Journey and drivers Peak 22

Buying gifts and holiday related items online is as popular as ever. Ecommerce is about to get its annual super injection as we enter the peak season of shopping. Riverty eCommerce Review wants merchants to help better understand consumers. This article is about the customer journey of peak season shopping, to help understand and delivering a great journey-experience and pull shoppers to your webshop.

On online shopper’s customer journey starts earlier than you may think. Well before the desired items are in the basket and move to the checkout screen, the process of shopping already begins. A smooth journey throughout all stages is a crucial important factor to build for your consumers, as 7 out of 10 say they consider the whole journey a key element when buying a product.

Buying gifts and holiday related items online is as popular as ever. Ecommerce is about to get its annual super injected as we enter the peak season of shopping. Riverty eCommerce Review wants merchants to help better understand consumers. This article is about the customer journey of peak season shopping, to help understand and delivering a great journey-experience and pull shoppers to your webshop.

On online shopper’s customer journey starts earlier than you may think. Well before the desired items are in the basket and move to the checkout screen, the process of shopping already begins. A smooth journey throughout all stages is a crucial important factor to build for your consumers, as 7 out of 10 say they consider the whole journey a key element when buying a product.

Consumers get their inspiration in physical stores and via talking to friends and family

Offline still plays a big part in getting inspired to buy new products and services. Consumers go out and about to garner information and inspiration in brick-and-mortar shops. Looking across all four countries, 34% says friends and family are a much-used source for inspiration, as well as browsing physical stores/window shopping. The third most common inspirational source for shopping online is traditional media, followed by commercials and lastly social media (claimed by 22% of consumers on average).

“In this phase of getting inspired, it is fair to say brands and shop owners should allocate their peak season budget to offline festivities in the awareness phase, as opposed to online spending. Later, allocating larger scale budget for retargeting consumers to remind them about what products they saw in brick-and-mortar stores. This is an effective way of nudging them into the next phase of the customer journey: researching products via online channels, like website and reviews.”

Researching and reviewing products is done via different online channels

After the physical browsing it is time to dig a little deeper, entering the phase of product research. 43% of consumers across the four countries visit online retailer websites, as their predominant method to research what and where to buy the intended product. Online channels remain dominant as searching for user reviews and visiting physical stores come into second place at almost 4 out of 10 consumers. Only 23% of consumers say asking an acquaintance is their way of researching a product.

Researching is an important step in both the journey and for later levels of satisfaction

The more research a shopper does on a product before buying, the more satisfied the shopper is. If a special need for a type of product arises, then researching what you need and where to buy reduces risk and leads to a higher sense of satisfaction. Furthermore, if the researching phase in the journey done right, it minimizes the chance on wanting to return items. In sum: research prior to purchase is key and is the basis for returning customer.

Keeping track of your shopping in peak season: online wish lists are popular among young consumers

It is not uncommon for consumers to be in different stages of multiple purchase journeys at the same time, we see that 6 of 10 consumers make lists of items that they aim to buy. Shoppers start, add, and alter their lists during online and offline shopping, as well as in their research phases. The practice of noting down shopping lists is most common among Norwegian consumers (67% claim to do this), and it is least common among German consumers where 57% say they keep shopping lists.

Move over websites and desktop, the smartphone and applications are the preferred ways for making online purchases

After getting inspired offline, online research and creating wishlists, it is time to get ahead and make a purchase. over the past two years there is a dramatic increase in smartphone share of all online buys. Consumers are migrating to smartphone and apps to get ahead with their purchase, whereas before it happened on a laptop/stationary desktop. A mobile website or application is now almost mandatory for a smooth shopping experience in the journey of buying in Peak season. The average smartphone share of all online purchases is now at 54%, with Norwegian shoppers having the highest share of 61% of all their online shopping done on a mobile device.

Drivers for trying new webshops

Online volumes are going up in Peak season. Every year we either see a continuous growth (or the hockey-stick effect in 2021) until late December. As an illustration, the volume in the UK went up from 4.9 in September to a massive volume of 7 in December. But what drives people to a webshop?

First and foremost: prices.

Low prices to be exact. As shoppers do their research prior to make their purchases in Peak, they study and browse the web to find a great deal. Obviously, they look for a good deal or discount, as the season already requires so many purchases with the upcoming holidays, festivities and get-togethers. On average, 62% says lower prices in a webshop are the number one driver to buy there. low prices are important across all segments: from Heavy to Light shoppers, from high to lower incomes, from Loyalty/Subscription shoppers to one-time purchasers.

Wide and special selection shops offer convenience: special items and one-stop-shops are a big pull factor for webshops.

Shops that offer many different types of products are music to shoppers’ ears. The December wish list may be long, it would be not-so-naughty-but-sure-nice if the shopping trips are short or done in one instance. Webshops with a wide range attract shoppers from all segments, with about 3 out of 10 shoppers explaining they would love to see a big product range, also with items they are not able to buy elsewhere.

Heavy online shoppers triggered by Value added services, Payment flexibility and Faster delivery

Lower prices, offering a bigger product range and better value-added services are instrumental in attracting shoppers who are normally loyal to other merchants. Providing these instruments lowers the threshold to switch or try out a new webshop.

Shoppers state these aspects would make them buy from a webshop where they previously have not purchased. Consumers who are classified as Heavy shoppers say more flexibility in payments or faster delivery time will entice them to shift purchases between merchants.

To attract, and retain, Heavy Online Shoppers, it is almost equally important for merchants to promise and deliver value added services as it is to show off low prices. Heavy Online Shoppers are also slightly more swayed by faster delivery time.

These abovementioned “rules” of the game of changing webshops are clearly visible in the graph. Since Heavy shoppers see so much value in lower prices, offering a bigger product range and better value-added services, they are also the ones who are more likely to try new shops and switch more easily.

It is important to listen to Heavy shoppers, as they are the ones who drive sales and conduct nearly 50% of all online purchases. Not bad for a shopper segment of only 15% of the total online shopper base. Especially in Peak season the Heavy shoppers are ready to seal a good deal. Black Friday is the biggest sales event of the season and that shows in the staggering 52% of heavy online shoppers who intend to buy on the Friday 25^th of November 2022.

In sum:

It is important to understand your customer's interactions with your webshop and meet their needs. The journey of making a purchase starts well before the online shop visit, and their journey and experience does not end at the payment screen. Listen to their needs and desires and attract them into your webshop. Are you ready for the big shopping season? Act now and watch this space for more insights and ecommerce reviews.

The Peak season shopper-journey and webshop drivers.