Can Browsers Become Buyers? – Understanding Shopper Behaviour

These shoppers are “just browsing”. They are the online equivalent to window shoppers at the mall, where they prefer to be left alone to their own devices. They browse for 3 reasons: 1) They don’t want to hear a sales pitch, 2) They want to figure it out themselves, and 3) They really are just looking with no particular goal in mind. What’s important to remember about these shoppers is that while they may not buy this one time they are on your e-Commerce website, or even the next couple times, they have the potential to become customers, and loyal ones at that. We need to understand their attitude of “Browse today, buy later”. 

Adapting to Different Types of Shoppers

Understanding your customer is an important part of e-Commerce success. In tailoring your sales approach, however, there has to be a balance. We need to be flexible enough to accommodate the variety of shoppers that will come across our webshop; we want to attract as many customers as possible. We should also be strict enough in coming up with our content design and messaging. A surefire way to fail is to try and please everybody. Take an honest look at what who the audience is, both existing and potential, and create a compelling content and sales strategy accordingly.

As an e-Commerce solution provider for Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we look not only to our clients for inspiration but their end customers. We want to build solutions that work for both. In this article, we’re going to focus on the Browsers.

Read more about Bargain Hunters and Mission-Oriented Shoppers.

The goal for e-Commerce is to provide the browser with an informative and enjoyable experience. They can increase customer satisfaction as well as sales with a beautiful and functional webshop.

Make Organization a Priority

Make it easy to explore all the options through intuitive navigation and as many categories as you need. These features pique interest, giving customers a clearer idea of what you offer and where they might want to start. Customer-centric categories may pre-emptively answer any questions about your company, products, and latest offerings. This can include ongoing sales, new arrivals, limited edition collections, seasonal items, and more.  Properly structured categories keep customers clicking around for longer. Navigation to pages from your homepage should be quick and easy, but also in between pages. Ensure your links are working properly so customers can explore freely and easily with as few clicks as possible.

Just Keep on Clicking

What keeps a browser’s interest? Related links and items. It’s all part of providing the full “360 degree experience”, if you will. For example, a product description for hiking shoes is standard and expected. Adding videos about choosing the right shoe and the importance of the right gear will further engage and educate the customer. This gets them clicking on other shoes to compare and that awesome jacket other customers bought. If you have a blog, link to appropriate blog posts.

Extra Valuable Webshop Features

Product Compare is a feature of Nav-to-Net™ and is especially valuable for many different types of shoppers. Bargain hunters can use the tool to determine the best deal and how to get the best bang for their buck. Browsers use Product Compare out of curiosity as it gives them a different perspective regarding your product catalog.

Browse Now, Buy Later

Browsers have no set pattern. They are leisurely shoppers. Bored, “just killing time”, vague interest shoppers. Browsers love looking at pictures and there is no rhyme or reason to their shopping habits. Whatever captures their interest, they will explore. When you have gorgeous high-quality pictures or videos featuring a number of your products, it makes sense to list all of the products used. While the featured item is there, they may decide “Hey, those pants are exactly what I want. Where do I get them?” With those links, your customers are now looking at a completely different section of your website and finding out more about your company and product selection.

To summarize, Browsers are explorers and go wherever they want. In order to create a positive experience that will keep them coming back for more, try to incorporate these tips:

• Ensure navigation is easy but structured so customers can visit all the corners of your webshop
• Provide related items and links to keep customers clicking. They can be classified as upsells and cross sells but it serves a purpose to the browser by showing them more of your store, brand, and other product offerings.

These shoppers are primarily on your webshop for entertainment. Make it enjoyable with features like product compare, Configurator, parametric search, and more. Tell a friend social media links, and wish lists extend the shopping experience beyond your e-Commerce site and gives them reason to come back.

And then when your customers are ready to buy, be ready for them with a safe and secure checkout portal that crosses the T’s and dot’s the I’s.

Nav-to-Net™ has the tools to make that happen. Request a Demo to see how we put your customers at the core of your solution.

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