Understanding the psychology of behavior when users navigate your eCommerce store is critical in maximizing the chances of getting them to make a purchase. With a solid grip on user behavior, you can make significant tweaks that greatly improve your lead nurturing capabilities. Read on to get some useful insights on user behavior in eCommerce inspired by our recent webinar on this topic.
4 Anchors of User Behavior in eCommerce
eCommerce user behavior encompasses a lot of different aspects, but here are four anchors that provide a solid foundation from which to improve your awareness of user behavior.
Dissonance Reduction—when selecting between products, people want to make sure that they’re not making a mistake that will lead to buyer’s remorse; it’s your job to try and reduce this conflict/tension- Habitual Purchases—the majority of people are habitual purchasers, so it’s a crucial challenge to drive website visitors to a different product than one they’re used to buying
- Reducing Complexity—when products have a buying cycle or complex feature, you must try and reduce the perception of complexity to lead nurture an eventual sale
- Variety—the almost endless number of eCommerce sites just a click away present users with so many choices that they have a hard time deciding who to buy from; the challenge here is standing out from the crowd and remaining front of mind.
Psychology of Buying
The psychology of buying is by no means a new discipline. For as long as there have been businesses trying to make a profit, there have been people trying to get into the minds of potential buyers and dissect the behavioral cues that best drive purchases. You can see offline evidence of the psychology of buying in:
Magazines and print media- The layout of your local grocery store (dairy is often placed at the back of the store because most people buy at least one dairy product, which forces them to walk through aisles filled with other goodies they might also buy)
- Television advertisements
Buying is generally emotional behavior; people purchase things to feel a certain way. And successful businesses manage to trigger various emotions. Some common triggers to get people to make purchases are:
Brand recognition: people tend to use products they are familiar with, and this effect often extends through generations.- Scarcity: when something is perceived as scarce, people flock to buy it in their drives (a pertinent recent example was the toilet roll run during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic).
- Social proof: a sense of belonging that people feel by virtue of owning a particular product
In order to address common psychological triggers in an online world, it’s worth bearing in mind the one overarching questions people ask themselves when navigating an eCommerce site: “do I trust this business?” Trust signals are important whether you’re selling in a brick-and-mortar store or online.
Some examples of online trust signals include security badges, guarantees, membership badges, and reviews/testimonials. You could even argue that site speed is a trust signal because slow-performing websites might be perceived as not taking their infrastructure seriously and therefore perhaps not selling a high-quality product.
Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence
In 1984, Robert Cialdini wrote the classic book,
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. The insights in the book are held in high esteem by everyone from web designers to marketers who use it to understand how people’s minds are inclined to persuasion. Even though the book was written before mainstream Internet adoption, its insights are extremely relevant for today’s eCommerce world. Here is a brief overview of the 6 principles of influence that Cialdini outlined:
Reciprocity: This is the principle of giving a little something in order to receive something back (ie a purchase). eCommerce businesses can give a little something by providing valuable information related to their products, such as how-to guides, social media videos, or infographics. Other tactics include discounts or free shipping.
- Commitment & consistency: People tend to regard consistency and commitment as traits indicating trust. eCommerce companies should try to maintain a consistent self-image and stick to the commitments they make.
- Social proofing: People feel a sense of belonging and validation based on others’ actions. In fact, 70 percent of people will trust a review even if it’s from someone they don’t know. Reviews are critical for all eCommerce companies; the more the better. A good way to approach responding to reviews, whether the review was good or bad, is to write them with the next customer in mind.
- Authority: A perception of authority helps users decide who to buy from. Conveying authority online includes demonstrating a great understanding of your product through case studies, infographics, webinars, and other relevant media.
- Liking: The more you like someone (or some company), the more that person or company can persuade you to act. Applying this to eCommerce, getting people to like you comes from a visually appealing website, solid customer service, copy that engages, giving compliments, and showing a sense of personality in social media posts.
- Scarcity: when prospective customers think your product is in short supply, they want it more. Through eCommerce, you can use tactics like countdown timers for particular items, limited edition labels, early-bird prices, etc. At the heart of this is that people want to avoid the fear of missing out.
Attract, Convert, Close, Retain
