Attract loyal long-term customers with a subscription model

With 150,000 members, the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) is one of the biggest points of contact for mountain sports enthusiasts. In addition to the challenge of attracting new members, they also set themselves the goal of retaining these new visitors to the respective information websites in the long term. For this purpose, the shop system was connected to the existing informational content in order to enable the smoothest possible transition between information and product.

With the integration of a subscription module, it was then possible to ensure that customers could book tours more easily through the SAC subscription and receive additional route functions and map materials. As a result, the subscription became a key element in being able to retain new customers in the long term.

Why new customers aren't everything:

Think beyond buying

Customer acquisition focuses on new customers, but not on retaining them in the long term. Customer loyalty includes this point. Customers are therefore still relevant for marketing even after the purchase.

Focus on Existing Customers

Customers who have already won require fewer marketing resources to continue a subscription. The convincing work has already been done, which is why the focus is now on long-term customer satisfaction.

Hedging the growth rate

Satisfied customers stay longer, recommend the offer and form the basis for growth. Focusing on satisfaction and loyalty therefore secures a company downwards, as new customers are also retained over the long term.

The customer journey from content to subscription

In order to ensure the smoothest possible customer journey until an order or booking is completed, all services offered by the Swiss Alpine Club are accessible from a single page and are easy to maintain using a content management system (CMS). In addition, data from the shop system is combined with content from the CMS. This ensures a smooth transition from the source of information to the shop.

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The offer was expanded with a comprehensive subscription with the item loyalty in order to be able to retain customers in the long term. For this purpose, a subscription module was developed, which simplifies the booking process for tours and provides access to additional route functions. New customers thus receive a comprehensive range of services through a subscription, which can automatically renew themselves. This also reduces administrative costs.

The subscription itself is easy to find as a product in the shop and can be ordered via the shopping cart.

From visit to membership

The Swiss Alpine Club is primarily financed by 150,000 members interested in mountain sports. The focus was therefore on the customer journey of new and returning visitors in order to get them to take out a subscription as smoothly as possible. It is particularly important to present the scope of the subscription model as transparently as possible. Sufficient information is needed, as the word “subscription” alone has a rather deterrent effect. Information sites have therefore ensured the necessary trust.

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By merging a content management system and online shop, time and costs can also be saved when maintaining content. However, an optimized way to subscribe and simplify content management is only half the battle. The subscription model performs the main task of retaining customers over the long term and increasing loyalty. Because the goal is full membership in the Swiss Alpine Club.