As the world of e-commerce continues to grow and evolve, more businesses are turning to platforms like Shopify Plus to provide them with a platform to scale their business. Yet, despite the many benefits of Shopify Plus, some merchants struggle to increase their customer lifetime value.

With LTV being a key metric to measure the total value a customer will bring to your business over the course of your relationship, it's important to track because it helps determine the overall ROI of your marketing efforts and other consumer facing initiatives.

So why do some Shopify merchants struggle to increase LTV? Let's explore a few of the top reasons why, and how LTV.ai can help your business turn things around.

1. CARPET-BOMBING YOUR EMAIL LIST

Even customers who were once engaged purchasers from your brand start to lose interest and become dismissive over time as your email campaigns become too templated and predictable. At this stage, it doesn't matter how often you email them, you are just “friend zoned,” in their promotions tab. Over time, most marketers simply stop emailing disengaged parts of their list.

How many valuable customers are currently sitting dormant in your list because you're simply suppressing them due to lack of engagement? 20%? 30%?

With LTV.ai, retailers have seen open rates of up to 70% on lists that only contained customers who haven't made a purchase or opened an email in over 6 months, with an average open rate of 62%. Imagine combining a 70% open rate with one of your highest converting offers or best sellers…

2. CUSTOMERS ARE NOT SEEING YOUR BEST SALES EVENTS UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE

It's no secret that marketers are sending more and more emails, overwhelming your customers’ inboxes. This means that the majority of your customers won’t even see your highest converting events until they're over…

At LTV.ai, we use a combination of generative AI and a well-tested balance of non-AI personalization that speaks to your customers like a small business owner would. For example, mentioning your customers’ name in your email body/subject alone will increase CTR% by nearly 50%, but we take it to the next level with personalized coupon codes and communication that encourages positive interactions and engagement, which includes getting their honest feedback.

Even without LTV.ai, avoiding spammy subject lines and content, segmenting your list to send the right message to the right customers at the right delivery times will get you halfway there!

3. OPERATING WITHOUT A POST-PURCHASE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGY

Most companies overstate their LTV to CAC for one reason or another, which legendary VC Bill Gurley has written a great post about. As customer acquisition costs will continue to increase over time, the only way to stay in the game is to also increase LTV. 

LTV.ai transforms roughly 10% of your customers into subscribers, resulting in a 12% overall increase in LTV. 

To conclude, in today's ever-changing marketing landscape, it's essential to have a post-purchase optimization strategy that focuses on increasing LTV, as it is the key to staying competitive.

Generic email “broadcasts” and bombarding customers' inboxes with sales promotions can cause disengagement and lead to missed opportunities. However, with the help of AI-powered solutions like LTV.ai, retailers can optimize their email lists and create personalized content that speaks to individual customers' interests.

By doing so, retailers can increase engagement, drive conversions, and ultimately, improve their customer lifetime value.