No matter what industry you’re in or what products or services you sell, your customer is the most important piece of your business. Think about it: Even if you’ve devised the greatest product in the history of the world, it’s pointless if you don’t have any customers. Your business literally lives or dies based on your ability to capture and retain customers.

Here's some good news. We can help.

Many of our merchants come to us initially because of our no credit option*, an attractive alternative to financing that allows customers with a poor credit rating to shop for goods they would otherwise have no chance to take home. We love providing a lifeline for these customers. It’s a huge part of why we love this business.

However, while the no credit option* is indeed a huge part of our business, it’s definitely not the only thing we do for our merchant partners. We know that as a business owner, getting people to come through your doors — and then return again down the road — means everything. In this blog post, we'll explain how partnering with Acima can help you attract these new customers—and keep them.

The Riddle of the New Customer

Sometimes it helps to step back and look at the big picture. In this way, you can notice important aspects of your business that you might not notice amid the minutiae of the day to day. So, let’s start with the basics and build from there.

As a business owner, you should always be looking for ways to acquire new customers. “OK,” you’re thinking, “Obviously.” But let’s dive deeper. Why do you need new customers? Well, it’s because acquiring new customers means driving up sales, which in turn increases profit margins. That’s the first point.

Point two: Customer acquisition helps maintain your business. As a business owner, you will lose customers — it’s just part of the deal. Acquiring new customers creates a balance between those who leave and those who enter. Think of it like a revolving door. For every person who walks out of the revolving door, you need to have someone else entering on the other side of the glass. Ideally, you’ll want three or four (or 10 or 100 or more) customers coming in for every one that goes out.

And here’s point three: New customers don’t just increase profit margins through profits and sales. In fact, there are a number of ways that fresh visitors can help you grow your business. These include word-of-mouth endorsements, positive online reviews, referrals from kindred businesses and more. These customers often serve as free, revenue-producing marketing bullhorns. Put simply, extending your business to new customers can trigger exponential growth.

In summary: New customers 1) increase profit margins through sales, 2) help maintain balance when customers leave the business and 3) spark exponential growth through customer engagement with the community on your behalf.

No one understands the importance of acquiring new customers better than Acima. In fact, we’ve designed our lease-to-own* solutions to help in all three of the areas listed above. Here’s how:

Foot Traffic

Sure, we live in a digital age, but many customers still love to shop in stores. That’s good news, because foot traffic can be a huge revenue booster for retailers. In addition, the more time a customer spends in a store, the more likely they are to leave with a product. That’s why Acima creates and executes targeted co-op marketing campaigns engineered to drive credit-averse customers into your store.

We also make it easy for customers to shop with Acima through the find a store page on our website, which allows customers to browse stores and retailers who partner with Acima — yet another way to drive foot traffic into your business. Lastly, there is the incentive of a completed lease-purchase application. Once a customer has completed their application, they will then have the security of knowing their approved lease amount and be able to shop worry-free at your store. 

Turn Browsers into Shoppers

Many retailers will turn away cash-strapped, credit-averse customers, leaving these customers disheartened at their inability to shop for what they want. Our lease-to-own solutions empower these customers, enabling them to shop for appliances, furniture, electronics and more — all without credit. Our real-time analytics engine quickly identifies and approves credit-worthy consumers, who are then able to submit their applications online, using their mobile phone or any other handheld device. Whereas these customers would otherwise be turned away due to financial constraints, Acima’s fast, convenient process allows them to immediately shop and take their items home that same day.

As a business, this no credit, point-of-sale shopping option leads to more approvals. That means more customers and better customer satisfaction. In summary, the Acima no credit option leads to increased profit margins through sales, new blood to help balance the loss of customers and potential exponential growth through community customer engagement.

Once You’ve Got ’Em, Keep ’Em

In addition to acquiring customers, it’s equally important to retain customers. As a business owner, you’ve probably heard the saying, “It’s cheaper to get current customers to make a repeat purchase than it is to find new customers.” Well, it’s true. In fact, it may cost up to five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.1 Furthermore, the probability of successfully selling to an existing customer is 60% – 70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is much lower: 5% – 20%.2

Customer retention is definitely important to increasing your customers' lifetime value and boosting your revenue, but we know how busy things can get for you as a business owner. That’s why we’ve got remarketing opportunities in place — proven strategies to retain your customers and drive them back to you when they want to shop.

Our system is designed to continue engaging with customers who have already shown some interest in your business or brand. Once customers have paid off a lease, we’ll remarket to them on your behalf to significantly enhance the chances that they’ll come back into your store to shop again. Unloading the stress of remarketing onto Acima allows your business to avoid the expense of reward and retention programs (which can mean additional personnel and wage costs) while relying on our expert staff and time-proven remarketing strategies.

We hope we’ve convinced you that Acima can bring new customers to your doorstep (or your digital doorstep). We’re proud of our compassionate approach to helping customers shop at your business with our no credit option*. We employ a number of strategies on your behalf to 1) help bring in new customers, 2) increase profit margins through sales, 2) help maintain balance when customers leave the business and 3) spark exponential growth through customer engagement with the community on your behalf.

To learn more about how to partner with Acima and start attracting new customers today, visit our partner page. Seriously, we love hearing from new business owners! And we make the new merchant application process as quick and painless as possible, we promise.

Want to learn more about using Acima to help bring in additional customers? Check out our blog post, 60 Million Potential New Customers Are Waiting Outside Your Doors. And if you want to understand more about the benefits of partnering with Acima, click here.