The US economy has been stumbling a bit.
Might be a recession. Might not be.
But it's clear that a lot of people are businesses are struggling, especially the smaller ones.
Getting your Shopify store through a downturn is a dual-edged sword.
On one hand you want to reduce your costs, run lean, and survive on less. Hunker-down, make it to the recovery, and then you can scale back up.
On the other hand, down markets leave a lot of opportunities open for those willing and able to act. From acquiring competitors to getting inventory at fire-sale prices, if you pay attention you can find great deals.
But you got to have the numbers to back you up. It's a narrow ledge to walk along.
In this vein I've built a Downturn focus report into Repeat Customer Insights.
It looks at a downturn from a customer retention perspective. At launch there are two areas the analysis examines for your store:
What products (and variants) aren't pulling their weight? This weaker merchandise is causing your customers to defect and should be culled or improved.
Are you prompting customers to reorder often enough (if at all)? Timing your marketing to your customer behavior is a major opportunity that gets overlooked. It's not sexy but it can become one of your strongest sales channels. It's also a unique opportunity that no competitor can take from you.
I'll be adding to this Downturn report over time. There are about a dozen more ideas and advice I'm working out, but I wanted to get an early version out in case you can use it now.
Eric Davis
Analyze your customer's behaviors before they defect
Your customers aren't yours forever. Some might have defected today, never to be seen again.
You need to analyze your customer behavior so you can reach them before they defect.