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Have you ever wondered how to build a loyal customer base in your quilt store?
You already know that genuine connections — more than sales volume — form the true foundation of customer loyalty. Your customers value the relationship and experience just as much as the fabric they buy.
Building a loyal customer base means turning your shop into a trusted presence at the center of your community. Loyal quilters become your best advocates. They refer friends, offer valuable feedback, and act as brand champions on social media. It’s the kind of loyalty you can’t buy. It has to be earned one interaction at a time.
That’s why you need a strategy that puts people first. From remembering a specific project to hosting engaging local events, every interaction matters.
Here’s how your quilt store can build meaningful relationships with quilters — and create a thriving, loyal community.
7 Practical Tips To Build a Loyal Customer Base
Many of the tips that follow rely on having the right systems in place behind the scenes. A modern point of sale (POS) system with integrated customer relationship management (CRM) functions like a digital notepad for a busy quilt shop owner, helping you keep track of customer preferences, past projects, and upcoming events.
When used thoughtfully, your POS supports the relationships you’re building every day — without getting in the way.
1. Get To Know Your Visitors — and Their Projects
Understanding your customers is key to your quilt store’s success. Take the time to engage with them, learn their names and preferences, and find out what’s currently on their project table. For quilters, projects are deeply personal, and showing you remember their work is the ultimate customer service.
Putting It Into Practice
A regular comes in looking defeated. Her color choices for her grandmother’s log cabin quilt aren’t quite right. Instead of just selling her a new fat-quarter bundle, you quickly check your CRM and see that she favors Thimble Blossoms designer fabric from Moda Fabrics.
You walk her straight to the new arrivals and pull out a print in the perfect shade of dusty rose. That small, personal detail — remembering her preferred designer and her current quilt — saves her time, fixes her project, and ensures she’ll be back.
Related Read: Retail Vendor Management: 7 Helpful Tips for Quilt Shops
2. Host Community-Focused Events and Workshops
Hosting events and workshops is the most effective way to turn your retail space into a hub for quilters. Focus on collaborations, shared projects, and giving customers a reason to gather and learn from each other.
Putting It Into Practice
Partner with your local quilt guild every quarter for a “Comfort Quilt Sew-In.” Open the classroom for free, provide a few scrap bins, and offer a 20% discount on batting and thread for participants. Don’t make it just about selling supplies — dedicate the day for quilters to meet, work together on a meaningful project, and share techniques.
Your customers keep coming back because this is where they feel most connected to their neighbors, turning your shop into a true center for the local quilting community.
3. Share Tried-and-True Tips and Inspiration With Customers
Position yourself as a trusted expert. Regularly share quilting tips, project ideas, and inspiration drawn from your own experience as a quilter and shop owner. This content keeps customers engaged and builds trust.
Putting It Into Practice
A nervous beginner comes in with her finished quilt top, referencing the “pillowcase binding” video from your biweekly email newsletter. She’s worried about choosing the right batting. You check her profile in your POS and see that she recently purchased a flannel backing for a baby quilt.
Instead of just selling her the standard batting, you suggest the low-loft cotton featured in the same newsletter project, noting it pairs perfectly with flannel and her chosen technique. By connecting her inspiration with personalized, counter expertise, you earn her complete trust.
4. Start a Loyalty Program That Feels Like Family
Reframe your loyalty program as an exclusive “thank you” to your shop’s family. Provide perks that quilters truly value, like early access to limited-edition products.
Putting It Into Practice
Your “First Yard Club” makes loyalty simple and personal. Instead of a complex points system, offer a small, paid annual membership. The real perk? Members enjoy a private, half-hour viewing with coffee and donuts before anyone else when a new designer’s line arrives.
Whenever the much-anticipated Spring Bloom fabrics land on the shelves, members get first pick of the limited-run colorways. It’s about acknowledging their passion and giving them the best chance to complete their projects.
5. Offer Personal Perks and Creative Discounts
Promotions attract new business and excite existing customers, but they don’t always have to be about a percentage off. For loyal customers who appreciate a personal touch, reward their specific buying habits.
Putting It Into Practice
A long-time customer still calls every single time to place her order. She’s loyal but doesn’t use the website. To reward her style of business, you start a “personal shopper perk.”
Once a month, give a handful of your top regulars — especially those who prefer to call in — a handwritten note thanking them for their steadfast referrals. Include a free half-yard of fabric you know they’ll love, based on their phone-order history. It’s a thoughtful, personalized gesture that celebrates their loyalty.
6. Use Social Media as Digital Show and Tell
Maintaining an active online presence helps you reach a wider audience and stay connected. Focus your social media less on selling products and more on highlighting your customers’ creative achievements and the small-town feel of your shop.
Putting It Into Practice
Your store’s Instagram is your digital “Show and Tell.” Run a weekly “Quilter’s Corner Spotlight,” featuring a picture of a customer’s finished project — a quilt, a garment, or anything they bought fabric for.
Write a short caption about the quilter’s journey with that piece, drawing from a chat you had at the counter. It celebrates their work and serves as the best word-of-mouth marketing, since customers often share the post with their friends and local groups.
Related Read: Selling on Social Media: 5 Pro Tips for Quilt Shops
7. Collect and Act on Feedback Through Conversation
Encouraging customer feedback shows you value their opinions and are committed to improving the shopping experience. In a small shop, the best input is gathered through casual conversations in-store rather than formal surveys.
Putting It Into Practice
The most useful feedback shows up at the cutting table. Just last week, while measuring fabric, a long-time customer mentions offhand that she drives to the next town for a specific brand of fusible interfacing. Instead of sending a generic survey, you write her request on a dedicated inventory list.
You order a small initial batch, and when it arrives, you give her a personal call, saying, “The interfacing you were looking for is here.” That simple action shows you’re truly listening and turns a casual comment into a relationship-building opportunity.
Build a Loyal Customer Base With Like Sew
These strategies help you create an inviting, engaging atmosphere in your quilt store, encouraging customers to become repeat visitors. Building a loyal customer base requires a mix of personalized service, engaging events, valuable content, and effective marketing.
Using a modern POS system such as Like Sew makes it easier to manage customer relationships and grow your business. With features like customer tracking, loyalty program management, and marketing automation, you have the tools you need to create a thriving, loyal customer base.
Schedule a demo to see firsthand how Like Sew can simplify your operations and strengthen customer loyalty.
by Admin
