Chapter 5 Suggestions & Directions for Future Research of Most Beneficial Ways to Build Customer Loyalty in Retail Industry in Oman

        The brand’s biggest strength is customers that are loyal to it. One way of growing the business is to create a base of customers that are satisfied thus loyal to the business so that they can attract other potential customers by the spread of word of mouth. This process has led to such customers being called as the “brand advocates.” There are several ways through which customers can be made satisfied with the business. This satisfaction will lead to enhanced loyalty of customers. Some of the ways are mentioned below:

Use a Loyalty Program: With the advancement of technology now there are several programs that help with businesses procedures, for example, Digital Social Retail has made it easier to keep contact with customers. The customer's needs can be met by offering deals that make them happy. These deals can then be promoted using different platforms. Moreover, some targeted offers can be made by using the data generated through the research. This will increase the value added for the customers.

        The costs of coming up with loyalty programs are not too high. The reward systems need to be set up along with some promotional campaigns but all these costs are offset by the increase in profits.  These loyalty programs turn out to be really exciting for both the customers and the employees of the business. 

Have Great Customer Service: Every business now knows the importance of customer service yet many fail to provide the sort of customer service that stands out among the competitors. There are ways through which a business can win the heart of the customers, for example, price matching, apologizing whenever something goes wrong and returning goods without a long procedure. It is necessary for the business to ensure that its employees are trained brilliantly to make the customers satisfied. There are many cases where untrained employees lead to big PR ordeal because they fail to provide good consumer service. In addition to this, it will be beneficial if the employees are trained for small things that matter like greeting the customers when they enter the shop, helping them in a polite manner. Sometimes consumers may have trouble looking for things in the store this is the ideal opportunity to show them a good service by asking them "How can I help you?”

Make Retail Brand Personable: It is crucial for businesses to be present on the internet these days. The internet can be used to update customers about new stock, discounts, sales or other important stuff. This way it will be easier to grab the attention of customers that can end up buying the products. 

Track Customer Data: Business can also try to keep data of new customers that visited the store or visited the online site of the store. Their buying behavior can be assessed. The business can, for instance, get to know what were their expectations or what did they purchased. This way the business can find out where it is lacking and then focus on them in order to become better. Some other advanced ways are tracking the activity of the customer once they enter the store. Retail beacon technology is easy to use that can show where customers usually go when they enter the store.

        In addition to this, this software also tells the number of people who just walked pass by the shop and did not enter. The best feature of retail beacon technology is that it can also send messages to consumers about let's say offers so that they get attracted and enter the shop instead of passing by.

        Be Consistent: Businesses having days off are less likely to retain customers.  In case a customer is happy with the product they would expect the experience to be the same if they repeat their behavior. This is the reason why it is important for businesses to make sure that they are proving good service and products consistently.

        In case the customers are not satisfied with their experience with the business for the second time they might never come back to the business. In order to avoid this from happening it is important to train the staff well. The retail analytical data can be used to look for problems. The CRM can further help the business by providing an easy to understand sales data.

        Moreover, it is important that the business provides consistent messages to its target market. Since now there are many ways through which the business can communicate with its customers it is important to make sure that the message being sent is the same everywhere and it is the one that the business can actually provide. The Digital Social Retail can ease this task for businesses by making sure that all messages that reach the customers are consistent and relevant. A simplified dashboard and multi-platform messaging service make lockstep communication effective.

        It will be beneficial if the business makes use of such technology. Most businesses that succeeded did not solely because of their product but because they gave customers a service that they remembered and could not find anywhere else. This makes customers always choose your business over others.