E-retailers are working hard to figure out how to drive sales depending on the types of online shoppers they meet every day. Since the internet is accessible from everywhere, no matter where the person is, he shops online on the go. Even a small coffee club gives free access to WiFi to their customers. At home, on the go, in shopping malls, while travelling, or from anywhere, people access internet all day and all night, uninterruptedly. Such is the case, now e-retailers have to cut the mustards, and no second opinion about it.
Not all e-customers are alike. They come with different shopping needs, various shopping strategies, and different shopping interests. To understand the magical realism of this ever evolving world of e-commerce, every business, having confidence in their own savoire faire, works hard to understand their customers very well. There are a few basic types of customers an online business meets every day.
1. A New-to-Internet Newbie
A Namby-pamby consumer who is new to the e-commerce world. They still are learning how to move around the internet. They don't have any expectations, but they may avoid complicated pages and click buttons. Such customers usually begin their first-time online purchase with small, low-budget, and safe products.
Louder, fast moving slides, several step buying processes may confuse them. Instead of gaining confidence to attempt a purchase, they may stop in the middle. There are chances they would quit the website without committing to making a purchase. A neat, clean, simple, and easy-to-understand interface would please a new-to-internet customer as well as an internet-savvy customer.
Perfect descriptions of the products, easy to find 'BUY' buttons, easy-to-use shopping cart, and fuss-free checkout pages may help the new users gain confidence in making another purchase at your online store.
2. A Smart Shopping Geek
A customer just on the other edge of the online shopping scale. They are early-learners. They have been online-shopping for a long time. Moreover, they are masters of e-shopping tricks and trades. I would call them e-shopping trendsetters. They know who is new to the business and who is experienced. From shipping charges to payment gateways, they know every detail the online store uses. In short, smart shoppers are way ahead of the trend.
Unprofessional designs, outdated tools, or fussy navigation may irritate such customers, and they may spread negative feedback among their social group. They come with the most sophisticated shopping strategies; if we fail to fulfill it, they move on to next site within a minute.
Add engaging tools to make use of their shopping experience. Direct them to a customer feedback page, to know their views and suggestions. Giving them a chance to recommend products, register their feedback, and discuss their shopping experience in a forum, is a good idea. They are the guiding force to better improvement of your business; they walk you to the road to the future of e-commerce.
3. A Deal Hunter
One of the current trends of e-commerce is addressing the 'Discount Deals Fever' of the customers. A client that visited an online store during Holiday sales time and purchased once is just a one hit wonder. Unless he visits the same store the second time, he is not a customer. Holiday Sale is a just a bait to catch a pool of customers. Offering a string of deals after the first success is the right way to find loyal customers.
How to convert the one-time-deals-season customer into a loyal customer is a bit challenging. Be relevant all the time; brainstorm how to bring back the one-time customers to your website. Secret is to offer deals again. No need to gild the lily. Just a few more discount deals under a different label. Why not call it a Post Holiday Clearance Sale? Isn't it a-la-mode?
Deal seekers always look forward to receiving newsletters from every website they subscribed to and are a dab hand at discount deals. Deal hunters are not as common as we think. They are consumers who look for the best value for the product they purchase, certainly not the best price all the time.
Why not try selling multiple products in a bundle for best prices? Value package is another idea to attract the deal hunters. Add detailed descriptions about the product features to make them look at the benefits they are going to enjoy. This is a way to turn them away from looking at the price.
4. A Brand Buff
They look for premium quality products that are branded by famous company names. They are just like smart shoppers who set a trend in online shopping. They look for only the best products. You may call them Best Product Pickies.
These shoppers are not price sensitive really. Filter those brand buffs to send them e-mail notifications whenever there is a new brand being introduced. While they shop, display the best products that are recently stocked. As they reach the checkout button, throw them a small offer to encourage them to raise their order value.
Don't forget, brand buffs, like smart shoppers, are going to bring you more references as and when they make other people go green after seeing their best purchases from your store.
5. A Save-it-for-Later shopper
They don't do real shopping on here. They keep adding the products they like to their wishlist. They fantasize about buying a product they like, but they postpone making a buy for various other reasons. They are fun shoppers who would love to see the total price of the products they added to the shopping cart and keep moving them to their wishlist without performing any desired action.
To move them from the fantasy world to the real world, keep displaying daily deals and sales related to the products they added to their wishlist. Send an email notification every time the price falls on a product they added to their wishlist. That could make a sales conversion.
6. A Reward Points Lover
Note it down! They are your loyal customers. They may not move on to another online store for any small reasons unless they experience an awful shopping time on your shop. All they want is to build up their reward points to cash the points later for something big they look for.
Nothing excites them more than 'more reward points'. They are more enthralled to the points they are going to enjoy than the real price of the product. Add more points to the products you wish to clear and they would love that. Run a special club or programs for such reward-point lovers and show them that you value their loyalty.
If a business succeeds to assure their customer the consistent positive emotional experience, there they are! They have done their best to retain their loyal customers for a lifetime.
Finally... A Customer is a Customer
A successful business needs only very little work to retain their existing customers compared to acquiring the new customers. If a company understands the different traits of the consumer behaviour and how to nurture them, then they have already had a blueprint for success. No one knows about your customers better than you. Keep the ball rolling.
