Online Buying Triggers

In today’s Marketing Monday, I provide insights as to what triggers people to buy online. Online shopping is no longer the exception but the norm. It has become a major source for sales, even for major discount stores that have a strong “brick and mortar” retail presence. With improvements in secure online transactions for credit card information and trusted third party services (like PayPal), more buyers of all ages feel confident about shopping online.

Why would people want to buy from you?

If you are a do-it-yourself marketer and do not have a brand name business, why would people want to buy from you? The answer is simple. It is the same regardless of the size of the business because it’s all about the psychology of online shopping more than about the product or it’s price. The Internet is both enormous and personal at the same time. Your prospective customers aren’t surfing along the Internet the way they ride on a subway. Your prospects actually shape the ‘net’ with their searches – showing their interests, desires and purchases.

Trends

Trends are shaped on the Internet by the people who use it. Your site may be seen all over the world, but it still needs to be tightly focused to appeal to your best prospects. Because of it, you shouldn’t create a one-size-fits-all site – so make sure that you don’t confuse your prospects by trying to be overly all encompassing, especially at first. Instead, place a virtual welcome mat out for visiting prospects by making them feel comfortable when arriving to your site. Enthusiasm and excitement drives purchases online.

An example

Have you ever bid on an item on eBay? If so, chances are you’ve been caught up with what is referred to as an online auction war. Just like a live auction, an online auction creates that desperation and sense of loss among buyers who want to get the item, partly because they want it – but also want to win that item from other bidders. It’s a form of envy personified. However, you don’t need an auction to create a buying frenzy. You can achieve the same thing by offering a limited number of products or have a limited time special offer.

The buying impulse and the ABCDE of buying

Have you ever tossed stuff in your grocery cart that’s not on the list while waiting to check out? If so, those were impulse buys. Retailers understand that this is their last chance to get you to buy things that you don’t need just because it’s there and appears to be a bargain. Bonus products offered at the end of the sales letter are the online version of the impulse buy. You might hold out the major product only to be enticed by the extra bonus offers, I know that I have before. When it comes down to what makes people buy online, the reasons are the same regardless if buying a $17 information product or buying a $17,000 painting at a local fine arts gallery. It’s referred to as the ABCDE of buying:

• Acquire – the desire to have more, better and flashier things than the neighbors or friends
• Better – the compulsion for the most trendy, latest item or improved version of the item on the block
• Convenience – the desire to have something that makes your life easier, more comfortable
• Distraction – a way of escaping the mundane aspects of life and live in the fantasy
• Envy – the desire to create envy among others because you have the first, best or most exclusive product

Final thoughts…

To trigger others to buy from you, you need to know more than “who” your product appeals to but also the “why” it appeals to your market. Incorporate the ABCDE method and keep that focus on your presentation. As always, I enjoy learning what you think and questions that you might have…. so please leave a comment below and share it with your favorite social network, thanks! :)