Types of e-Commerce buyers

Gone are the days when the attitude to each buyer was standardized. Competition of brands and products has formed the need for a more personal approach to customers. Personalization of e-commerce services has many benefits:

  • Personalized appeals and messages attract more attention than standard information.
  • Everyone likes to feel unique and essential, so you have an opportunity to create a warm relationship with the buyer. If your product was good for the customer, then a personal approach will be an additional factor to make the buyer to return again and again and give positive feedback and recommendations.
  • The customer has more loyalty to the store who spent time and learned something about him/her, than to an indifferent competitor.
  • Personalized offers will interest the customer more than recommended products that don't base on information about the buyer and may even be inappropriate.
  • With a unique attitude to each one, you form a supportive and loving audience around you that you can count on.

Depending on the business, the reasons why a personal approach is so popular now may be many, and they may vary. But it all comes down to one thing - the time forms new rules and they usually require more and more effort from e-commerce stores to be on top.

Is it possible to generalize a personal approach? We say yes and no. People who buy in your store can be divided into three types:

  • Those who know what exactly they are looking for;
  • those who know what they want approximately, however, will decide during the searching;
  • and those who don't know what they want but do want something.

All these three types of people are potentially your clients, and you need only to find out how to successfully affect each of them.

If a person has started to look for a product on your site, you are already a kind of a winner. Among all the analogs and competitors, you have the chance to change the viewer into the buyer. Nobody says that it'll be so, but your store must be equipped for any of these three types of customers to have more chances to sell!/

I know what I need buyer

If a person knows exactly what kind of product he wants, try to offer a wide range of items of one type. For example, if you are selling interior paint, make sure that the assortment is available or, at least, make it quick and easy to order from the manufacturer. The maximum number of brands, colors, and textures is preferable to have. In this case, there will be more likely that I know what I need buyer will find his goal, and all will be satisfied.

But just don't relax if you have all possible stuff. It’s not enough to “have it” if the buyer cannot find it on the website. The design of the site should be proper, convenient and have all the crucial elements for the purchase process.

Properly placed search and categorization will save your buyer’s time and satisfy his product needs.

This type of customer rarely draws attention to banners and promotions, and in general spontaneous purchases aren’t for them. Why do you think they know exactly what they want? That's right, because they read a lot of information before the fact of the purchase or they consulted with acquaintances or reviewed the reviews. There's one nuance, such people look through many stores while looking for a perfect product.

So, if you want this buyer to be yours, make a blog or a review page. Written or video reviews could be a great bait and prove your competence. If you cannot or don’t want to create a blog, at least offer detailed descriptions, collect likes and customer reviews on products and offer excellent support for each visitor.

I know what I need, but I have no idea how to choose buyer

Buyers who need something but have not yet decided on the color, brand, type, and size are typical customers for online stores. The abundance choice and many options can first dispel the buyer's attention, but their further actions are in your hands.

We can look, for example, at a shoe store. If the buyer is looking for winter shoes, it's necessary to display images of all models from every possible angle and to allow ranking items by preset order. Most often, it's possible to rank the list by price, brand, color, popularity, or other details. By exploring the list of possible models of shoes, the buyer starts to understand roughly his wishes. According to these criteria, the models that would be best suited for him will be found.

If our buyer still has some doubts and can’t decide - you could help him through popups with tempting offers or promotions. Favorable propositions often become positive arguments when choosing a particular model.

I want something, but I don't know what I want buyer

And the most exciting and last type of buyers that we are considering are those who don't know what they want. Most likely, they only have a desire to enjoy shopping.

Veni, vidi, vici ("I came; I saw; I conquered")Julius Caesar

"I came, I saw, I bought" says such kind of buyers. They are prone to impulsive shopping and can fall in love with the product at the first glance. You can profit this peculiarity! Feel free to use banners, bright advertising, “three at the price of two” or “free delivery for goods in the amount of 7 kg!” promotions, etc. In the article Magento 2 Promotion Message: Application of the win-win tactic there are some tricks that can help you attract your buyers by using their desires. If buyers want emotions, then give it to them!

So now we know how your store should interact with different types of customers. The techniques include:

  • meticulousness to details,
  • maximum ease of choice,
  • and tempting offers.

You can focus on one kind of buyer or all three of them. The main thing is to remember that the rules always have exceptions and this division of buyers is conditional. However, you can determine the direction for whom you are selling and how you are selling.

If you have any questions, please write a comment below the article or contact our support team.