BigSummit Panel Explores Tactics for Building Lasting Customer Relationships

In August 2024, we launched BigSummit, our flagship thought leadership conference designed to empower ecommerce leaders. Throughout the event, we hosted several panel discussions that allowed industry experts to share their knowledge and insights on the ecommerce landscape. 

During our panel, The Loyalty Equation: Strategies for Building Lasting Customer Relationships, Veronica Servantez, Former SVP of Marketing at BigCommerce, sat down with Kirk Anton, Founder and Visionary at Heat Transfer Warehouse; Mike Hoefer, Director of Web Product and Strategy at King Arthur Baking Company; Jonathon Tremblay, Media Manager at Walton’s; and Kevin Flanagan, Director of Enterprise and Mid-Market Customer success at Klaviyo, to discuss strategies for nurturing customer loyalty and maximizing lifetime value in today’s competitive market.

Here are some highlights and key takeaways that brands can use to elevate their ecommerce presence.

Understand the challenges you face

Veronica Servantez: I'd love to know what challenges are at the top of your mind in terms of driving customer loyalty and repeat business.

Kirk Anton: “It's changed so much in the industry, and I think during COVID, everybody would just buy through a website. It's so important now to show that there's more than just the website. There are people there, and we are increasing our interaction with our customers to make sure that on the business side, we're talking to them or even sending thank-you notes to our existing customers and our top customers.

“So, I think that's really our focus on the B2B side, which is to be able to take care of that customer and let them know that there's somebody there that actually wants to work with them and help them grow their business and solve their problems."

Mike Hoefer: “The challenge from a technical loyalty standpoint is connecting. We have a robust ecommerce business and a store in Vermont. We're expanding to a few other pop-up stores this fall, coming to you in Alexandria, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts. But most customers buy our flowers in Albertsons, Walmart, or big grocery stores. We’re trying to connect that customer story with the omnichannel connectivity of customer data and integration of loyalty programs. Many things that are very easy to do online get much harder when you're working with POS systems, and certainly when you're not exposed to the transaction happening in the grocery store. Those are our biggest challenges with loyalty these days.”

Kevin Flanagan: “The cost of customer acquisition continues to rise. And in a world where you're used to generating leads or gaining a first purchase by offering a 20% discount, you really need to make sure you build that long-standing relationship with the customer. I've seen a lot of brands shift to offering free shipping, bundling products, or tying down on shipping costs. I think it should be at the top of mind as brands think about what products they are promoting and the underlying margin of those products.”

Key takeaway.

Building customer loyalty in today’s market requires brands to go beyond transactional interactions and establish genuine connections with customers. For B2B brands, this means adding personal touches, like thank-you notes or direct interactions, to show that they value their customers beyond the sale.

For brands operating across multiple channels, connecting customer data and integrating loyalty programs can be challenging, especially when sales happen through third-party retailers. Rising customer acquisition costs also mean that brands are shifting their focus to long-term loyalty, offering perks like free shipping and product bundling to build lasting relationships and improve profitability.

Strengthen customer loyalty through authentic connections

Servantez: When you think about building customer value and loyalty, there are a couple of ways to look at it. One is just the transactional nature of it — "Hey, I want them to come back and purchase again." But then you have brand loyalty, and it's this idea of authenticity and building a relationship. It would be great to hear how you balance that practicality.

Jonathon Tremblay: “One of the things that we did was create a sister website that’s all informational. We don't sell anything on it, and it's called Meatgistics. It's designed to help our customers get the most out of their purchases from Walton's. Immediately, we show them that we don't just care about the purchase they make, we want them to have a positive experience with that equipment and those seasonings. We created that, but then you have the problem of how to get people to start engaging with that content. So, we added a community section to that, and my boss and I spent three years monitoring it every single day. It's grown from nothing to 1,000 registered users, and they use it as a form of social media. We want to encourage that because it keeps them tied to the Walton's brand.

“We give them certain personalized rewards at different post counts. When they hit 500, they get a hat with their username on it. We also give them knives with their names on them and all sorts of little things to try to keep them engaged. At this point, some of that doesn't quite matter as much, because we have them coming back constantly to answer each other's questions. They get to show off the knowledge we've given them to other people, which is just another way to tie them to us.”

Hoefer: “I think we've been lucky in many ways. We have a 200-year-old brand that your mother or grandmother probably used or taught you to bake with. So, these tailwinds help us with real deep customer connections. It's a genre that is inclined to be made and shared with one another, but we invest in people and our content. Ecommerce is an important part of our business overall, but we see ourselves as much as a content provider as we do an ecommerce shop. We have 2,000 recipes available online and 1,800 blog posts. We invest deeply in people and have an eight-person team that you can call up right now from the audience, where you could ask them for tips on how to keep your frosting from melting in Austin heat if you wanted to. And we have eight people on that help desk staffing those calls for live support to assist with baking questions.

“We also have a team of five people dedicated to our digital engagement process who are responsible for responding to comments on Facebook, Threads, and all the different social media platforms. So we're out there engaging, and we feel it's worth investing in the people who do that work and create real human connections.”

Key takeaway.

To build customer loyalty, brands should create authentic connections beyond transactions. Offering resources and fostering community engagement, as Walton’s does with their Meatgistics site, can strengthen customer relationships and encourage repeat interactions.

Investing in educational content and personalized support, like King Arthur Baking’s robust recipe library and dedicated helpline, reinforces trust and brand loyalty. Embracing a customer-centric approach that values education, support, and human connection helps brands build lasting loyalty by making customers feel genuinely valued.

Use technology to deliver seamless experiences

Servantez: How have tooling and technology helped you deliver those exceptional customer experiences?

Flanagan: “I think there are three non-negotiables in my mind. One is that you should have all your data in one centralized place, so you're not debating internally who has this information. I'd say the second piece is making sure tech partners are all joined on the same customer journey. The worst thing is if I have a support ticket with a brand because maybe there is a shipping issue, and then you're asking me for a review or to upsell. So, your tech stack needs to be unified in that way. And then I'd say the third piece is the speed of innovation and being able to implement and go to market fast.

“Something we talk about with our customers all the time is, if you have an idea while you're having your morning coffee or taking a shower, you should be able to generate revenue from that same use case that day. So I think having that all tied in together is just critical.”

Anton: “Klaviyo is amazing and integrates with many things. The biggest thing for us is that we've been implementing Klaviyo in search to see what somebody's searching for. Then, we can tailor an email to them based on what they're looking for. That's really important to what we've been able to do because now we can go and say, "Okay, here's our top search, and here's what they look for. Let's email them, and maybe we can get them to our products."

“Once they've got the product, we follow through with the segment and say, "Here's how you use the product, here's how you set it up, and here's some tutorials on how to get things going." We're not abandoning them right away. We couldn't do any of that without having the right tech stack.”

Key takeaway.

Delivering exceptional customer experiences requires a streamlined, integrated tech stack that supports a cohesive customer journey. Centralizing data is essential so teams can work from the same information, ensuring every customer touchpoint aligns with their needs. Technology should also be flexible, allowing brands to implement ideas quickly to maximize opportunities.

Brands like Heat Transfer Warehouse use tools like Klaviyo to tailor messaging based on customer behavior, guiding them from discovery to product setup with personalized support. By connecting these tools, brands can offer seamless, relevant experiences that keep customers engaged and supported long after the initial purchase.

Create lasting connections through tailored retention strategies

Servantez: What do you think about retention strategies or customer strategies? How different or similar are they when you're thinking about B2B versus B2C? What do you think about the retention and loyalty strategies between B2B and B2C?

Hoefer: “We certainly have a big B2B component. We're not digital with that component right now in terms of sales, but we do have content on the website dedicated to people who bake with 50-pound bags of flour versus three cups of flour. So we provide recipes for if you're running a bakery or a pizzeria. Again, I think we're lucky that there's a boom in interest in bagels and pizza and that people are doing that at home. There's this rejuvenation and interest in the space, so authentic connections are essential. We have expertise that can come out in the field and help people get set up.

“We're just getting into supporting more of those industry events for Bagel Fest in New York City coming up this fall and other things like that. Our mission is to spread the joy of baking, not necessarily sell Vietnamese cinnamon. So by helping bakeries, we want to spread the joy of baking.”

Tremblay: “We realized seven or eight years ago that education is the best form of marketing. As soon as you can get somebody looking at you like an expert, it's not to put too fine a point on it, but it's done. They're going to buy what you tell them to buy to a certain degree. So, we tailor our education material a little bit differently to our B2B customers. They have different concerns. Our retail guy just needs to know how to make jerky snack sticks that his friends will like. Our commercial customers have to make something that will pass inspection and be shelf-stable for months. But again, it's kind of the same thing, just a little bit different. Different customer types have different values as well. A commercial customer is going to get treated a little bit differently than a retail customer, but occasionally you have to know when to go that extra step for the retail customer. We talk about it as creating a splash or a ripple.

“We have a Meatgistics guy named No Eyes Processor, so you can probably guess he's blind, and he does all of his own sausage and makes all of his own jerky. We reached out to him when we initially found out that he was in our Meatgistics community. We were like, "Whatever you need. You can call me at any time of the day and night." There was one night in the middle of the winter in Kansas — which is a lot colder than what you guys get here — I was out on my deck because I have the same exact smoker he has, just pressing buttons, trying to walk him through how to get his settings back to normal. You do something like that and then that person talks about it. Somebody earlier said, "Loyalty can't be created in an instant." It can be sometimes. If you can find something like that, that you can do and then have that person go out and proselytize, for lack of a better term, it is a huge win.”

Key takeaway.

Retention strategies for B2B and B2C customers need a thoughtful balance of core principles and customer-specific needs. While B2C loyalty might focus on convenience and personalized support, B2B often benefits from resources and expertise geared toward professional challenges.

Education is key in both areas, helping brands build trust and become go-to resources. Loyalty can happen quickly when companies go above and beyond, creating memorable experiences that keep customers engaged and encourage them to spread the word.

Build loyalty through genuine engagement and continuous improvement

Servantez: If you had one thing you could leave the audience with today about how brands or retailers can continue to elevate the customer experience and build long-term loyalty, what would that one piece of advice be?

Anton: “So, I always say, just show that you're human. Show that you're there and you're real and be authentic with it. I think that's really what we've been doing. And just always never over-promise. Promise what you can and make sure you're following up on that. Customers can tell instantly if you're not following through with those things. So never promise more than what you can chew.

“Being part of social media, I'm not the best at it, but they throw me in every once in a while and make fun of me. And then part of it's because people are like, "Yeah, I see you." And they know that there's somebody here that's actually working with the team and everything else. So, we show the real side of our business all the time and try to show the internal workings to prove that we're not just some big company that’s just trying to take your money through ecommerce.”

Flanagan: “I'll give two. The first is consistent A/B testing across every part of the customer journey. After frequently working with customers, one of the blockers has been, "I don't have the right content or the copy, or I'm not sure how to A/B test the staggering of messages." AI can solve 95% of that for all of you. So I think, being in a consistent cycle of testing and understanding what messaging resonates with your customers, and then using that across the customer journey is essential. 

“The second one is segmentation. One of the exercises we like to do when we first start working with a brand is send their existing email and SMS strategy to mutually exclusive segments. We typically find that 20% of your recipients are generating 80% of your revenue. And so it's a great opportunity to understand, "Okay, for this unengaged cohort, how should I look to win them back either through remarketing or sunset flows or things along those lines?" So I think a healthy appetite for testing is what works best.”

Hoefer: “I would probably say authenticity. You mentioned AI and we've been playing around a little bit with an AI chatbot. One of the prompts behind the scenes is, "You are a friend in the kitchen." That's how we present ourselves, as being a friend to people in their kitchens. We help them figure out how to do what they want with our products and make delicious things they want to share with their friends, neighbors, and families. I think what I've enjoyed about being at King Arthur is that authenticity — the belief that we are bakers ourselves, and we're a friend in the kitchen. The idea of being authentic and having a product and a brand that you believe in, along with education, is huge. We also have a baking school where you can come and take classes. It's a multifaceted approach to being out there and connecting with your customers.”

Tremblay: “Find a way to balance emotional value of the customer versus actual value to the customer. They're not dumb. They know why we're giving them this education, so we have to be okay with actually asking for that purchase. On the other hand, when they buy something from somebody else, don't be afraid to tell them, "No, we can't support that. That's not our product." Customers want their companies to embody something nowadays. It didn't seem to be like that when I was growing up, but now they want you to have your own voice. In my opinion, authenticity is the most important thing. You need to find who you are as a company, portray that to your customer, and then stand behind it.”

Key takeaway.

Elevating the customer experience and building long-term loyalty centers on authenticity, consistent engagement, and knowing your audience. Showing a genuine, human side through transparent messaging, social media, and real interactions fosters trust and reinforces that you’re more than just a business.

To stay relevant, brands should consistently A/B test messaging across the customer journey, using insights to tailor experiences that resonate. Segmentation is also key, allowing brands to better understand and prioritize their most engaged customers while re-engaging those who may have fallen off. Ultimately, customers value authenticity and alignment with a brand’s true identity, making it essential for companies to communicate their values clearly and support products they believe in.

The final word

Creating customer loyalty goes beyond transactions — it’s about fostering real connections and adapting to customer needs. Brands that prioritize authentic engagement, use technology to enhance the customer journey, and continually improve the experience they provide are positioned to build relationships that last.

Watch the full panel discussion for expert insights on boosting the customer experience and establishing brand loyalty.