There is a new customer in town. She hits your website with a vengeance, intent on buying. At first, she seems like the perfect buyer. She didn’t have to be recruited, she found you. She clicks through your site until she finds the perfect item and places her order. Then, she disappears.
Why did she go? You did every thing right. Her order was fulfilled quickly. It included the latest catalog and some discount coupons to encourage her to order again. You flagged her as a hot line customer so she received all the promotional materials proven to motivate new customers. You even thought that she might go multichannel. But, she doesn’t respond.
The problem is that the Internet shoppers who find you may or may not be your target market. If they are, then WHOO HOO! You have a low acquisition cost for a valuable customer. But, if they aren’t, then they were probably looking for a special purchase item and won’t ever order again.
Every penny you spend marketing to them is wasted. The sooner you identify the hit-and-run buyers, the less you lose. Start by evaluating your customer acquisition and retention analytics. It shows you how well your marketing is working with your customer base. If it isn’t working, then you need to identify any problems, isolate hit-and-run buyers, and alter how you market to them. If you don’t, your profitability suffers.
Hit-and-run customers can be valuable, if you limit your marketing expense. Traditional marketing segmentation tools won’t identify them. You have to expand your arsenal to improve your metrics and return on investment.
