How can you guide an aimless(confused) customer to a successful checkout?

Customers for an e-commerce store are of different types as I have explained in my previous posts. Here I am going to explain about the scenario where a customer doesn’t know what he need. Your store do have multiple products and what he intend is to buy something from your store. How can you guide him to a successful checkout ? How can you make his way easier? Lets have a look

Being more vivid about the customers mindset, lets have a look at his thoughts in mind converted into a sentence.

“I would like buy something from this portal. I don’t know what to buy, but I really wish to buy something.”

What all things will this aimless customer find interesting ?

1. Offers.

[divider type=”thick”] Offers will be first interesting thing for such kind of customer.

Customer : I don’t know what to buy
Store Owner : We do have some special offers for products.
Customer : Offers! , Interesting . What offers do you have??

Offers are commonly product specific and it can ultimately led this customer to focus on a product. The biggest challenge with this customer is to develop some interest in a product. Offers can act as a catalyst in developing it. In fact he might not be in need of some product and the offers can really made some difference. I’ll explain this with the shirt scenario conversation.

The T-Shirt Scenario Conversation

Customer : I do have lots of t-shirts, don’t need anymore.
Store Owner: But we do have an offer of 50% for t-shirts.
Customer : That is interesting. So I’ll get the t-shirt for half price right?
Store Owner : Yes. And this offer stands for this week only.
Customer : Cool. Then I’ll have a look at it right now.

Actually the customer do have lots of t-shirts and he doesn’t need anymore. He might feel  guilty(or wont get the purchase satisfaction) in buying another one. If he is provided with an offer and if it stands for a short time only , the customer definitely will get the purchase satisfaction (he will have a feeling that he put money in for something beneficial).

Have a look at how jabong did put their offer in the home page slider.

offer for products
offer for products

2. Contents in sliders.

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Sliders are the most important section of a shopping cart. It is the section in a website which occupies the most space. A non focused customer are more prone to have a look at the slider. Whats the most important thing about slider? I would say randomness. Almost 80 percent of the worlds website owners put their favorite or special products (from different categories) inside the slider. The slides in a slider would be from different categories. The slider of homeshop18 does have 5 slides . Have a look at their slides
1. Fashion (clothing, foot wears etc)
2. watches
3.gadgets
4.Home appliances.

slider applicances

The slider helps this customer to understand the major recommended products inside the cart in a quick glance.

3. Best sellers and Trends section.

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People always have tendencies to buy the best selling products. Its very much told in consumer psychology. Even if you get into a real life store and if the shop keeper introduce a product to you saying that it is a best seller, you will at least show some interest to the product right? Customer in this category will certainly be interested in best seller products. Best seller product assures quality and money value for the product . There should be something in the product that many people bought it already.

4.Pricing and budget.

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pricing

This section is really important. For sure, this aimless customer would be having a limited budget in his mind. The probability of buying a super expensive product is very less (unless he is immensely rich). People always plan or thinks twice before buying an expensive item. Our customer does not have any plans. Can you imagine him getting into the store and buying a 60 inch television worth 2000$ ? No chance. Such kind of customer would be paying attention to products which can bought without much plans(or in other words, products in limited budget ) say a T-shirt or a footwear.

5. Product type.

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Its not only the because of the budget that this customer is not going to buy an expensive Television worth 2000$ but also the specialty of the product type.
What all things should a buyer be specific about before buying a tv?
1. Hall Size
Hall size is very important for a tv . A 57 inch LCD TV will be worse for a small 100 square feet hall. So for sure, a customer wanting to buy a tv should be aware of his hall size or he should have a plan before buying a tv.
2. Old TV.
Majority of the houses do have single television(Even in the rich sector). TV is not personal like mobile phone.Television is for the family, not for a specific person inside a family. The customer definitely would think about what he can do with the old tv. Should he sell it, or give it to some , or just throw it out of the window!
3. Other members opinion.
As I said before, in most cases tv is not a personal property. It is for the members of the family. Most of the people buy a TV to home once everyone(in the family) approves it.

6. Customer interactive search and filters.

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Have a look at this excellent search suggestion provided by zovi.  Once we attempt a search , it will be showing lots of search suggestions like “Sexy party outfits”  or “Green check casual shirts”.

search suggestions
search suggestions

This type of suggestions can really help this specific confused customer. He can know the trends and products in short time which can result into  conversions.

I haven’t seen this section much in eCommerce stores. But such a filter can really do magic conversions especially for customers of this type.

ecommerce shopping cart filter
ecommerce shopping cart filter

This filter filters out the unwanted items for the customer and will bring in the necessary  products only.  This makes the shopping more easier for him.

About the author

Linjo Joson

Linjo is a PHP developer who loves to write about online businesses and marketing ideas

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