How to Build Customer Loyalty During the Holidays

As you attract new customers to your site during the holidays, it’s a perfect time to turn that new interest into repeat business. There are a few steps you can take to hold on to new customers and turn them into repeat customers, even after the season has ended.

1. Use an email list to build relationships.

2. Set up smooth returns for a positive customer experience.

3. Add perks for return customers and word-of-mouth advocates.

Have questions about holiday sales before you focus on a customer retention strategy? Check out our complete Holiday Selling Guide.

1. Stay connected with your email list

Just like making new in-person connections requires showing up consistently, your emails serve a similar purpose for you and your customers. Your emails are an opportunity to stay top-of-mind and build loyalty simply by keeping in touch. 

Remember, you have an advantage as a small business owner—your customers are extra interested in hearing from you because they know emails are coming from you or your team. On top of promotional or sales emails, share about new products or updates in your store and business life to remind them of the people behind the products.

Here are a few simple things you can do during and after the holidays to strengthen your customer relationships:

• Treat emails like a conversation. While it’s important to make a good and professional impression, your emails can still be warm and relaxed. Customers care about you and your business, so send updates on new developments or include personal notes in your messages.

• Send a welcome email. Set up an automated welcome email with a discount code when someone joins your mailing list. This is an easy way to make new subscribers feel valued.

• Host a post-holiday sale. Set up a sale for any remaining inventory you want to move after the holidays and give subscribers exclusive early access. 

• Make personalized recommendations. You can automate product recommendations based on what someone’s bought before or their spend amount.

• Create audience segments. The more personalized you can make your emails, the more valued readers feel and the easier it is to target messages and promotions for them. Create customer profiles and lists so you can send more targeted emails to different groups of subscribers.

2. Set up a smooth returns process

Many of the most successful business owners on Squarespace share one thing: a laser focus on customer experience. That includes everything from how easy it is to navigate your site and check out to how pleasant returns or other interactions are. A good shipping and return experience is especially important during the holidays, when delivery dates are important and time is short.

Even if a customer isn’t happy with their product or they chose the wrong gift, you can make sure they have positive experiences with your brand. Keep these details in mind when setting up your returns process.

• Have a clear, easy-to-find return policy on your website. Whether on its own page, an FAQ page, or both, having a clear policy gives customers peace of mind. For some customers, it even impacts whether they’ll buy from you.

• Decide how much you want to refund. You can choose to offer a full refund or a partial refund. A partial refund usually refunds the purchase price, minus shipping and/or other fees. A full refund leaves you on the hook for return shipping and payment transaction fees.

• Be clear about how you handle shipping costs. You can either have the customer cover return shipping or cover the cost by providing a prepaid return label. Some shipping extensions can generate return labels, track shipments, and keep you and the customer informed as the return processes.

• Offer options for the refund method. Refunds typically go back to a customer’s credit card, but you can also create a special discount that gives them store credit.

Your returns policy is ultimately up to you. You’ll want to balance giving your customers great service with what your bottom line can handle. If covering shipping or transaction fees would put you too far in the red, be upfront with customers about it and make completing the return as seamless as possible on their end.

When speaking with customers who want to return an item, remember to use a warm, empathetic tone. You have the opportunity to turn even dissatisfied customers into brand advocates if you make the returns process hassle-free and pleasant. If people feel they can trust you with returns, it’s more likely that they'll shop with you again.

Take inspiration from an example return policy

3. Boost and reward word-of-mouth shoutouts

Typically, we all trust the recommendations of friends and family more than we trust marketing or advertisements. So in addition to rewarding happy customers for their loyalty, give them incentives to get the word out. Customers sharing about your business acts as social proof—a signal that people are genuinely excited about what you sell.

One way to encourage word-of-mouth is to start a referral program to reward existing customers who recommend your business. Simply send the original customer a discount once their friend’s transaction is complete. You can also try to increase your sales by offering a two-sided referral code, so a customer can send a friend a discount code and receive that same discount once their friend uses it.

Social media is one of the best ways to get the word out about your customer loyalty programs or boost customer endorsements. Try encouraging customer feedback by offering a chance to be featured on your brand account. Or offer discount codes to anyone who tags your store in a post or gives you a shoutout in a video. 

Developing customer loyalty isn’t a short-term game—you’ll need to engage people throughout the year to build a loyal customer base and increase your customer retention rate. To help put your year-long brand building plans into action, measure the success of your holiday marketing.

This post was updated on September 30, 2024.