What is the customer’s journey?
What elements does the purchasing process consist of? A lot depends on the customer – everyone may go through the purchase path a little differently, depending on the decisions made along the way, but there are some common points that we will find in each variant.
For the purposes of this article, we have adopted a somewhat simplified process, consisting of six main and two optional steps – each of which we will describe in detail.
Main steps
- Step 1: identify the need
- Step 2: search for a solution
- Step 3: check alternatives
- Step 4: purchase decision
- Step 5: purchase
- Step 6: purchase evaluation
Optional steps
- Step 7: return to the store
- Step 8: active promotion
Step 1: identify the problem
To begin with, before the thought of buying even enters the customer’s mind, he or she must notice a problem or need. A simple example to visualize this step could be… a broken screen on a phone. A customer who happens to have such an accident faces a problem – he is unable to use the phone he needs: at work, to contact relatives or to use various applications on a daily basis.
If you run a store with smartphones and smartphone accessories, you can already prepare for this moment of the buying process: set up a blog, and in the posts published there, answer the questions of customers that may arise in such situations. “What to do if the screen on your phone breaks?”. “Screen replacement – is it worth it?” and similar topics can draw traffic to your site at a later stage – when the customer is looking for a solution to their problem or a way to satisfy a need.
Step 2: search for a solution
When the phone is no longer usable, there is a need to solve a pressing problem. To this end, the customer starts asking questions, and your company should be the answer. So the user starts looking for a solution on the Internet. If you have prepared your store well for this moment, you may be able to make the customer skip step three.
Users who get to your store quickly enough and find solid content and meaningful suggestions for solving a problem will gain trust in your brand. That’s why it’s so important to create expert content, not advertising content. Offer solutions, not products to buy. If you’re selling new phones but not providing repair services, don’t be silent about the possibility. Tell potential customers about alternatives. If you don’t, you will lose credibility. On the other hand, when a visitor comes across specific answers to their questions, and with them gains information about your products or services, you can be sure that they will at least consider buying from you.
This is a good time to consider launching a retargeting campaign. It will come in handy when the consumer goes to step three and starts looking for the most favorable alternative. If your proposal is displayed to him at the right moment, you will end up in a leading position in the race.
Step 3: check alternatives
Let’s assume that the customer has already decided not to repair the phone – instead, he wants to equip himself with a new camera. In this case, it may give him a headache how many different models are available on the market. But let’s skip this aspect – let’s focus on what a customer who is decided on a particular product can do.
It is obvious that at this point there will be a comparison of product prices. Even though the differences in prices of smartphones are often not large, the consumer’s choice is likely to fall on the cheapest offer anyway. Recent data shows that as many as 97% of online shoppers first check the price and compare it with other stores.
Next in line are reviews of the store. A suspiciously low price will make the customer first want to make sure that the store they are about to send money to is reliable. That’s why reviews about the store – delivery time, quality of service, etc. – are so important. Once a potential customer decides he can’t place his trust in a particular store, he will return to search.
What most often turns people away from a store are bad reviews, a small number of them and, finally, low credibility. So make sure that people who search for your store on the Internet feel that they have come to the right place. You will achieve this with real reviews from your customers.
Step 4: purchase decision
There comes a moment of decision – that’s the moment when the choice falls on your store or on your competitors. If the customer chooses your services, it means that you still have a lot of work ahead of you. However, if he chooses your competitors, the work involved in “winning back” a potential one will be only slightly more.
If you have previously succeeded in acquiring a lead (for example, through a newsletter or a form on a promotional landing page), you can try to intervene – for example, by calling back customers who have abandoned their shopping carts or browsed a particular product category, but did not make a purchase. This is the perfect time to offer would-be customers a shopping discount, free shipping on products, or some other perk to convince them to transact.
Step 5: purchase
Has your work yielded results and a customer placed an order with your store? This is great news, but it means that the real work is just beginning. You’ve acquired a customer, but a lot depends on how you treat them.
Let’s go back to our example with the purchase of a smartphone. The customer adds the product to the shopping cart and then proceeds to the next steps of the order. What she encounters in this step is of great importance.
The process of finalizing a transaction can be simple and enjoyable, or it can cause great inconvenience to visitors. It’s up to you to make sure that you make the purchase as easy as possible. There are many methods to help achieve this – it’s worth trying at least a few of them:
- shopping without creating an account – everyone wants to acquire a regular customer, but if there is a chance to buy a smartphone for several thousand zlotys, it is better not to let it pass. Even if the customer makes the purchase as a guest, you will gain access to data that will allow you to launch remarketing activities in the future.
- visualize the purchase process – if the process of finalizing the transaction in your store consists of several steps, it is worth showing it to the customer right away. This way he will be able to assess how much longer it will take to place an order. The ideal number of steps is three to five. If there are more, showing them all may discourage them from completing the purchase.
- transparent costs – make sure your store makes it easy to see how much shipping costs and the full cost of the transaction are when placing an order. This is especially important if you sell low-priced or large-volume products where shipping is a significant part of the cost. If a customer sees the price of a product without shipping costs throughout the shopping experience, giving them this information at the end can cause frustration. Many customers will then abandon the shopping process, and the chance that they will return will drop to almost zero.
Step 6: purchase evaluation
There is only one thing going on between the purchase and its evaluation from the buyer’s perspective: expectation. It, too, has a huge impact on the final evaluation. The seller, however, has his hands full during this time. He has to complete the order, pack it, secure it and ship it – all in the shortest possible time.
Once the goods arrive, it’s time for recapitulation. If the products turn out to be as described, and the package is properly secured and arrives on time, the buyer will be satisfied. But does this mean that he will want to share his impressions with the world? Not necessarily.
If you want to increase the chances of receiving a positive comment or review on Google, there are several actions you can take, such as offering a discount on your next purchase for posting a review, or inserting a hand-written message in your package thanking people for shopping and inviting them to share their opinion of your store. In a word: anything that makes your store stand out in a positive way increases the chances of a good rating.
Step 7: return to the store
If you have maintained professionalism in all the other steps and given your best, the customer may return for further purchases. Although the example with the smartphone is unfortunate (we don’t often buy new phones, after all), it is not unlikely that in search of a camera for a child or other family member, the customer will decide to return to your store.
You can also try… to encourage the customer to come back for more purchases. An email with information about a discount on phone accessories, a text message informing about new models available in the store, or a message about a seasonal sale (related to vacations or Christmas) – such actions do not require a lot of work, and can bring concrete benefits, such as another order.
Another option is to launch a loyalty program that will give the customer a specific, measurable reason to make their next purchase with you.
Step 8: active promotion
This step is the least frequent – the road to it is very long and you can’t expect to get many active promoters on a daily basis. However, this does not mean that you should give up trying to get them.
An active promoter is a customer who, after a purchase, is so satisfied that he decides to recommend your store – to friends, family, co-workers. Such a person is almost the Holy Grail for a retailer. Her disinterested involvement and sincere feedback will help you attract more customers and significantly shorten their path to purchase.
Remember: every additional customer can become a promoter of your store! Fulfill every order as if the future of your business depended on it.
Summary
The customer’s path from new to returning (or even active promoter) is long and winding. Your job is to trace, analyze and understand this process, and then do your best to make this crossing easier for the customer. An engaged salesperson is a win-win. The consumer gets a good experience and an enjoyable buying process, while the vendor can look forward to gaining a regular customer.
