Digital transformation has removed captive markets, giving Filipino buyers a literal world of options at their fingertips. However, it has also seen countless local businesses struggling with customer retention due to price-driven competition, a poor understanding of customer engagement, and haphazard brand development.
The growing challenge means you must go beyond simplistic transactional relationships and nurture deeper connections with your customers. Once buyers become emotionally invested in your brand, they can become a valuable source of organic referrals, boosting your credibility and reducing the advertising and marketing expenses needed to secure customers. Good customer loyalty also makes your business more attractive to investors, as it’s a sign of solid brand equity.
Fortunately, there are multiple ways you can build a strong base of loyal customers. One of the most straightforward is launching in-store events. When done right, these events can create lasting emotional connections that encourage both sales prospects and existing customers to buy.
With a payment terminal machine like the Maya Terminal, in-store events are only limited by your imagination. This solution accommodates a full spectrum of in-person payments, from credit and debit cards to e-wallets and QR Ph transactions. It’s also fully portable so you can accept transactions anywhere in and outside of your store. Get your Maya Terminal today and try these in-store event ideas that will earn you a steadfast customer base.
1. Exclusive VIP Shopping Nights
If your brand depends on exclusivity, this strategy is worth a try. Offer loyal customers and key influencers special treatment and exclusive product offerings on a VIP-only shopping night. This can be a good way to make frequent customers feel valued while also highlighting the specialness of your brand. Offer refreshments, loyalty tokens, and personalized one-on-one sessions with trusted experts to strengthen positive associations with your brand.
2. Product Demos and Workshops
This is a classic strategy that stokes customer engagement and loyalty through education. These sessions are particularly worthwhile for product offerings that require some skill from users, which is why they’re particularly common for baking supplies, musical instruments, and crafting products. However, the idea also works for any business that sells products with a steeper learning curve.
These events aren’t just for existing customers either. They also allow newbie attendees to experience your products firsthand, increasing the chances of a purchase. You can also keep these new customers on the hook with coupons and discounts for more items at your store.
3. Seasonal and Holiday-Themed Events
Special occasions are a great opportunity to create particularly memorable shopping experiences. Whether it’s Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Halloween, themed events can carry an emotional resonance that primes your customers to buy. Take advantage of these once-a-year occasions by giving seasonal discounts and setting up interactive activities to encourage engagement.
Another approach you can take is to offer seasonal exclusives on your lineup. A famous international coffee chain has successfully leveraged this strategy by offering much-awaited “pumpkin spice” drinks towards the end of the year. You can borrow this idea and offer limited-time exclusives that put your business on top of your customers’ minds.
4. Live Entertainment
This is an especially effective strategy for smaller businesses that are a cornerstone of their community. Temporarily turning your store into a lively destination creates a positive emotional connection with your niche, improving your brand recall and encouraging valuable repeat business. Whether it’s spoken word poetry or a DJ set, just make sure the live performances you sponsor are fully aligned with your brand.
5. Pop-Up Collaborations with Other Businesses
Team-ups with complementary brands can broaden your audience, helping you tap into demand that you may not have known existed. With good curation and cross-promotion, the exposure and accompanying benefits for all the participating brands can increase. For better results, work with your collaborators to offer desirable exclusive bundles or co-branded products that appeal to your shared customer base.
6. Community Give-Back Events
Giving back to the community strengthens your brand’s reputation and builds a sense of goodwill among customers. To ensure your give-back events are both genuine and successful, partner with local charities or ask your strongest brand advocates to join in. Filipino customers are becoming more conscientious with their buying habits, and many will choose to support brands that play a role in uplifting their communities.
Turn First-Time Buyers into Lifelong Customers with the Help of Maya Business Solutions
Veteran entrepreneurs will tell you that attracting customers is a lot easier than keeping them. This is even more true today, as digital transformation breaks down geographic boundaries and enables limitless competition. Maya helps you overcome those challenges, empowering you to accept a full range of in-person payments at your store. Sign up for Maya Business to order a Maya Terminal to ensure successful in-store events, customer-centered shopping, and much more.
Signing up for Maya Business automatically gives you a Maya Business Deposit account for settling your Maya payments and growing your savings. Maya Business Deposit offers an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, letting you earn PHP 25,000 per year for every PHP 1 million deposited. You can also transfer cash to partners and suppliers for free via InstaPay and PESONet, saving cash on daily transactions.
Signing up also sets you up for a Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months. With funds from your Maya Flexi Loan, you can begin nurturing loyalty and drawing new customers into your fold. Just keep using Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments for bigger loan offers.
Sign up for Maya Business today and begin building your customer base with Maya’s leading technology solutions.
