Customer retention is a crucial factor in the success of any business, and it is especially important in the Philippines. In a country where customer service and personal relationships are highly valued, businesses that prioritise customer retention can build strong, loyal customer bases that drive revenue and growth.

Last March 8, a roundtable panel discussion titled “Retention Playbook Philippines: Orchestrating Campaigns for Different Customer Segments” was held in Manila to discuss trends and strategies surrounding customer retention in the Philippines. The program was held by CleverTap in collaboration with e27.

The panel included Victor Lim, Co-Founder of Kraver’s Canteen, Philippines’ leading ghost kitchen network; JC Medina, Head of Innovation at PalawanPay, the newest fintech product of Palawan Pawnshop / Palawan Express Pera Padala Group; Daryll Santillan, Head of Marketing at Booky, a deals and discoveries platform for meals; and Marc-Antoine Hager, SEA Regional VP, Sales at CleverTap.

At the event, different brands catering to different categories — food, dining, marketplace, and eWallets — discussed their playbook for maximising retention in the B2C markets.

Strategies for customer retention in the Philippines

The event further outlined a few case studies of successful customer retention and marketing strategies in the Philippines.

For marketplaces, the approach lies within bringing value to both the users and the merchants. Putting brands at the front and centre is the priority when dealing with retention. Given its double-sided markets, there’s also innovation in utilising the most effective channels in the Philippines. 

According to Santillan, “The top two would be email and SMS. Even though we’ve transitioned to a lot of messaging apps, [there is] a lot of the traffic and other brands in the messaging apps that make it difficult for us to stand out.”

In the case of Kraver’s Canteen, segmentation plays a big role in customer retention especially if you are competing with aggregators like Grab. There is a shift towards prioritising retention in their own platform and through real-time data found from customers, they found unsatisfied needs in each segment.

Also read: Ditch your other plans and Meetup with us in Singapore

For example, on-demand food aggregator services are not able to cater to those looking for affordable and practical healthy subscription meals, and this led to a subscription model that has been widely successful thus far. This goes similarly for other niche markets in food. 

Another thing to note when operating a ghost kitchen is to balance rotating the product to maintain freshness in brand offerings, and optimising the details so that margins would spike. This is where automation plays a role, as there is a lot of sophisticated data that have to be processed in a short amount of time.

PalawanPay has a similar strategy for transitioning customers from offline to online using granular data: “What we’re trying to do is we’re just looking at offline or real-world analogues and trying to apply it in digital, making it more efficient and making it more compelling.” 

Harnessing data to bolster customer retention

One of the key questions asked during the event is to share some techniques to regain previously loyal users of the platform that eventually stopped patronising one’s products and services. Santillan advises extracting these users’ data from the database and creating a targeted campaign based on their past behaviour. Sending targeted messages through SMS is effective in reactivating dormant users.

But what is the ideal number of notifications without annoying the users? Medina of PalawanPay believes from his experience, “When we first launched, the biggest mistake we made was not sending enough messages at this time, because we were too afraid that people might find it intrusive. That in itself is a really dangerous assumption. The best thing to do in retrospect is to sell to as many as you can at the start until you find what hits the sweet spot.”

Also read: Championing disaster tech, meet Prudence Foundation at Echelon!

Santillan further adds, “We run a couple of tests to find the sweet spot, experimenting on both the time of data and the number of users that would get push notifications. To check on the health of our relationships, we look at our click-through rates and whether they are dropping.”

For example, Booky’s team found that there is high traffic right before meals, so they typically send notifications in the morning and evening. “Those are like specific nudges and moments that you can capture to help remind the user that [our] promos exist and there are specials you can enjoy today.”

What factor drives retention aside from promos or savings?

Clear and actionable communication is something that customers appreciate. Relationships go hand in hand with data, therefore it is possible to create personalised experiences despite executing broad campaigns. Treating these as relationships that go beyond being transactional is crucial.

According to Medina, “We actually have to craft the storylines. Around each and every feature in our product roadmap is a story [which] serves as entertainment to the user. That’s actually worked really well for us. We try to entertain with each and every product.”

Also read: TOP100 Partner WebEngage pushes growth for SEA startups

Kraver’s Canteen’s Lim adds, “When we communicate ahead of time regarding a customer’s order, we eliminate the risk of complaints. We provide minute details ahead of time, [which is] something they appreciate.”

Customer retention is a critical factor in the success of businesses in the Philippines

With all this in mind, it is clear that by prioritising customer service, personalised communication, and loyalty programs, businesses can build strong relationships with customers and drive revenue through repeat business. While there are challenges to improving customer retention in the Philippines, the opportunities for growth and success make it an essential strategy for businesses looking to succeed in this dynamic market.

– –

This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by CleverTap

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

The post Effective customer retention strategies from top Philippine founders appeared first on e27.