Tag: eCommerce development

How Technology is Empowering eCommerce Business?

Posted on by os_admin

eCommerce has been developing at the speed of light in the recent decade. Thousands of researchers, analysts, and marketers have been studying the holy grail of information – that’s a customer with a smartphone – and defining the strategies for more targeted and personalized marketing and products.

Today, many eCommerce businesses have tons of customer data needed to advance in the online marketplace. With data, as well as data analysis and intelligence tools and platforms, being readily available

They know exactly what their target customers need and want. For example, Amazon’s product recommendation engine generates 35 percent of the company’s net income of $10.07 billion.

In fact, those who have mastered customer research not only know your needs and preferences but also what you’ll need in the future.

This incredible opportunity, along with many other ones, was, of course, enabled by state-of-the-art eCommerce solutions that companies only dreamed about 10 years ago.

So what exactly drives eCommerce businesses’ obsession with data? What are the technologies that give them the competitive advantage they need to stand out in a multi-billion online marketplace?

  • Machine Learning Algorithms to Generate Personalized Product or Service Recommendations

The vast majority of online shoppers – 87 percent – start product searches online. Chances are you’re a part of this, too, if you rely on your smartphone to find new products. It makes perfect sense, as the experience of others can help to make a good choice.

Function of Beauty, an American fashion brand offering personalized hair-care, wants to take product research one step further. A customer looking for hair products such as shampoos and conditioners for their specific hair type doesn’t need to browse numerous websites and menu categories.

Instead, they can take a quiz on a brand’s website and receive a personalized recommendation.

Function of BeautySource: Screenshot, Functionofbeauty(.)com

This was made possible by a machine learning algorithm. A customer can choose their hair type, scent, size of a bottle, and provide other preferences.

The results provided by a quiz taker are fed into the algorithm that pulls from hundreds of ingredients to generate a truly unique set of hair care products. In fact, it’s able to offer up to 12 million custom combinations.

Inc. reports that the quiz has been already taken by more than 1.5 million times. This is truly a great example of how machine learning can help to increase the personalization and relevance of products as well as advanced customer relationships.

Algorithms like these can be used to generate custom products, services, and recommendations, and therefore, will continue to drive eCommerce businesses’ effort to maximize relevancy for customers.

  • Chatbots to Improve the Overall Online Shopping Experience

Chatbots are one of the hottest topics in eCommerce right now.

These apps can mimic human online behavior such as conversations with pre-written questions and answers, so they have a lot of applications in the area.

In fact, here’s what eCommerce businesses expect from using them, as described in the 2018 State of Chatbots report.

ChatBot ReportSource: The 2018 State of Chatbots report

Already, a countless number of businesses have developed their own chatbots to help customers.

The range of their applications, as you can see, is pretty impressive, so it’s safe to claim that any eCommerce business can benefit from using one.

Let’s consider an example of a chatbot making a difference. A well-known U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy, for example, has an impressive Messenger chatbot that helps customers with:

    • Finding products based on such criteria as price range, manufacturer, OS type, laptop type, and common applications (gaming, studying, etc.)
    • Connecting to a customer support operator from an appropriate service department (this is determined by the answers given by the customer to the chatbot)
    • Locating stores across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
    • Getting support like in-home consultations and other service-related inquiries.

Impressive, right? And all of this is available in one place. But the best thing that a lot of customers really appreciate is that they can get almost instant replies to their requests thanks to the chatbot technology.

ChatBot

Chatbots like Best Buy’s can really improve the overall customer experience by increasing personalization and relevance of communication with brands.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, more and more people feel comfortable using them; in fact, one U.S. study found that 62 percent of online shoppers said they liked using a chatbot to communicate with a brand.

  • Hybrid eCommerce App Development

Apps continue to be a significant sales channel for eCommerce businesses around the world. In recent years, many companies have chosen to build hybrid apps, which combine the elements of web applications and native apps.

This means they’re built on CSS, HTML, or JavaScript, but use a device’s browser engine to render the HTML or JavaScript code locally.

This allows for more functions that aren’t accessible in native apps, such as local storage and accelerometer. Moreover, making an app hybrid also means that it:

    • Gets downloaded to a device
    • Functions regardless if the device is connected to the Internet
    • Integrates with the devices’ file system to allow local storage
    • Provides better access to dynamic online content
    • Integrates with web services.

The first obvious advantage of hybrid apps that many customers appreciate is offline availability. If made possible by the developers, all of their features can work without an Internet connection.

For businesses looking to build an app, these advantages of hybrid mobile app development should be considered:

    • Your app will work both online and offline
    • Launching updates and patches will be easier for your web development team
    • You’ll build the app faster, so if time to market is a priority, hybrid apps are a great choice
    • You’ll reduce the costs because there’s no need to build multiple versions of a native app for different platforms (Android and iOS, etc.)

  • Innovative Experiences with 3D Imaging, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR)

Attracting customers to product pages is one of the biggest goals in eCommerce. Product imagery and video play a deciding role in conversions; in fact, the State of Video Marketing 2019 report found that up to 96 percent of online shoppers say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. 

No surprise a lot of eCommerce brands have been learning how to improve product imagery and product pages as a whole.

Technology is the answer here, too, as it can help to advance customer experience with product pages with innovative imagery and video delivered by AR and VR.

Yes, we as customers were once quite happy with conventional product images. We’re not anymore, so businesses have to use technology to win over us. 

Using the above-mentioned technologies is indeed a great way to create an immersive, 360-degree shopping experience for online shoppers.

For example, a U.S.-based travel bags and accessories seller Samsonite is one of the companies leading the revolution of product imagery with 3D visualizations to improve customer experience.

3D ProductSource: Samsonite 3D Product Viewer, Samsonite(.)com

“It is important for our customers to have the opportunity to examine the goods in detail, and 3D visualization allows us to bridge the gap between online shopping and brick-and-mortar stores,” Business Wire quoted Jay Nigreli, VP of eCommerce at Samsonite, as saying. 

Indeed, customers visiting eCommerce websites that offer this experience have a great chance to get a better sense of a product’s materials, shape, and dimensions.

The technologies could be especially relevant for companies selling small products like jewelry, so we expect them to adopt 3D, AR, and VR in the future. 

Exciting Times Ahead

Without a doubt, the next several years will be transformational for eCommerce technology. As technology continues to redefine the rules of customer engagement, many new approaches, as well as exciting possibilities, emerge to help businesses stand out from the ever-increasing competition.

The points you’ve just read are among the biggest technology trends impacting eCommerce at the moment, and it’s clear that they will become more widely adopted, as more and more businesses are looking for opportunities to gain competitive advantage.

E-commerce Statistics tips for Strategic Planning in 2019

Posted on by JAYDIP

Owning your own eCommerce business? Then this is a must-read article for you.

Whether you own your an online business or in-store one, you should be aware of the current e-commerce trend and where the market is going in-order to expand your business and get more sales.

The below-mentioned points will update your pre-existing knowledge on e-commerce and will remove the pre-existing notions that you have.

On the whole, it will help strengthen your strategies for e-commerce marketing and in expanding your business.

E-commerce Statistics Tips

In order to study the E-commerce trend and get your business going accordingly, you should have knowledge about the following points

  • General Facts
  • Online Shopping trend
  • Mobile-based e-commerce statistics review
  • Behavioral study of the shopper

General facts

Here are a few general facts that you should take into consideration while developing e-commerce strategies for your business.

  • The total value of global retail e-commerce sales
  • More than 10% of global retail sales will be covered by e-commerce
  • There are about 12-24 million global e-commerce sites
  • Credit cards are the most preferred form of payment

The total value of Global retail e-commerce sales

World wide E-commerce sales from 2014 to 2021 - Statista
Image source: Statista

E-commerce statistics report a steady rise in global e-commerce sales. And this rise is speculated to reach over $4878 billion in 2019. (Source: Statista)

More than 10% of global retail sales will be covered by e-commerce

There is constant and steady growth in the field of e-commerce retail sales.

While e-commerce accounted for only 7.4% of total retail sales in the year 2015, it has shown a remarkable increase and accounted for more than 10% of e-commerce sales in the year 2019.

More than 12-24 million global e-commerce sites

There are a huge number of e-commerce companies in the world. Actually, there is no particular definition of an e-commerce company.

There are companies which have a business online and sell their products on their website.

There are other e-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba, etc. and companies who have their site but do not really sell anything online.

All these companies altogether account for about 12-24 million global e-commerce sites.

Credit cards are the most preferred form of payment

According to a survey most of the online shoppers prefer credit cards as their mode of online payment.

This is followed by electronic payment with sites like PayTM and then follows payment with Debit cards and cash on delivery.

Online shopping trend

As per the notice, here are the few shopping trends that are observed in the shoppers throughout the world.

  • Men shop more from e-commerce sites than women
  • The most active online shoppers

Men shop more from e-commerce sites than women

Shopping n E-commerce Sites

Generally, it is observed that 65% of males shop more from e-commerce sites as compared to their female counterparts which are 58%.

The main reason behind this being the products preferred by men like luxury goods and electronic items are on high value and the goods preferred by women like cosmetics, jewelry and cooking items are listed as low-value items. (Source: Adglow)

The most active online shoppers

Opposite to the popular belief, it is observed that not the Millennial generation ( people born between 1982-2000) but Generation X (people born in between 1966-1981) are more frequent online shoppers.

The main reason behind this is that these people have become financially stable by now and are more stable in their income.

Mobile-based e-commerce statistics review

Nowadays the mobile versions of the e-commerce sites are also available. People download these apps on their mobile phones and then do shopping from them.

This is called m-commerce. Here are the m-commerce statistics that a businessman should consider.

  • Increase of mobile e-commerce
  • Global mobile shopping highest in the Asia-Pacific region
  • The rise in online shopping mobile

Increase in mobile e-commerce

Interestingly shopping on mobile has become the most important part of e-commerce. Do you know that by 2021 m-commerce will have a share of almost 73% in the e-commerce market?  This is a massive rise in itself. China being the major country behind this, India and other countries follow close behind. (Source: Statista)

Global mobile shopping highest in the Asia Pacific region.

The improved economics and infrastructure in mobile shopping have made Asia Pacific region for m-commerce. Big e-commerce brands are getting very good opportunities from the Asia-Pacific market.

The rise in online shopping from mobile

Between the years 2016 and 2017 the US market so a recorded rise in online shopping with the help of smartphones.

The increase ranged from 8% to 15%. While there was a drop in online shopping from desktops from 78% to 63%. Which shows that m-commerce is becoming an integral part of e-commerce share. (Source: Statista)

Behavioral study of the shopper

In order to expand your business through e-commerce and planning business strategies, you should also need to track the behavior patterns of the shopper. Here are a few pointers to follow

  • The percentage of conversions for potential customers
  • Global cart abandonment rate
  • The effect of a slow website

The percentage of conversions for potential customers

According to observed trends, only 2% to 3% of e-commerce website visit convert into a purchase. In order to improve your business, you need to have good content on your site and smooth check out process.

Global cart abandonment rate

Many times it is observed that people add the product to the shopping cart of an e-commerce site and then drop out at the end moment.

The statistical study shows that about 75% of shoppers drop out at the time of purchase. The main reason behind this is the added shipping cost, the unclear payment instructions, and unresponsive payment gateway sites.

The effect of a slow website

The loading time of your website pages plays an important role in retaining the potential customer on your site. If your site is slow you may lose the customer and he or she will drop out.

These are the e-commerce statistical analysis tips that help you in building your business strategies.

How You Can Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Posted on by Peter Page

While setting up an e-commerce website, one of the most predictable fears is the shopping cart abandonment.

The event where the customers move products into their cart and then leave it there is quite a possibility.

Most of the e-commerce sellers face this challenge.

According to research, the average shopping cart abandonment in 2018, was up to 69.2%.

Even though it may seem like a dead end, there are many ways you can overcome and reduce this phenomenon.

Below mentioned are some proven and practical techniques to help you out and beat all your cart abandonment blues.

What is cart abandonment all about?

It is extremely essential to understand what we are dealing with before we begin discussing the various techniques.

When a potential customer browses your e-commerce website, and keeps on adding products in the cart, but eventually leaves without making a purchase, this entire phenomenon is known as cart abandonment.

Now imagine when you go shopping in a brick and mortar store and select an item of particular clothing, then try it on, but eventually decide to come and buy it later or not at all.

Cart abandonment rate shows, that how many of the items that are finally added in a shopping cart are abandoned.

Cart abandonment determines the overall success of your purchase and, gives you an idea of the possible revenue that you can generate, by implementing the required optimization.

A study found out that, more than 65% of e-commerce stores have cart abandonment rates higher than 50%.

This is a revelatory phenomenon, wherein you have a chance to maximize the profits, but instead, you are left with depleting revenues and unachieved business goals.

By evaluating the final cart abandonment rate, you can implement the required changes in your website and can access your sales accordingly.

Reasons for cart abandonment

A recent study pointed out that almost 58.6% shopping cart abandonment is done by customers who are merely browsing and comparing the prices.

Below mentioned are the abandonment you have no control over, but the rest of them are due to some specific reason, which can be tackled.   

  • Delayed delivery
  • Confusing check-out process
  • Additional costs
  • Necessary account creation
  • Limited payment option

Techniques to reduce cart abandonment

  • Upfront display of all the cost

Including all the taxes and shipping fees in the displayed product cost on your website is a smart technique, and try to provide a discount on the same displayed cost during the check-out process.

Following this practice leaves a positive impact on the customer’s mind when compared to a greater value of the product during the check-out.

  • Simple check-out process

Once the user has added products to his cart, ensure that the road after that is free from any hurdles.

Asking the customers to fill in their shipping details and directly proceed to the payment gateway, without demanding any unnecessary detail, is another effective technique to avoid cart abandonment.

Demanding more information than required, kills the enthusiasm of the customers and forces them to leave the online shopping process midway. 

  • Including product image throughout the process

Ensuring that the image of the product, that the customer has finalized, is always visible throughout the check-out process.

The reason behind this technique is that an image stays in mind longer than text, and hence registers well with the customers.    

  • Provide them quick delivery

Customers are always attracted to an e-commerce portal that provides them quick delivery options.

One of the best e-commerce portals like WAKI, even provide the customers with 30 to 90 mins delivery facility, to generate a potential customer base and avoid cart abandonment by the users.

Following this technique to curb the cart abandonment rates is recommended.       

  • Focus on product images and descriptions

One of the most important technique to avoid cart abandonment is to keep the product description crisp and proper and try to stick with the most realistic product images.

Including all the critical details about handing and usage and any other essential product information, in the product description help you to overcome cart abandonment.

Such practices instill trust in potential customers and give them the required satisfaction about the product they are purchasing.

  • Intent pop-ups

Using a creative and attractive pop-up to connect with the user, right before he exits the page, captures his attention right then and there.

Cart abandonment pop-ups increase the chances of the sale of that product by up to 10%. You need to ensure that you keep the content of that pop-up, direct and concise.

The pop-up needs to stand out and must not look too compelling.   

Conclusion

Implementation of these methods can help you to minimize the cart abandonment rate of your e-commerce portal.

How To Choose The Right E-Commerce Platform For Your Business?

Posted on by Jay

When you start an online business, one of the biggest decisions you can make is while choosing an e-commerce platform for your business to ensure a scalable and long term growth.

You can implicate your business on this steps for better growth of your business:

  • Protect the bottom line in terms for sale growth, in addition with the installation and maintenance.
  • Ensure that your employees get what they want to implement on the campaign strategies.
  • Help customers to get engaged with your brands and reduce friction while they’re getting the product they need. 

Let’s look at what things to consider while choosing an E-Commerce platform.

The online selling method has become the most popular and favoured method for vendors to generate revenues these days.

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The new entrepreneurs with their unique ideas finding new possibilities in this business as well. With a large customer channel, eCommerce selling has become a modern trend for every enterprise.

So, what is eCommerce sell actually?

Well, selling the products online or taking orders and accepting payments online without leaving the store is an eCommerce sale.

To make it happen we need an online store, and this online store called “eCommerce Website“.

Now you need a website developer to set up a unique, simple to manage and good looking website. Aren’t you?

To make your website secure, hassle-free functionalities, you also have to choose the right platform as well.

But what is that platform?

The e-commerce platform is the web-based software in which your business will use to conduct buying or selling activities.

And the developer is the person who will set it up and customize according to your needs.

And there are many platforms that have been here to choose from. Like WordPress, Magento, Shopify, Drupal, etc.

E-commerce Platforms

As an entrepreneur, you may further like to think about choosing the right platform. Because every business owner might not have a good technical background to decide on.

When you get down to the competitive market, you may find a few competing with each other claiming to have nice features to help change or modify your functionality with ease.

In this case, you may develop a desire for a safe platform which gives you the flexibility to change your site features without the help of a dedicated developer.

Let’s see what the present statistics say.

Most Used Platform - Builtwith Statistics

Looks like WooCommerce and Magento, both are leading the race. The above statistic is showing these platforms are far ahead in the competition as the best choice for entrepreneurs. Let’s learn more about these. 

What Is WooCommerce?

Let me clear it first, WooCommerce is not an e-commerce platform itself.

It is a plugin/addon that adds e-commerce functionality to the website. It is widely used in the WordPress platform. And with just a few clicks, it turns the website to a fully-functional e-commerce website.

Whereas, an E-Commerce platform software is defined as the software that allows any online business enterprise or small business to easily manage the websites, sales, marketing and operations. It is a central hub or homebase to your businesses.

It offers many powerful features that help to run a business while also integrating with many common business tools that enables businesses to centralise the operation and run their business in an effective way.

It means you can use this tool if you would build your website on the WordPress platform.

I already have given brief details about WordPress and the features on my previous blog.

This tool is widely popular for its features which are easy and helpful for both developers and entrepreneurs. i.e

  • Easy Installation, Setup, and Integration
  • Data Control
  • Feature-packed Shopping Cart
  • Complete Control of Products
  • Easy Shipping
  • Easier Tax Management
  • A Leader in Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
  • Keeping You Informed
  • Customer Management
  • Easy Mobile E-Commerce
  • Fully Extendable

 Magento, Is It Similar To WooCommerce? 

Absolutely not! Magento is an eCommerce platform built on open source technology that offers a flexible online shopping cart system with full control over the look, content, and functionality of their online store as well.

Magento also offers powerful marketing, search engine optimization, and catalog-management tools.

Here are some other benefits we can get from this platform:

  • Easy to install and add additional layouts and plug-ins
  • Open source technology that offers flexible, scalable eCommerce solutions
  • Effective and cost-sensitive program
  • Allows for various discounts and promotions during check-out
  • Provides more than 50 payment gateways

With this insight section, you would have quick access to all your actionable data exclusively for your store. And can utilize them accordingly.

Magento Platform FeaturesImage Source: Techcresendo.com

Small entrepreneurs always have the benefit of being agile when it comes to taking action.

You can go through my previous blog for “Benefits of Using Magento E-commerce Platform for Your Business“.

I’ve worked with the team at Andolasoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

LEARN MORE

I believe, Magento is one of the best eCommerce platforms available today, with editions, a range of community open-source, massive, large-scale enterprise SaaS-based systems.

Conclusions:

Certainly, it doesn’t matter how many recommendations you get from your friend or from any other sources,  You need to think twice while choosing an e-commerce platform.

Based on the recommendations above, you can go with any of it or other platforms that you like.

 If you want your Ecommerce software development, Andolasoft is here to help with all your stuff. Our expert developer will develop an amazing ecommerce websites for your business

Want to build your own eCommerce store? Talk to our Experts!

Top Areas and Features to Know for Successful E-Commerce Entrepreneur

Posted on by Jay

The flexibility of E-commerce development is growing fast. So today’s entrepreneurs are looking to establish a good online presence through eCommerce business because of the massive consumer base.

eCommerce industry is also expanding and providing opportunities for success and sustainability of the business.

Now, eCommerce has become the dominant feature for all business over the world. Industries like jewelry & accessories, household goods, consumer gadgets, phone accessories, and sports & outdoors gear are generating huge profit through eCommerce.

According to the statistics, the eCommerce business is expecting to grow double like 45% compared to the present 18% in rural and semi-urban areas.

Let’s have a quick look at the statistics of the eCommerce market,

  • There are expected to be 600,000 commercial drones in use by 2018, and almost half of Americans would be willing to receive deliveries by drone.
  • A 2015 survey showed customers spending almost 60% of their online shopping time on their mobile devices. That translated to only 15% of purchases made on mobile.
  • By 2021, it is predicted that early adopter brands that redesign their websites to support visual and voice search will increase digital commerce revenue by 30%.
  • By 2019, B2B firms will spend more on e-commerce technology than online retailers do.

(Source: https://www.disruptiveadvertising.com/ppc/ecommerce/2018-ecommerce-statistics/)

E-Commerce

According to the statistics, in 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021.

e-commerce

“By 2022, brick and mortar retail spaces will be little more than showrooms.”

 – Eddie Machaalani & Mitchell Harper, CO-CEOs of BigCommerce

“M-commerce sales worldwide reached an estimated $1.357 trillion in 2017 or 58.9% of eCommerce spending overall. By 2021, m-commerce will account for 72.9% of the eCommerce market.”

If you’re looking to become a successful online entrepreneur, you may be tempted to get into e-commerce.

With the advanced technology, it’s become pretty simple to develop eCommerce website/store for your first sale.

But you need to consider some crucial planning for your success, here you go:

1. Do Market Research and Understand tout Target customer:

Market research and reaching to the target audience are the most important things to get established in the eCommerce market.

Every buyer has different choices and marketing style. You need to understand what the target audience is looking into.

With a good strategy and analysis, the buyer’s persona can help you to reach your target audience and solve their problems. This also helps you to align your messages with motivations to purchase.

2. Maximize Visibility and presence on Social Media:

Social media is putting a high impact on the eCommerce market and this has become a crucial ingredient for reaching out to your target audience.

People are embracing social media with the help of their Smartphones and getting real-life information about product and service.

So it’s time to maximize the social presence of your brand and engage with your audience.

The recent report says that more than 70% of consumers are from social media referral source and consumers are also searching the vendor information in Social Media.

It’s very necessary to maximize your potentials in various social media channels through engaging contents and collect positive customer reviews, feedback, and testimonials to boost e-commerce conversion

3. Focus on Customer Experience

Customer experience is the most vital thing in eCommerce segments and you need to represent your business in such a way for the consumers so that they can feel the value and influence to purchase.

Customer experience is a great challenge for any entrepreneur. You have to make it more user-friendly with great design, easy navigation, appropriate pricing, provide free shipping, and simplify the shopping cart.

For the sustainable eCommerce business, you need to invest in your consumers and understand their touch points before they come into your buying cycle.

For smooth and enhanced customer experience you need to integrate live chat on the website and support assistance is much required.

4. Secure and Seamless Checkout Process

Normally people are very much hesitating to provide their personal information at the time of purchase or in the checkout process.

Consumers are always looking for some secure source from where they can do the transaction securely and they have the fear to fall in unauthorized hands.

You have to make the checkout process much secure so that consumer will understand and happy to share their financial details.

The checkout process must be in few steps with quick guides for the hassle-free and seamless transaction. Effective CTA (Call to action) buttons can also take the users confidence for secure transaction.

5. Adopt SEO

Well planned SEO strategies can maximize any organization profit to 10X more. Search Engine Optimization helps to maximize the visibility of your business and customers can found that quickly.

Adoption of SEO in eCommerce business helps you bring more traffic to the website and that eventually leads to conversion.

The SEO process is very much cost effective to bring your products and services in front of the consumer.

Conclusion:

To establish yourself as a successful entrepreneur in the eCommerce market, you need to do proper research on your target market as well as the audience and their buying persona.

The demand for eCommerce is growing and you need to make your website or eCommerce store secure and implement a seamless checkout process to get users trust.

We at Andolasoft do develop eCommerce applications and stores for various brands and online business organizations.  Thanks to the service of the experienced eCommerce developers, our customers are pretty happy with the services we offer.

Are you looking to develop a secure and user-friendly eCommerce application to be a successful entrepreneur in the eCommerce market?

We are here to help you. Let’s discuss.

Top Factors That Influence Online eCommerce Behavior

Posted on by Lori H Morrisis

You can setup the best eCommerce store in the world, but if you fail to fully understand online customer behavior or how to align your marketing practices for best results, you won’t get the results you’re looking for.

The good news is that there is lots of information on how to best market your products and services online.

It all begins with a working knowledge of your product and the niche in which you operate. It would also help to have a basic understanding of the operating systems that support your store. Then there’s the marketing side of things, and there is a good chance you will have to cover this essential aspect of retail all on your own.

But, there is one more crucial aspect of eCommerce that is sometimes underappreciated and misplaced in all the facts and figures. This is the behavior of the online customer. While the behavior seems pretty straightforward – a customer arrives on your site, sees something that interests them and if the price and shipping is acceptable, the transaction is made.

In a perfect world, yes! But, in reality things are rarely that simple. There is a lot more that goes into the buying process. The four stages of the frameworks are these:

  • Need recognition
  • Search for solution
  • Evaluation of alternatives
  • Purchase

Each of these stages of the process has specific factors that affect them. If you are thinking of investing time and effort into your store, you can’t ignore these crucial factors that affect your success.

The FFF Model Of Online Consumer Behavior

In 2012, two management professors working at the Priyadarshini Engineering College and S. B. Patil Institute of Management proposed a model for online customer behavior. Ujwala Dange’s and Vinay Kimar’s model is not the first of its kind, but is the most relevant one I have found to this day.

The FFF model includes both the external and internal factors when affecting buying behavior. It goes on to describe in detail some filtering elements that customers apply to their selection process when choosing a store to do business and the process that leads them to the final choice of product.

Let’s have a look at the factors that influence online shopping behavior,

1. Factors

From left to right, the first thing we see illustrated by Kumar and Dange are the factors that lead a customer to purchase a particular product. There are two categories the internal and external that affects a purchase. The external factors are those that can’t be controlled by the customer. These include five different sectors:

  • Demographics (including socio-economics, technology and public policy)
  • Culture
  • Subculture
  • Reference groups
  • Marketing

From these factors, the customer produces two very different buying emotions: non-functional and functional.

Functional motives for buying include those reasons that appeal to the needs of the consumer, such as the availability and convenience of a certain outlet. This could also include the environment of the shopping location and the selection of goods available.

Non-functional motives are related to reasons such as social values or cultural reasons for a purchase. These may include the specific brands available or the store brand itself.

2. Filtering Elements

Security, trust and privacy are the three hurdles that must be countered to attain successful online marketing. Customers use these three important factors to filter their stores and arrive at the one where they will be willing to do business. In other words, if you don’t pass these three tests from the customer, there is a good chance of losing customers, even if you are the cheapest option out there.

It is important to consider the risks involved with online purchases compared to conventional transactions in a brick and mortar location. Customers feel the lack of any tangible interaction as a high-risk purchase and must be reassured their cash and shopping experience is safe in every way.

They use the three factors mentioned to decide how reliable their retail outlet is.

Security

It is a hazard of the digital realm that information can be easily intercepted, lost or stolen. This includes the important figures of the payment made and the personal information of the individuals making a purchase.

The details of the transaction can be kept in the stores database and there are numerous cases of a security breach where all this sensitive information is accessed by the nefarious. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of this tendency to identity theft and are more cautious about who they hand this information to.

Privacy

Another important risk that even the most unassuming consumer is aware of is the threat that their information can finds it way to third parties with no end of misfortune. From spam to undesirable correspondence this is a serious issue. Even though the results of a privacy breach in this form will result in financial loss the inconvenience of this situation makes it serious enough to shun any non-trustworthy online retailer.

Trustworthiness

Trust is the single most important of the three and certainly the hardest to come by. There is an increasing amount of distrust online for these smaller stores. The obvious result is that bigger name corporations like Amazon are taking all the booty.

But, if you can attain a level of trust with your customer pool you will set yourself miles ahead of the competition. Trust tells the consumer they are the most important.

3. Filtered Buying Behaviour

The last topic covers a set of motives and expectations that your customers have about the filters set above and is important study material for the eCommerce entrepreneur.

How To Use Marketing Model To Develop a Better Store

Understanding these important points will allow you to build toward a better marketing model. The following takeaways should never be forgotten.

  • Understand that different demographics will have different motives for affecting their final purchasing decisions. Make sure that every aspect of your eCommerce presence is created with these details in mind.
  • Show some personality and present your human side in the store, this makes you a “real” person rather than a potentially dishonest machine. This can be done with those personal touches that show you really know your customer their needs and even what they like to see in a valued product.
  • Focus on customer service. If you are known for going the extra mile and making your customer feel it, you will reach that success you hope for. If they see you reaching out beyond the machine they will feel more inclined to do business with you.

Conclusion:

It’s very hard to read the exact behavior of users and consumers in your eCommerce business because online shopping completely depends on customers’ mindset. The above points can make your products to reach near your target users expectations. You need to do deep market and consumer behavior analysis.

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