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When customers are in your store shopping, it feels like a victory. Your marketing and promotions worked, and interested audiences found their way to your store.

But even if customers walk out of your store with shopping bags full of your products, there is another way you can get extra value from them before they go.

When shoppers are in your store, you should have a plan for collecting customer contact information.

Why Collect Customer Contact Information?

When you collect contact information from shoppers, you open up an opportunity to build a lasting relationship with them, because you can now remarket to them.

When you have a customer’s email address or phone number, you can send follow-up content and promotions. These follow-up messages are more powerful than cold marketing messages because you are connecting with a warm audience.  

An audience of existing customers:

  • Already knows your brand
  • Has already shown interest in your products and services
  • Is more likely to engage with your messages and return to your store
  • Is more likely to spend more money than new customers

So, you need to collect customer contact information if you want to reach out to existing shoppers, encourage them to return to your store, and increase your revenue.

How to Collect Information From  Shoppers

If you want to collect customer contact information from shoppers, you have to make it easy on them. Use the following tools to make the process feel seamless and simple.

Kiosks and Interactive Screens: Touch-screen kiosks and interactive digital signs are a fun way to engage shoppers in your store. And, they serve a double purpose as they are also a great tool for collecting user information. Set up screens so customers can easily enter their contact information and join your list.

Text Marketing: For most shoppers, their smartphones are not far from their reach at any given time. So, put this tool to work for your business, and use text marketing campaigns to collect shopper data. Use your Wi-Fi to collect customer data and then market to them directly on their phones.

At Checkout: You can also save shoppers from doing any work on their own, and instead, ask them for their contact information at checkout. Utilize a system that gets emails addresses from your customers and automatically adds them to your list.  

Tips for Encouraging Customers to Sign up

Having the tools and systems to collect customer contact information is only half of the process. Customers usually aren’t going to hand over their contact information unless they are getting something valuable in return. So for the other half of the process, you must create incentives that give shoppers a reason to join your list.

Run Contests: Host regular giveaways with prizes that your target audience would love to win. Offer high-ticket, high-value gifts that make it impossible for your shoppers not to enter for a chance to win.

Offer Coupons: Trading customers a coupon or discount code for their contact information is another smart way to build your list. This is especially effective if a customer is about to make a purchase as they will see the immediate benefit of joining your list in exchange for the discount.

Host Free Events: Another way to collect customer contact information from shoppers is by hosting events that require registration. The event can be a free experience that gets shoppers through your door while collecting their contact information.  

Set up Interactive Games: Using interactive digital signage, set up engaging games that customers can play while in your store. Require contact information for customers to create accounts to compete and track their scores.  

Create a Loyalty Program: To give customers a strong reason for sharing their contact information with you, tie it to a loyalty program. You will need a customer’s contact information to give them their rewards, so exchanging information feels like a logical step in the process.

Always Respect Your Customer’s Data: While connecting with past customers via their contact information is a powerful way to bring existing shoppers back to your store, if it’s not executed properly, it can have the opposite effect. Never trick your customer into giving you their contact information. And, always make it clear that contact information can be used for promotional purposes.

Using Data to Connect with Customers

Customer contact information is a valuable asset to a business. It allows you to stay in touch with shoppers and bring back existing customers who are likely to spend more money than new customers.  

But, email addresses and phone numbers are just two pieces of powerful data you can collect from your customers.

There are other valuable pieces of client data that you can collect and monitor in order to remarket to existing customers and improve your marketing strategies. To learn more about how to collect customer data and what to do with it once you have it, read our blog post: Customer Data: Are You Doing It Right? Wrong? Or Not At All?