The 3 Customer Segments Every eCommerce Business Needs

Early on in your e-commerce small business’ growth, you probably focused on the quality of your product, credibility of your brand, and getting feedback 1:1 from customers. At some point, as your business grows and the number of customers you serve grows, you’ll turn to email marketing as a way to build customer relationships at scale.

It’s no surprise, email marketing is highly effective. In a recent 2022 post, Hubspot shares that: “Email generates $42 for every $1 spent, which is an astounding 4,200% ROI.” In addition, Campaign Monitor reports that marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. And According to Klaviyo’s new tagline “Retention is the new Acquisition,” there’s also a lot to be said for retaining customers and encouraging repeat business.

So how do you make the most of email marketing, acquiring customers, retaining customers, keeping them engaged, and maximizing your email marketing spend? The key is to start by recognizing that your customers are not all the same, but instead have different needs and interests. We call this customer lifecycle marketing; personalizing how you talk to your customers based on the stage of their journey with your business.

Here’s a closer look at how to get started with the three customer segments every eCommerce business needs.

What is Customer Segmentation?

Customer segmentation refers to the practice of dividing customers into different categories (customer segments) based on shared traits.

Business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations can segment customers based on demographics, geographic data, lifestyle (shopping habits), and online behavior (behavioral characteristics). The practice matters for business-to-business (B2B) companies, too, who can segment customers based on some of the following commonalities: industry, the number of employees, headquarter location and areas served, and previously purchased products.

Segmenting customers based on shared traits helps businesses target customer experiences tailored to their unique needs, interests, shopping habits, and other characteristics. Your brand can deliver these targeted experiences through: