When you need a new TV, what’s the process you take to buy one? First, you’ll probably grab your phone or tablet and begin researching different brands and models to decide what kind of TV you want. Then, you start browsing various retailer sites to see where the best deal is. Finally, you find the best deal, and you’re ready to buy, either online or in-store.
This scenario is just one example of the modern consumer journey. Consumers are in control from beginning to end. They’re gathering information, weighing their options and deciding where they want to buy from — most of which is done mostly online. This is a far cry from the days when consumers solely relied on outside sources to learn about products and make purchase decisions — such as what they saw in a commercial or what a store associate told them. Instead, today’s consumers are more informed and more demanding than ever before, and it’s transformed how they shop.
The Modern Shopping Experience
(Image courtesy of ChannelAdvisor)
Consumers’ changing shopping behaviors are a result of the hundreds of digital touchpoints available to them at any given time, right at their fingertips. At the same time, the global pandemic has accelerated this digital-first mindset, first out of necessity, then later out of habit and convenience. In a recent ChannelAdvisor survey, 52% of respondents in the U.S. predicted they will shop online in the future more than before the pandemic. So what does this mean for brands and retailers?
To keep up with today’s consumer journey, brands and retailers need to develop a multichannel commerce strategy and adopt an operationally agile approach — the ability to modify and adapt operations and technology to a perpetually evolving business environment — to meet today’s consumers wherever they are. But since the specific digital touchpoints in each consumer’s path to purchase are extremely convoluted and varied, brands and retailers should think about the consumer journey through the lens of “buyer intent,” from awareness through product delivery.
Where are these consumers at each stage of buying journey? What are they doing? What are they thinking about? If you analyze your consumers by their buying intent along the path to purchase — and then relate that to your specific brands or products — you can better structure online strategies that fit those journeys.
Let’s break down the consumer journey into stages and examine a few ways to optimize each one.
Stage 1: Awareness
As the first stage of the consumer journey, this is where potential customers become cognizant of a product’s existence. But in the era of social media, online searches and marketplaces, consumers have more avenues for becoming aware of products than only through commercials or promotions. In fact, 60% of people have discovered their favorite brands by watching videos, reading emails and catching up on news feeds.
Brands and retailers need to take advantage of the multiple digital touchpoints available, identify the ones most relevant to their vertical and use them to make their presence known to consumers. This is also where having a multichannel commerce strategy comes into play, which could include everything from improving social media footprint to investing in retail media — whatever gets more eyes on their products. But there’s no magic bullet for every industry or every product. The strategies you take to enter the consciousness of potential new customers will be specific to your business and only come from trial and error, testing and optimization.
Stage 2: Consideration
(Image courtesy of ChannelAdvisor)
After consumers are aware of a product, they start considering the options available to them. During this time, consumers will conduct ongoing research to learn more about the product and decide where to buy it. According to a study by Statista, roughly half of shoppers say they always research on the internet before planning a major purchase.
With this in mind, brands and retailers can stand out from competitors by providing customers with the information they need to make an informed decision. Diversification of product content, such as detailed descriptions, videos, webinars and blogs, allows consumers to learn about products in varied ways that appeal to them. This content should keep them engaged and interested enough to go with the brand and retailer providing that experience.
It could also mean adopting advanced repricing strategies to place higher on a marketplace, being very clear with your fulfillment and return policie and building up a robust library of reviews for your products. Whatever helps turn those browsers into buyers. Which brings us to…
Stage 3: Purchase
When the consumer makes their decision to buy, brands and retailers have successfully convinced consumers to go with their product. However, the work isn’t finished. They still must provide a friction-free checkout experience.
Checkout is the wrong time to make the purchase process complicated, especially in the new consumer journey where potential customers have other options awaiting them. Optimizing the purchase process could mean allowing consumers to buy without signing in or offering multiple payment options. Go a step further and give consumers incentives to convince them to buy. This could include offering same-day or free shipping, discounted pricing and promotions.
Stage 4: Delivery
(Image courtesy of ChannelAdvisor)
Once consumers have clicked the buy button, not only do they await their order, but they expect follow-through from the brand or retailer they bought from. Consumers demand transparency at this stage in the journey because of their vested interest in getting the item they purchased. This is not the time to go radio silent.
Brands and retailers need to provide customers with package tracking updates and estimated arrival times. If a deterrent pops up, which is very likely during the current supply chain crisis, communicate this information to customers. Consumers’ delivery experience impacts whether they’ll continue to shop with a specific brand and retailer or avoid the hassle and go someplace else.
Today’s digital journey is more complicated than ever before, even though the actual stages along the way have stayed the same. While the new path to purchase presents more variations and factors, such as online shopping and multiple digital touchpoints, it also presents more opportunities for brands and retailers to reach consumers on their unique purchasing paths. Once brands and retailers understand the new consumer journey, and create strategies that reflect how their consumers shop, they can successfully navigate the modern shopping landscape.
