Turning First-Time Shoppers into Loyal Customers with AMC

Acquiring a new customer is a win, but building long-term loyalty is the key to sustained success. For your brand to thrive, you need to transform those first-time buyers into repeat customers—and ultimately, loyal advocates. 

This shift doesn’t happen overnight, but with Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), you’ll gain the insights you need to create data-driven audience strategies that drive loyalty and long-term growth.  

Understanding Your Customers’ Journey 

The path to loyalty starts with understanding the nuances of your brand and product categories. Every shopper moves through four key customer phases:

• New-to-Brand (NTB) Shoppers: First-time buyers who are just getting to know your brand. 

• Product Lovers: Shoppers who consistently repurchase a specific product. 

• Brand Explorers: Customers who expand their purchases across your catalog. 

• Brand Loyalists: The MVPs who repeatedly buy from your catalog and invest in your brand over the long term. 

For a skincare brand, your first goal might be converting NTB shoppers into product lovers by encouraging repeat purchases. On the other hand, if you sell products with longer repurchase windows—like a kitchen blender—the focus shifts to encouraging NTB shoppers to explore other relevant products from your catalog. 

With AMC’s audience-building capabilities and strategic exclusions, you can refine your ad strategies to focus on the shoppers most likely to advance through these stages and become loyal customers.  

Unprecedented Insights with AMC 

AMC’s lookback window of purchase data has expanded from 12.5 months to 5 years, giving you a comprehensive view of customer behavior. This extended data window is a game-changer, giving you deeper insights than ever before: 

• For products with longer purchase cycles (like kitchen appliances), you can track repurchases and cross-sell opportunities over time, uncovering long-term value. 

• For products with shorter purchase cycles (like skincare), you can connect the dots between repeat purchases and loyalty-driven growth, helping you strategize for retention. 

How to Build Loyalty with AMC 

Let’s dive into key strategies that turn AMC insights into action: 

NTB Shoppers → Product Lovers 

Imagine your skincare brand sells facial cleanser, and you notice a cohort of new-to-brand shoppers hasn’t repurchased within the typical 2-month replenishment window. With AMC, you can create granular past-purchaser audiences to strategically re-engage these shoppers, encouraging them to repurchase and become product lovers. 

Product Lovers → Brand Explorers 

The next step is turning product lovers into brand explorers. AMC allows you to pinpoint customers who’ve repeatedly purchased cleanser but have also visited your toner or moisturizer product pages—or even added those items to their cart without checking out. 

This strategy isn’t limited to consumables. For example, a shopper who purchased your kitchen blender may now be browsing your food processor. By focusing your efforts on shoppers with high intent, you can drive meaningful results. 

In fact, when we used this AMC audience strategy on “cart abandoners” for an apparel brand, purchases increased by 64%. 

Brand Explorers → Brand Loyalists 

Finally, turn your repeat buyers into brand loyalists. If a shopper has purchased your cleanser and moisturizer multiple times, they’re already hooked. The next step? Make replenishment effortless with messaging guiding shoppers to Subscribe & Save (SnS). 

Once subscribed, these shoppers become predictable, high-value customers. Even better, you can now shift your ad spend toward acquiring more NTB shoppers and nurturing them through the same journey.

For brands where SnS isn’t a fit—like kitchen appliances—you can still refine loyalty strategies by targeting high-value shoppers who’ve spent above a specific threshold. This ensures your ad spend is focused on driving long-term profitability.  

Loyalty Starts with Smarter Targeting 

At the end of the day, your success depends on building a base of loyal customers who invest in your brand for years to come. With AMC, you gain the tools to: 

• Understand your shoppers’ behavior more deeply than ever before. 

• Create smarter targeting strategies that drive repeat purchases and loyalty. 

• Maximize long-term value while making every advertising dollar count.