Investing in Customer Retention Leads to Significantly Increased Market Share, Says New Study by Forbes Insights
Global study of 300 retail, ecommerce and media executives quantifies the value of valued customers and reveals the strategies used by top performers to promote profitable growth
Sep 14, 2016, 09:23 ET
NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sailthru, the leading Customer Retention Cloudsm for the world's top retail and media companies, today announces the availability of its inaugural Retentionomics study conducted with Forbes Insights.
This original research was based on a global study of 300 CEOs and media and retail executives. The report shows that companies that increase their investments in customer retention realize significant advantages in increasing market share, managing customer churn and optimizing acquisition over those that invest primarily in customer acquisition.
The complete report highlights the differences in how retention-focused organizations develop customer strategies, manage budgets and improve their understanding of customers. Within the report, leaders at The Economist, Marks & Spencer, Haymarket Media, Debenhams and Gannett reveal how they implement retention strategies to grow their businesses.
Notable findings include:
- Retailers and publishers that increased their spending on retention in the last 1-3 years had a near 200% higher likelihood of increasing their market share in the last year over those spending more on acquisition.
- Top performing organizations connect acquisition and retention, and rate their performance in both as above expectations: 100% in achieving retention goals and 88% in achieving acquisition goals.
- Management teams at companies that focus on retention are twice as likely to understand the impact of customer lifetime value on revenue and growth.
- Companies focused on retention are nearly 50% more likely to consider projected long-term profitability growth when making decisions about customer strategy.
"Too often, executives and marketers focus their efforts on short-term growth and we're seeing the impact of that in retail and media company earnings reports," said Neil Lustig, CEO, Sailthru. "There are many studies that document the potential of retention, but none that dive into how well retail and media companies understand the economics of retention. The Retentionomics study validates that focusing on high-quality customers is a more efficient way to reach sales and revenue goals than simply delivering new customers. The most successful modern marketers invest in and set specific retention goals, measure the value of their valued customers through that lens, and use that data to inform their acquisition strategies and deliver sustained profitable growth."
An important finding from the Retentionomics research is the role personalization plays in overall marketing strategy. This strategy has been proven to increase the total percentage of customers and readers that retailers and media companies retain, in addition to increasing the value and revenue derived from those audiences.
"The work we have done together with Sailthru to surface the connection between retention and revenue is of such significance that it should spark dialogue at all levels within retail and publishing organizations," said Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer and head of the CMO Practice, Forbes Media. "I look forward to hearing from marketing leaders who are scaling their customer-focused businesses through the recommendations included in this report."
About Sailthru
The Sailthru Customer Retention Cloudsm helps modern marketers acquire, grow, and retain customers. With over 1.6Bn global consumer profiles under management, Sailthru's powerful suite of connected capabilities – including high-performance email, onsite personalization, mobile marketing automation, and unique integrations powering new customer acquisition – drives higher revenue, improves customer lifetime value and reduces churn. The world's most innovative publishers, including The Economist, Business Insider and Mashable, and the world's fastest growing ecommerce companies, including Rent The Runway, JustFab and Alex and Ani, trust Sailthru to help them succeed. Founded in 2008, Sailthru's exceptional group of investors include Benchmark, RRE Ventures, DFJ Gotham, Scale Venture Partners, and AOL Ventures. For more information, please visit www.sailthru.com.
About Forbes Insights
Forbes Insights is the strategic research and thought leadership practice of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com, whose combined media properties reach nearly 75 million business decision makers worldwide on a monthly basis. Taking advantage of a proprietary database of senior-level executives in the Forbes community, Forbes Insights conducts research on a host of topics of interest to C-level executives, senior marketing professionals, small business owners and those who aspire to positions of leadership, as well as providing deep insights into issues and trends surrounding wealth creation and wealth management.
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