Dormant Users: What They Are and How to Reconnect with Them

Do you ever wonder about clients who frequently ordered products from your online business but suddenly stopped? 

This new buying behaviour trend could be attributed to several factors. They may not have been happy with your products previously, and they found the items cheaper in another store, or, quite simply, they forgot. In any case, it is essential to understand and reactivate them. Returning consumers is a smart way of making sales by targeting users who have already provided their data. This article will discuss the best strategies for finding a dormant user and returning them to your eCommerce store. They remain by far the most underexploited opportunity. 

Understanding Dormant Users: A Quick Overview

Who are Dormant Users?

A dormant user is someone who once used your business app frequently but eventually reduced or stopped using it altogether.

For instance, in a fitness app, if a user has not logged on to exercise or track their progress for about two weeks, that user is considered inactive. On the other hand, a social media app can identify a dormant user who has not posted, liked, or commented on anyone’s post for more than a month. For a productivity app, a dormant user is the one who has not opened the app or completed any task within 30 days. 

Dormant users fall into two broad categories:

1. Inactive Customer: Users who were once active buyers but have entirely stopped shopping after a given period of time. 
2. Engaged But Not Purchasing: These customers are not shopping from you but are still engaging with your brand somehow, whether through receiving your emails, being a follower on social media or visiting your site. 

Spotting Dormant Users with Data Insights

Online sellers can analyse customer behaviour to identify patterns and gain valuable insights. Let us look at the key fundamental success factors that help identify dormant users.

1. Purchase Frequency

Analyse when the particular customer last shopped and how frequently they used to shop from your store. This way, you can filter out those who are no longer returning. For instance, if a customer who was a frequent shopper in your company’s store has not purchased something in the past two or three months, they are an inactive customer. 

2. Average Order Value (AOV)

If there is a significant decline in AOV, it means the customer visits your store frequently but purchases less or buys products of low value. This could be a sign of a lack of interest. Analysing AOV can help determine when a customer ceases to spend money to the extent they used to. The inactive user could be reactivated with personalised offers or discounts.

3. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

Customer Lifetime Value offers extensive information regarding the most valuable customers. For example, you can highlight customers with a high CLTV who are now low CLTV customers, indicating they are buying less or not at all. Determining customer value helps businesses examine which dormant users are the best to target with wake-up calls.

4. Email Engagement Metrics

You can determine the engagement level retained by the number of opens and click-through rates. A person who reads your emails and has bought something from you in the past needs a gentle prod in the form of a reminder or a promotion to return. On the other hand, if open rates and CTRs are declining, this may indicate that the user is growing tired. In such cases, consider adding them to an email suppression list to avoid sending unwanted emails and risking further disengagement. Instead, focus on re-engagement strategies to bring them back.

5. Social Media Engagement

Customers may not buy your products actively but can engage with your posts by liking, commenting, or sharing. Such interactions should be monitored to stay informed about their level of interest and likelihood of purchases. Such users might be interested in your products but are waiting for the right message or something to push them to start shopping. You may contact them using emails and offers to encourage them to visit your online store.

6. Browsing Behaviour on Your Website

Many eCommerce platforms have tools that alert businesses about critical factors such as how often consumers visit the site, which pages are the most viewed, and whether they have performed specific functions, such as adding items to the cart or wishlist. If a customer has browsed through your website several times but never made a purchase, this might be a sign that the customer probably wants the product but isn’t compelled enough to buy it yet. 

Winning Back Inactive Customers: Simple Strategies

Here are some tactics that can be followed effectively to bring the dormant users back to your business platform:

1. Personalised Email Campaigns

One of the most straightforward and efficient strategies is to send personal emails to inactive customers. The messages are personalised according to the customer’s choice and previous orders. For instance, if a user ordered a pair of shoes three months ago, an email about the latest shoes marked down in the same category will attract another purchase.

A timely reminder is crucial in pushing a user into action. If a customer has taken several items and then abandoned the cart without making the purchase, a simple reminder message may be all that is needed to prick his conscience to check out. You can provide clients with exclusive discounts. When customers feel they are being offered something unique from other competing sites, they will return to your site and purchase. 

2. Engaging Social Media Content

This can involve launching polls, quizzes, or feedback sections to make customers feel engaged and wanted. Other ways to build engagement could be to invite people to participate in competitions or simply ask for their opinions. You can make the audience feel emotionally attached to your business by sharing sneak peeks of what goes on at your company, posting any post that informs your customers of a new product, or responding to questions during a live broadcast. People like to have a sense of belonging and are likelier to return for your products or services. 

3. Loyalty Programmes and Rewards

Customer Loyalty Program is among the best strategies to turn dormant users into loyal customers. Give them more incentives to return to your brand and spend more for higher loyalty rewards. For instance, a customer who comes back to your store after some time and then purchases a given amount of products may earn themselves a flat rate shipping or free shipping privileges. Apart from promoting your sales, this maintains customer satisfaction because everyone enjoys feeling valued. These privileges serve the purpose of getting an inactive customer back. You can incorporate exciting elements such as arranging points for each purchase. This can motivate the customer to collect with repeat purchases and enjoy the rewards. 

4. Targeted SMS Marketing

Mobile is a very effective channel for directly contacting the dormant user, particularly when availing of their time-sensitive offer. They have a much higher open rate than an email and can be used to send rapid updates or a special offer. Whenever a customer is interested in a particular product, a short message on the phone informing them about the availability of a specific product or an upcoming sale will make them make an order. 

5. Personalised Web Push Notifications

Web push notifications are handy for active users who might not check social media messages, emails, etc. These notifications pop up on a user’s screen even if they are no longer on your website. Recommendations based on browsing history and abandonment are practical because they periodically recall the users’ interests while offering other products they may be interested in. Creating particular cookies is necessary to continue attracting users’ attention to interesting products.

Conclusion

Most firms view dormant users simply as lost revenue that needs to be recovered; however, reactivation involves much more than this. Given that there are many unused accounts in online marketplaces, through analysis of the data, online sellers will be able to target them and take them back into use. The essence is to make customers feel special and provide them with what they need – a bargain, a recommendation or an exciting social media touch. Subsequently, by applying these strategies, you can transform your dormant users into active and permanent consumers, which, in turn, presents growth and success in the eCommerce market. 
Undoubtedly, user engagement is core to the success of every social media marketing campaign, so reactivating the inactive customer may deliver your next burst of revenue.