Level up buyer conversion and retention with computer vision.

Are you looking to convert the window shoppers in your walk-in store or website to buying customers? Do you aim to have them fulfill company targets like making purchases, ordering services, newsletter registration, or downloading a link? Do you wish to retain your customers and make them loyal? 

This article throws light on:

• Buyer conversion
• Buyer retention
• Buyer Conversion and retention strategies 
• The use of computer vision in customer conversion and retention.

What is buyer conversion?

Buyer conversion or customer conversion as it is also called focuses on turning lookers, and window shoppers into paying customers. The term customer conversion is usually confused with customer acquisition but there is a slight difference. Customer acquisition deals with getting new customers into the store through creating awareness and distinguishing businesses from their competitors, while customer conversion, on the other hand, focuses on turning lookers into buyers through product display, product promotion and efficient customer services.‍

Examples of buyer conversion targets 

1. Making purchases
2. Clicking on desired links
3. Sharing content amongst networks
4. Making downloads… etc

What is the buyer conversion rate?

Conversion rate is used to control online marketing activities, it is determined by calculating the percentage of shoppers that eventually make purchases after Window Shopping. The conversion rate is derived by dividing the number of conversions by the number of visits x 100 in a given period.  ‍

For example: if you had 20 conversions after 500 ad interactions, your conversion rate will be :

                                  20 ÷ 500× 100  = 4%. 

A good conversion rate is said to be at about 10% and above.

How to increase buyer conversion rate :

Design optimization: 

For a good buyer conversion rate, businesses need to create an appealing website that is attractive, detailed and unambiguous. A clear website makes conversion easy because buyers see what they want at the first glance and can take required actions without much guidance‍

Proof of authenticity :

Proof of brand authenticity like testimonials, positive customer feedback, success stories, partnering brands etc, encourages prospective buyers to commit to your brand. 

Guarantees:

A money-back guarantee shows brand confidence and this helps eliminate the fears of prospective buyers. The Longer the guarantee period, the higher the conversion rate.

‍Removing distractions: 

Getting rid of unnecessary distractions makes your website less complicated and also helps prospective buyers focus on what your company has to offer. 

What is buyer retention?

Buyer retention refers to the ability of a company to turn customers into repeat buyers and keep them from switching to their competitors. Acquiring new customers is quite difficult and more expensive than keeping existing customers therefore companies need to strategize ways to retain their customers'

Benefits of customer retention

1.  Customer retention reduces the cost of acquiring new customers as customer retention is said to be more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. 
2. Customer retention creates opportunities for acquiring new customers at no extra cost through the referrals of satisfied customers. 

Customer retention strategies;

1. Personalized messages and constant interaction: Sending personalized messages to customers shows them that you are particularly aware of their patronage and care about their product/ service satisfaction, also constant customer engagement keeps your brand name in their minds and updates customers on your new goods and services and what they stand to benefit from sticking with your brand.

2. Prompt response to customers: Swift and excellent response to customer needs makes you a reliable brand and  a go-to brand when your customers need quick services 

3. Constant follow-up on customer feedback: Gathering customer feedback updates businesses on customer challenges, preferences, product satisfaction and ways they can serve them better. 

4. Rewarding customer loyalty: Who doesn't love a freebie? who wouldn't love to be appreciated for their efforts? Rewarding customers for their loyalty makes them feel special and can go a long way to bring them back to your brand with their family and friends. 

These strategies are not easy to apply considering the frequency of customer demands, complaints and tons of daily customer feedback on websites and social media. Also, irrespective of how good a product is, businesses will not be able to convert or retain buyers if their products and services are not visible to prospective buyers, not to mention making profits off them. At this juncture, computer vision steps in to aid businesses in gaining visibility and rendering smart customer services. 

What is Computer Vision ?

Computer vision is a branch of artificial intelligence that enables computers to derive meaningful information from digital images, videos and other visual inputs. The insights gained from computer vision are used to take automated actions. Just like artificial intelligence helps computers think, computer vision enables computers to see.  

Computer vision can be used in various industries e.g

Transportation: for self-driving cars to dictate road signs, pedestrian detection, parking occupancy detection, traffic flow analysis, road condition monitoring etc. 

Medical: X-ray analysis, CT scan and MRI, cancer detection, blood loss measurement, movement analysis.

Manufacturing: Defect inspection, product assembly etc

Construction: predictive maintenance, PPE detection.

Agriculture: crop and yield monitoring, insect detection, livestock health monitoring, plant disease detection etc.

How computer vision can help retailers, e-commerce in buyer conversion and retention

The traditional way of tracking customer behaviour is not effective and doesn't provide sufficient knowledge to meet customer needs. With the aid of cameras and appropriate artificial intelligence computer vision can record processes and interpret visuals. Computer vision can serve as extra eyes and brains with its ability to see, understand and interpret visual data businesses can get hold of information promptly, and respond swiftly to business and customer needs. 

• Self-check-out: This enables cashier-less checkouts and reduces long queues in shops and makes the shopping experience less stressful.

• Visual shopping: Object detection and recognition are important when buyers are searching for similar items for a better price. Computer vision can analyse aspects of an item and match them with billions of similar items giving buyers a range of related items to choose from.

• Automatic goods replenishment: computer vision can capture images and perform an inventory by tracking items on a shelf at millisecond intervals and providing instant notification on stock outs. 

• Personalised shopping experience: Computer vision can identify returning customers, welcome them with personalised messages and make shopping suggestions based on shopping history and past preferences.

• Product popularity: “heatmap” in computer vision gives information on customer traffic, it can be used to identify the products with the most customer traffic and can help businesses know which product is a bestseller and which product customers like the least. 

• Intelligent video analytics: Computer vision can aid security by detecting suspicious activities and alerting staff to attend immediately.

• Crowd control: computer vision can help control the inflow of persons in a store by using cameras to count the number of persons in the store and the number of persons living in the store. It played a vital role in the peak of covid 19 when a limited number of persons were allowed in a store at the same time. 

        As can be seen in this write-up, computer vision plays a vital role in various industries and can be used to achieve swift customer service that can help businesses convert and retain prospective customers.