How to Boost Customer Loyalty After the Holiday Season

The original version of this piece appeared as a Retail Customer Experience post.

The tree is down, school is back in session, and the holiday shopping frenzy is over—what now? For retailers, January can be a slow month with limited opportunities, but with the right marketing strategies, you can start the new year with a bang.

First, keep in mind that you can expect plenty of post-holiday returns. Make your customers happy by ensuring a smooth, easy return process—bonus points if it’s free. Whether in-store or online, a stress-free return experience will make customers more likely to buy again in the future.

Many customers will have also received gift cards for the holidays, but if redemption seems too difficult, the card might remain forgotten in their wallet. Retailers need to ensure it’s easy to check the balance and use gift cards, no matter what channel the customer prefers. To drive purchases even more, you can use expiration dates to motivate customers to use their gift card by a certain date, or you can offer further savings if they sign up for a store credit card or loyalty program.

Finally, consider using gated offers to reward valuable consumer communities, such as healthcare workers, students, or the military. Both teachers and students went back to school recently, making January a good month to run targeted deals post-holidays. No matter what community you target, though, exclusive offers for identity-based groups are an excellent way to make your customers feel special.

When you use gated offers to build customer loyalty, it’s important to protect them with a reputable verification platform. The SheerID Verification Platform prevents fraud while ensuring that your exclusive offers stay truly exclusive.