When we think about how we used to make online purchases, it’s amazing how far we’ve come from the ‘Click to Buy’ transaction a few years ago. Social commerce has brought the opportunities to make the emotional connection with the vendor before we buy. The new way of classifying goods for sale democratises data, allowing it to be shared with our friends and colleagues.
Good marketing campaigns get much further reach and a greater awareness than ever before, and peer recommendations encourage further sales.
The challenge that marketers have is our current mind-set. We’re unsure what’s happening to the economy. When will it recover? Will it recover? How are we going to manage right now. Our survival instinct kicks in, we tighten our belts and we stop purchasing the very things that marketers are trying to get us to buy. We search for more affordable things – and this drives our behaviour.
We use comparison websites, we surf channels for the best deals. Our purchase decisions are all driven by the bargains we can get. Consumers are often not making the decision to buy something in the shops – the impulse to buy is delayed until they have done some research online, read the reviews about the product before they make their decision.
The way we shop has changed too. There are 3 roles that consumers fall into:
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