Go down a busy market street, and you’ll be hard-pressed to resist the temptation of the many stores or stalls offering delicious-smelling pastries, fresh bread, or new merchandise from another country you haven’t seen before. You can stop, smell and taste the goods. In the virtual world of eCommerce, you cannot offer that experience (although with VR technology, that day may not be that far off). So, you must find some other way to entice potential customers: your eCommerce presence is your store window: it’s your task to get the customer stop and say, ‘whoa, this store looks promising. I really should go in and look around.’ As a number of studies (such as a very well-known one made by Daniel Kahneman) have shown, a high percentage of our decisions are made by our intuition. As the saying goes, people buy with emotion and try to justify it with logic.’
eCommerce website owners need to do figure out ways to produce the desired action from the potential customer, and this is where the advance of eCommerce psychology comes in to help. Since eCommerce sellers are generally not known for their prophetic prowess, you need to make sure you offer ‘something for everyone:’
Make an emotional connection with the audience
Little things can make a big difference: for example, instead of “about us” write “our story.” Instead of a simple product description, provide a brief product story; or a viral video, a “life moment” that resonates with every parent, such as a baby’s first steps, first day at school, first A in English…or extra, added value, such as a “holiday survival” guide that many families can identify with. Use effective greed-type power words such as free, limited, exclusive, hurry, limited, save, discount, get one free, sale ends soon, while it last, money-saving, etc. Lastly, you need to earn their trust. Sellers must be accessible at all times, either by phone, email or social media, and response time is critical. For example, if you state that ‘we will answer you within 24 hrs,’ you MUST reply within that time frame – or the trust is broken. Customers are like elephants in this regard – they don’t forget good service, and never forget bad ones.
The proof is in the social
These days, social proof is a big, big plus, since there are many who give more weight to social reviews, especially when they know the reviewers are authentic. Strategically placed social testimonials can be a strong sales pitch. In addition, you should display any security badges in a prominent place, as part of gaining the consumer’s trust. Contributing to Social awareness can have an additional, positive effect on the mind of the customers.
What is in it for them?
Special offers to those likely to be enticed by discounts or other attractive offers; limited edition items that will make them stand out from the crowd; limited time – anything offered should have a time-limit (‘hurry, offer ends…!’), a sense of urgency and the cost of inaction – what they stand to lose if they do not act (i.e. save now before the price hike/stop overpaying for…). Remember, these days it’s very easy to compare products online, and so you need to give the customers an incentive to stay, and of course: value. What does your product service/solve for the customer?
It all needs to come in a visually appealing site that makes the process simple and easy, from clicking on the product to check out. Emotional triggers are just as important in eCommerce just as they do in the offline world. In the end, while people may tend to buy using their emotion and try to justify it with logic, sellers try to persuade consumers with logic.
Use Algopix to Your Advantage
All great things come with a degree of risk. In the eCommerce world, you would like to decrease your risk level. Researching & analyzing products and knowing what and where to sell can give you a distinct advantage. Making sure you get sales requires a bit of research as to which products are best to sell, and in which Amazon marketplaces. Since product research and the time you invest doing it, can go far in improving your BSR ranking, Algopix can help Amazon sellers determine in what marketplace they would be better off selling their products. Thanks to robust product research & analysis, sellers can save time, effort and money, focusing on marketplaces with the most potential for their products.
