Ecommerce Customer Retention: How To Keep Post-Holiday Shoppers Engaged

You’re back at your desk, sales are on, and your Valentine’s Day campaign preparations are on schedule. But here’s the thing: Q1 doesn’t have to feel like a placeholder until customers feel like spending again. It’s an opportunity to focus on eCommerce customer retention to keep your holiday buyers, whether first-time shoppers or loyal fans, coming back for more.

This can strengthen your customer connections and set the tone for the year ahead.

In this blog, you’ll discover how to build on the holiday revenue momentum to engage and drive long-term eCommerce customer retention with ideas and inspiration from our client Turtle Bay’s “Golden Moments” campaign. Before we begin, we’ve provided some “good-to-know” dates to mark in your calendars for Q1 in our 2025 eCommerce calendar to tie into your post-holiday campaigns. Get your copy below!

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WHY FOCUS ON POST-HOLIDAY CUSTOMER RETENTION?

Think Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)—retaining even a small portion of holiday shoppers can significantly boost your revenue and set the foundation for a successful year ahead.

While January might feel like a slower month, it’s also an opportunity to nurture the relationships you built during the holidays. Instead of relying solely on discounts, focus on creating meaningful connections through personalized campaigns. Engaging your customers with relevant, value-driven content not only keeps your brand at the top of their minds but also builds long-term loyalty—turning seasonal shoppers into year-round supporters.

ANALYZE THESE CUSTOMER RETENTION METRICS

eCommerce shopper retention is only as good as your ability to measure it. Track these key metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your post-holiday campaigns:

• Repeat Purchase Rate: How many holiday shoppers return to buy again in Q1?

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Are your efforts increasing the long-term value of your customers?

• Churn Rate: How many holiday shoppers disengage after their first purchase?

HOW TO BUILD YOUR ECOMMERCE CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY?

1. SEGMENT YOUR AUDIENCES

Not all holiday shoppers are the same – it’s important to look closer at your overall data. Who are they? First-time buyers testing the waters, high-spenders treating themselves, or holiday gift buyers who might need a little nudge to shop for themselves next?

Tools like Mapp Marketing Cloud can help you identify your customers and define groups based on multiple criteria, such as purchase history, engagement level, and demographics, etc. You can go even further with AI and analytics to uncover AI-predicted segments, enabling marketers to be proactive rather than reactive: Predicted Conversion Probability, Predicted Churn Probability, Predicted Next Basket, and Predicted Customer Lifetime Value.

CUSTOMER EXAMPLE

Scenario: Turtle Bay wanted to get a clearer picture of their customers after the holidays and figure out how to boost app downloads as part of their Golden Moments campaign.

Solution: Using Mapp Marketing Cloud, they split their customers into two groups: app users and non-app users. They found users were visiting more often and engaging with the brand more than non-app users. This insight helped them zero in on non-app users as the audience to target in their campaign.

Outcome: By understanding how their customers behaved, Turtle Bay was able to tailor their strategy to focus on non-app users, creating smarter campaigns that boosted downloads and built stronger relationships.

2. CREATE PERSONALIZED COMMUNICATIONS

Re-engage previous customers by delivering campaigns that feel personal and relevant to them. Personalization goes beyond adding a customer’s name to an email—it’s about understanding their preferences and offering content or products that truly resonate.

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) unify your data sources to build 360° customer profiles enriched with first-party data. This gives you a complete view of both new and returning customers, helping you trigger communications that feel timely and meaningful. Whether it’s reminding them of what they love, connecting your products to their lives, or introducing them to something new, personalization is key to staying relevant.

3. CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHANNELS

After the holiday rush, it’s all about reaching customers where they’re most likely to engage. Email remains one of the best ways to re-engage shoppers with personalized recommendations, exclusive offers, or loyalty rewards reminders. Social media keeps your brand visible with relatable content like styling tips or new arrivals, while push notifications can nudge app users with updates on deals or expiring rewards. Retargeting ads work well to remind customers of items they viewed or left in their cart.

Focusing on relevance and timing when conducting cross-channel marketing will keep your brand at the top of their mind without overwhelming your customers.

CUSTOMER EXAMPLE

Scenario: As part of their January campaign, Turtle Bay focused on multiple channels to promote their “Golden Moments” campaign. They used their website news section, website pop-up, social media (Instagram), and email marketing. But to orchestrate their email marketing flawlessly, they needed to schedule a workflow in advance.

Solution: Using Mapp Marketing Cloud, Turtle Bay were able to segment audiences, build multiple personalized emails, and schedule these in an automated workflow during the peak period for the launch of their January campaign. This helped to offload their workload and stay on top of their upcoming campaigns.

4. ENCOURAGE LOYALTY

Growing loyalty requires nurturing over time with prized experiences that make customers feel seen and valued. Set the intention with customers at the start of the year by combining insights with a robust loyalty program to create offers that feel rewarding.

These can be offering points, discounts, or VIP perks to drive repeat purchases. Emotional loyalty is built by making customers feel special. Show appreciation with personalized gestures like birthday offers, thank-you emails, or early access to new collections.

Reward customers for their Q4 purchases by offering exclusive discounts or early access to your spring collection. You can go even further by thanking them for their loyalty with personalized gestures like birthday rewards or anniversary offers. These key interactions are pivotal in growing customer retention.

CUSTOMER EXAMPLE

Scenario: Turtle Bay wanted to keep the momentum going after the holidays by growing its loyalty program and encouraging app downloads. With pop-ups set automated on their website for their “Golden Moments” campaign, they wanted to expand their campaign via email marketing.

Solution: After segmenting customers into its key target groups, Turtle Bay deployed multiple email loyalty campaigns. By offering a £20 Golden Moment gift to non-app users who would download the app, they gave customers a reason to also stay engaged long after their holiday purchase.

Customers also see the long-term benefit, with Turtle Bay highlighting that by earning turtles and gifts, they would be rewarded with up to a £20 gift every third visit. This makes their program appear valuable and worth returning to, to both existing and new app users.

5. A/B TEST TO LEARN WHAT CAPTURES ENGAGEMENT

You’ve crafted a state-of-the-art personalized email, but getting customers to open it can be the biggest hurdle—especially in crowded inboxes. A/B testing subject lines helps you figure out what actually works to grab attention and encourage curious customers to take that first step.

The key is to test different variations. Start by testing the basics: does urgency (“Limited time only”) work better than something more personal (“Your gift is waiting”)? Start by testing subject lines on a portion of your audience, then use the results to determine the best version for the rest of your list. This approach ensures that data, not guesswork, drives your decisions, for better email performance.

CUSTOMER EXAMPLE

Scenario: To drive app downloads with their £20 Golden Moment gift campaign, Turtle Bay needed to stand out in overcrowded inboxes. The subject line had to be spot on to grab attention and encourage opens.

Solution: To find what resonated most with their audience, Turtle Bay ran A/B tests with two subject line variations. One leaned on urgency and the other focused on curiosity and reward.

Once the data rolled in, the top-performing subject line was rolled out to the rest of their mailing list, driving stronger engagement and app downloads.

GETTING PREPARED FOR THE REST OF THE QUARTER

You’ve got this—your post-holiday campaigns are setting the tone, and the momentum is building. But the work doesn’t stop here! Q1 is full of opportunities to stay connected with your customers and drive retention. It’s all about staying relevant, planning ahead, and making the most of what’s next.

HERE ARE SOME KEY DATES TO KEEP IN MIND AS YOU MAP OUT YOUR STRATEGY:

• January 1 > 31: Dry January & Veganuary

• January 29: Chinese New Year

• February 13 & 14: Galentine’s & Valentine’s Day

• March 14: Holi

• March 17: St. Patrick’s Day

• March 20: First Day of Spring

• March 30: Mother’s Day

Each of these moments is a chance to create campaigns that resonate—whether it’s helping customers focus on self-care, celebrating traditions, or getting ready for spring.

For a full list of dates and campaign inspiration from real brands, you can download our eCommerce calendar for 2025 here!

This article was first published by MAPP. Permission to use has been granted by the publisher.