Website Conversion Blog
How Online Buyer Behavior Has Changed in 2012
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
We observed some significant new buying behaviors at the end of 2011 that are set to continue in 2012, and will impact online and offline commerce. It’s a blend of: online, mobile, social, multi-channel, discount seeking, and connected customer behavior.
Sounds complicated.
To simplify, we’ve developed three customer types (personas) based on the new behaviors:
- The Connected Customer
- The Discount Seeker
- The Social Butterfly
Each of these is a behavioral trend and not a unique segment of customers. The point here is that many customers will exhibit one or more of these three behavioral characteristics. For example, Connected Customers are inherently social, and Discount Seekers often use multiple devices to research purchases like Connected Customers will.
Identifying these personas is useful because it allows us to think about the marketing tactics we should be deploying to address evolving buyer behavior.
Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate Set To Rise in 2012
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
In 2011, the shopping cart abandonment rate continued its rise, reaching a new all-time high of 72% by the end of the year. In this blog, I’ll try to answer why the shopping cart abandonment rate has risen, despite a focus on conversion optimization by many ecommerce sites. I’ll also explain why I predict that the shopping cart abandonment rate will continue to rise in 2012.
Everything is more exaggerated over the holiday period: Retailers offer a dazzling array of new products, coupled with equally dazzling promotions, while trying to manage the constant problem of out-of-stocks. And customers make an abnormal number of purchases in a very short period and abandon their shopping carts in droves as they search for the best deals.
Online Buyer Behavior 101 and the Many Paths to Conversion
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
The theory goes that if you make it easy for visitors to follow a simple path to conversion, you’ll generate traffic and revenue.
And yes, this is correct.
But this “single track” view of conversion is overly simplistic.
In this column, let’s explore why, and how it’s important to consider all of your available conversion paths.
Why Customers Don’t Buy
Why Free Shipping is the Top Holiday Promotion for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
It’s official: Free shipping is the shoppers’ top retail promotion of choice, driving the majority of customers to buy and to spend more than with any other promotion. This holiday season, customers will be even more price-sensitive, looking not only for the best prices, but free shipping and returns as well.
As we have written about before, customers have become trained to wait for holiday offers prior to making purchases. A tighter economy suggests that this holiday season should see good growth for ecommerce sites as consumers look online for the best prices. However, there is evidence that the 2012 consumer is also moving online to save money across a spectrum of goods, including luxury items.
Online Checkout User Experience – In Real Life
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
For many website visitors, the Online checkout user experience is far from intuitive. I just came across this great viral video from the Google Analytics marketing team on the online buying process. Taking the simple idea of what it would be like to have to go through an online shopping process in a physical store, there are many painful home truths exposed here in an amusing way.
The video follows a man trying to buy a loaf of bread in a British supermarket, but being forced to go through an online checkout process. What fun – it should resonate well with all ecommerce teams and user experience experts alike. It’ll also make you chuckle and cringe as well. What’s amazing is that it takes him so long before he abandons his shopping cart.
Enjoy!
