While online marketing is rapidly evolving, it can be hard for some businesses to stand out from the competition. Online marketing is getting more and more challenging. Consumers are getting more and more aware that every brand is competing for their attention. Hence, they can be resistant at times.
Understanding what consumers exactly need, want, and wish for can help you reach the exact right audience for your brand and can also lead to higher satisfaction levels for your audience.
Studying the behavior and psychology of your audience can help you achieve your goals and maximize your sales. Having and studying data about your consumers can be the most crucial thing that can lead to the success or failure of your brand.
Knowing how your customers think, act and feel can be a real game changer. All eCommerce businesses are trying new ways of tracking the customer’s online journey so that they can serve them more efficiently.
The way consumers behave has changed drastically over the years. All eCommerce businesses need to understand and know all the latest trends in consumer behavior. Explore what these changes mean for eCommerce and how you can leverage them to your advantage.
Table of Content:
- What is Consumer Behavior?
- Why is Consumer Behavior Important For Your eCommerce?
- The Four Main Consumer Behavior Types
- The 3 Factors That Influence Consumer Behavior
What is Consumer Behavior?
With the pandemic happening, everything changed in the world and nearly everyone started shopping online. With all these changes, consumer behavior changed drastically. In 2020, Nielson revealed that 69% of people purchased their household items online for the first time because of the pandemic.
Consumer behavior is all about studying how consumers think, feel, act, and behave during their purchase. It is every step from the moment they think of a product or feel a need to purchase a certain item to the moment they actually purchase and give feedback on this product. It is how, what, when, and why they buy certain items. In simpler ways, it is analyzing how your audiences are making decisions and behaving toward your market, brand, or product. Also, how they are satisfying their needs and wants emotionally and physically
Consumer behavior has everything to do with studying your customers and how they behave while deciding to buy a product that satisfies their needs. It answers questions like: what do consumers buy, how would they react to your products, why do they buy certain things, when do they buy, how often do they buy, and what are the problems and needs your customers have.
Why is Consumer Behavior Important For Your eCommerce?
Understanding your consumer behavior is essential for your business. Moreover, Consumer Behavior has multiple benefits, which are:
1- Reduce Cost
Studying and analyzing the behaviors and psychology of your audience in your eCommerce can reduce customer acquisition costs, improve brand recommendations, and improve the lead generation process.2- Better Brand Awareness & Better Engagement
Getting to know your audience better can lead to providing them with the exact things they need and communicating with them in their most preferred way. This will result in better brand recognition and positioning, engagement, and brand loyalty.3- Have the marketing results you are searching for
Some eCommerce businesses can have some troubles with their online advertising and not have the results they are looking for after doing multiple ads. By studying the behaviors and reasons of your consumers, you can make a huge difference in the results of your ads.To do this, you need to analyze your performance and know exactly what went wrong and what your consumers didn’t like.
4- Customer Differentiation
Knowing and studying how, why, when, and what people are buying can show you that people are super different. Knowing which segments work best with your brand and product can help you plan and achieve the desired result.5- New Marketing Trends & Opportunities Navigation
Studying current people’s actions and reactions can show and tell you what people are searching for now. Hence, this can be a solid proof of the latest marketing trends and unconquered marketing opportunities.6- New Products Innovation & Creation
Understanding the needs of your consumers can help you create products that are perfectly tailored to your audience’s needs.7- Better Understanding For Competitors
Consumer Behavior will help you understand your market, audience as well as your competitors. It will provide answers for questions such as whether your audience is buying from a certain competitor, why they are buying from this competitor, and what attracts them to your competitors’ products.
8- Marketing Plan & Strategy Development
Consumer behavior studies can result in improving and developing your current and future marketing plan according to what your customer needs.
9- Customer Services Improvement
Understanding the differences between customers can help you improve your customer services which can lead to higher customer satisfaction and more brand loyalty.10- Pricing Strategy Development
Did you know that nearly 95% of new products fail?Knowing the exact needs and demographics of your audience can help you in creating a suitable pricing strategy where it is a win-win situation.
Stackla (2022) reported that 72% of online consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that creates a more personalized experience for them. Hence, analyzing the behavior of your consumers is crucial for the success of your eCommerce business. It can also lead to creating an effective marketing plan and maximizing your results.
Discover The Top 8 Consumer Behavior Trends in 2023 For eCommerce
The Main Consumer Behavior Types
Audiences' behavior may vary, and to study and analyze each of them, scientists divided them into four main categories, which are:
1- Complex Buying Behavior
If your brand sells expensive types of products, i.e.: cars, they will have a complex buying behavior. This kind of purchase is an infrequent one. Hence, your customers will be highly involved in the purchase process. You need to provide them with sufficient information that can help them with their decision.
2- Dissonance-reducing Buying Behavior
In this category, the consumer is also highly involved in the purchase process, yet he can hardly see the difference between brands. The consumer might express ‘Dissonance’ while deciding.
For example, if they purchase a TV, they might get the urge to compare the different product features between multiple brands. If your brand is selling this type of product, you will need to stand out and show them why your product is different from others.
3- Habitual Buying Behavior
In this category, the consumer is usually not very involved in the purchase process. This includes the types of products that people purchase on a daily basis like: grocery shopping. You would need to create good brand awareness and brand loyalty to maintain an emotional connection with your audience.
4- Variety Seeking Behavior
This is where consumers are seeking to try out new products or brands, or in other words, they are seeking variety. For example trying out new shower gel scents.
The 4 Factors That Influence Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior is affected by multiple factors that each eCommerce brand needs to know and keep into consideration, such as: situation, psychological, environmental, and marketing factors, personal factors, family, and culture.
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Situational Factors:
This includes several physical factors such as your store’s location, design, colors, window merchandising, lighting, and scent.
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Personal Factors:
This is based on the individual’s demographic factors such as age, gender, income, occupation, etc. It also includes the person’s interests and opinions. Hence, you need to understand your audience on a personal level, study their lifestyles, daily routines and understand how they think.
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Social Factors:
This includes social class, level of education, religious and ethnic background, family, friends or social network. This might differ depending on the culture as well.
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Psychological Factors:
This depends totally on the individual’s reaction to the marketing activities, their personal perceptions, mindsets and beliefs.
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