One of the keys to a successful brand, one that’s so obvious it almost doesn’t even need to be repeated, is to understand your customers. In the modern age, as more and more people shop online, it’s important for brands to understand how online shoppers think, so as to better court them and convert those page visitors into paying customers.
In order to better understand your customers, you must try to think like them. Take a psychological delve into the minds of your customers by being mindful of these attributes that are the most important to them:
A need for speed.
For any website, even if it isn’t related to ecommerce, site speed is essential. This isn’t the 90s anymore – the days of dial-up are a thing of the past. People don’t have the patience to deal with slow loading speeds. After waiting just three seconds, 40 percent of online shoppers abandon a site, 80 percent of them to never return.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Once your consumers have accessed your website, you’re going to want a great design. Since online shopping is essentially virtual window shopping, it shouldn’t be a surprise that visuals are important aspect of sales. As a matter of fact, visuals are a top influential factor affecting purchases for 92.6 percent of people. Court that visual side of the shopper with great product imagery and videos! However, make sure these images represent an accurate depiction of the product in-question, otherwise people will be more likely to return the product once it ships to them.
What others say can matter.
Think of the last time that you were looking up a place online, whether it was a place to grab food on a weekend or a daycare for your children. Chances are that you looked up reviews before making your final decision. The same applies for people shopping online; 85 percent of consumers read online reviews for local businesses before making a purchase.
The art of the deal.
This year, more than half of American internet users will redeem a digital coupon through one of their devices, either for online or offline shipping. Discount codes or coupons are the perfect way to get hesitant shoppers interested in your products or services. If they like your products, they could become loyal customers for life.
Abandonment at checkout.
Getting a visitor to your site to click “add to cart” on a product, while an essential step in the online shopping process, is just part of the battle. According to data from 22 different studies, the average rate of checkout abandonment is 68 percent. What leads to these decisions? The two biggest factors: hidden checkout fees and having to register on the site before buying. One of the most notable hidden checkout fees is shipping. Other influential factors include a lengthy checkout process. No e-commerce checkout should have more than five steps!
Armed with this information, you can create a business plan that appeals to your online shoppers!