Should All Customers Be Treated the Same in the Quest for Brand Loyalty?

It’s a difficult question to answer for some loyalty marketers, and not so difficult for others.
 
For Laurie Caldwell, Director of Marketing at eBags, the industry-leading e-tailer and travel gear expert, it isn’t difficult.
 
“One very important lesson we have learned is that not all customers should be treated the same,” Caldwell explained to Loyalty360. “It is in our best interest to spend more time and resources targeting high value customers and, furthermore, using our data to personalize their experience.” 
 
A change in customer behavior has prompted eBags officials to adapt their strategic focus. Ebags is the leading online retailer of luggage, backpacks, and travel-related accessories.
 
“We have seen that our customers are increasingly more informed on the products they are intending to purchase,” Caldwell said. “We are also seeing multiple customer touch points across various marketing channels prior to their purchases, in addition to becoming progressively more active on their mobile devices. To adapt to these changes, we have a mobile-first mentality at eBags. From optimizing landing pages, to finding new and innovative ways to display our product assortment—it is top-of-mind to continually improve our customer’s experience and help them find the perfect bag.”
 
In recent years, some of eBags’ mobile-first initiatives include:
 

  • Reduced mobile checkout pages from 7 to 1
  • Added mobile wallets (Apple Pay, ChasePay, MasterPass, Amex)
  • Increased mobile site load speed (a major hurdle for mobile conversion)
  • Incorporated adaptive design for site optimization
  • Fine-tuned emails to be easier for mobile users
 
“We rely heavily on technology at eBags to drive our customer’s experience,” Caldwell added. “First, we know that a customer’s experience is only as good as the data used to power it. Our teams are heavily invested in capturing data points on every customer interaction and using that data to power product recommendations, our site experience, and personalized triggered events.”
 
Caldwell talked about an ongoing challenge.
 
“The products we sell are typically not commodities and customers have numerous choices of where make their purchases,” she explained. “Our advantage is having 19 years of ecommerce knowledge to build a world-class site experience to make it easy for customers to find what they are looking for and to return to eBags when their next travel goods need arises.”
 
One important aspect of eBags’ customer experience is the company uses analytics to drive all decisions and develops predictive future values of its customers.
 
“This helps ensure that we are driving the right offers and promotions to the right customer cohorts,” Caldwell noted. “This compiled with continual testing and optimization ensures that we are making educated decisions to pave the way for future growth.”
 
At the end of the day, company culture wins out.
 
“It is ingrained in the culture at eBags to keep the customer at the forefront of all conversations, projects, campaigns, etc.,” Caldwell added. “Our cross-functional teams come together to make decisions that provide the best customer experience possible. This collaboration, combined with innovation, is why eBags remains a leader in ecommerce.”

Recent Content

Membership and Pricing

Videos and podcasts

Membership and Pricing