Real world shopping principles and your online shop
This article explores some of the selling principles that
underpin modern supermarkets and department stores and offers
online shop owners ten points for consideration:
1. Predict everything that you can about the lifestyles of your
customers, using proven research methods. Establish the needs
and desires associated with these lifestyles. From these needs
and desires, understand which products your customers are likely
to place in their shopping baskets, and when they are likely to
do so.
2. Having made your predictions, stock your shop and establish
procedures for tracking what your customers actually buy
and when they buy. Analyse your predictions, in light of
the actualities, regularly. Be flexible, learn from experience
and be prepared to exchange stock that does not sell, for stock
that does.
3. Sell everything that your customers actually buy, or are very
likely to buy based on past experience, at the times they are
likely to buy. This implies that the stock of your online shop
will vary throughout the year, although there may well be a few
year-round offers too.
4. Be aware that your customers will have differing spend
capabilities. By all means offer top of the range products to
the wealthy. However, you should also offer lower priced
alternatives to middle income customers and bargain basement
alternatives to the less well off. Provide simple yet effective
ways for your customers to compare the relative merits of
differently-priced alternatives.
5. Cater for the different age ranges of your customers. Meet
your customers' needs and wants from cradle to grave. For
example, you might offer young customers incentives in return
for their loyalty. You will also offer virtual wheelchair ramps
and resting seats to your less able and elderly customers.
6. Stimulate all of your customers' senses. This will require
creativity and innovation on your part. Stimulating sight is
fairly straightforward on the Internet, although you should keep
colours muted. Sound is less common, but still possible. Keep
any music slow paced. Taste, smell and touch stimulation are
real challenges, although objective text descriptions can be
effective. For those who need kinaesthetic sensory inputs,
consider more subjective editor and end-user reviews.
7. It is thought that the majority of customers' purchasing
decisions is sub-conscious. Therefore, display best-selling
products alongside less attractive alternatives and associated
items. In other words, put potential 'impulse purchases' in your
customers' way, at the point of purchase. Make them reach past
alternatives, add-ons and upgrades, in order to place
best-selling products in their baskets.
8. Locate best sellers in the remoter corners of your shop. Make
customers encounter other products that they may buy
spontaneously, whilst they are on their way to the products they
have come to buy deliberately. Never place best sellers on your
home or landing pages, i.e. in the doorways of your shop.
However, between your doorways and remoter corners, do dazzle
customers with arresting, bright and colourful displays that
also increase the value of the average shopping basket.
9. Keep the aisles of your online shop free from pallet-trucks
etc. Do your shelf-filling and stock administration at night
when there are fewer customers about. Give your shop a clean and
uncluttered appearance during the day. Optimise customers'
browsing experiences by using clear signs and sign posts. For
customers who are in a hurry, provide an effective 'search and
go' facility: an express check-out, if you will.
10. Advertise your online shop everywhere! Do your search engine
optimisation, write articles and pay for clicks. Notify web
directories of your shop's existence and establish reciprocal
links too. Also, and this is very important, advertise
your shop offline: in newspapers, with flyers, on local radio
etc. Make your shop's name appear everywhere that your customers
will be.
The next time that you shop in a successful supermarket or
department store, switch your senses and brain on. Observe and
analyse the tactics in use and try to replicate them in your
online shop. I would be interested to know your findings.