“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.” That saying also applies to the different types of online shopping personas you will encounter this holiday shopping season. Understanding who they are and how they think is crucial to your marketing efforts.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the 5 main online shopping personas. They each make decisions in different ways, and their reasonings behind those decisions also vary. The best way to communicate with your consumers is to identify who they are and what they need first.
- The Impulse Buyer
The impulse buyer tends to be a quick decision maker when it comes to making a purchase. As they browse sales, they become trigger happy, especially when they feel a sense of urgency such as “1 item left in stock”.
Best practices for the impulse buyer:
- Imagery is key
- Present a simple checkout/guest checkout
- Create a sense of urgency to drive the purchase
- The Price Sensitive Buyer
Otherwise known as the deal hunter. They tend to be more strategic and patient when it comes to making their purchase. One of the main characteristics of this buyer persona is that they are willing to wait, even if it means possibly missing out. Price sensitive customers are looking for a good price, but not necessarily the lowest. Value for money is the key here.
Best practices for the price sensitive buyer:
- Constantly update sale items and discount codes
- Clearly showcase the deal that is being offered
- Offer bundle discounts
- The Best Product Hunter
The best product hunter is always looking for the reassurance that the product they are purchasing is simply the best. Extensive research has already been done by this buying persona. Comparing specs, and deep dives into feature lists are all the norm for this type of buyer. Expert opinions and reviews are also a standard for this buyer. Ultimately, they want to make sure that their purchase is the best product on the market.
Best practices for the best product hunter:
- List detailed info and “Verified” customer reviews
- Offer product comparison guides
- Provide Q&A sections on product pages
- The Experienced Shopper
The experienced shopper persona is exactly what it sounds like. This buying persona has been around the block before and knows all the trade secrets. They understand which sites have the best shipping rates, customer service, return policies and deals. For this buyer, almost all of their shopping is done online, and has been done online for some time now.
Best practices for the experienced shopper:
- Present social media reviews
- Offer new, popular and trending products
- Provide quick shopping features and fast transactions
- The Emotional Buyer
The immediate gratification from making a purchase is what drives the emotional buyer persona. Emotional buyers live for “retail therapy”. Their decision to make a purchase has already been made, although what they are purchasing has not. Emotional buyers make purchases for a number of reasons ranging from plain boredom to being upset.
Best practices for the emotional buyer:
- Provide powerful cross product recommendations
- Deliver a shorter path to transaction (think Facebook/Instagram buying)
- Use a combination of the other 4 buyer personas
New customers are fragile. Especially ones that shop during the holidays! Understanding and optimizing your marketing to these 5 types of buyers will help drive your overall marketing performance.
Want to learn more about these online shoppers and how you can convert them into loyal customers? Watch our webinar replay "How to Convert Holiday Shoppers to Loyal Customers "
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