Customer retention is a strategic process to retain existing customers. It is difficult to exactly define customer retention as it is a variable process. A basic definition could be ‘customer retention is the process when customers continue to buy products and services within a determined time period’. However this definition is not applicable for most of the high end and low purchase frequency products as each and every product is not purchased by the customer.

For example, in the stock brokerage industry, a customer may not buy a particular scrip in the given period of time but is tended to buy the same when the conditions to buy the scrip becomes favorable and when the customer evaluates that now this scrip could be profitable to buy. In this case, the definition of customer retention could be ‘customer retention is the process when customer is intended to buy the product and services at next favorable buy occasion’. Such products are known as long purchase cycle products.

Customer retention is a strategic process to keep or retain the existing customers and not letting them to diverge or defect to other suppliers or organization for business and this is only possible when there is a quality relationship between customer and supplier. Usually a customer is tends to stick to a particular brand or product as far as his basic needs are continued to be properly fulfilled. He does not opt for taking a risk in going for a new product. More is the possibility to retain customers the more is the probability of net growth of business.

Loyalty also means that customer sticks to the supplier on certain grounds though he may be having other options also. It may be possible that the supplier may not have the best product or the customer may have some problems with the supplier, in respect of his supply of the product but the customer likes to ignore other options and prefers to continue with the same supplier as the customer thinks the supplier provides him more value and benefit than others. Such loyal customers tend to spend more money, buy more, buy longer and tell more people about the product or supplier. This type of long-term customer loyalty can only be created by making the customers feel that they are the number one priority with the supplier.