You can break choice down into a few distinct areas. These are product, payment, and customer service. Brainstorm the many ways you can add choice in these fields, and then research how viable each one is. It may be that a live chat operator is too expensive, whereas a FAQ section on the website is something that can be done easily and affordably. 

The main criterion to always keep in mind is if it adds value. Value is something that enhances the customer experience. In some instances, adding things may have the opposite impact. Have you ever tried to find airline customer service and been constantly redirected to the FAQ? This has the opposite impact, with people turning away from a brand. Make sure everything you add aids the customer, and choice will be a great long-term method of keeping customers.