Have you ever wondered why you made a particular purchase you didn’t plan on getting beforehand?
Many a time you set out with the intention of buying the perfect product, but you often settle for something else at the end.
The things are signals and information register in your mind unconsciously. This is a singular fact that department stores and even online marketplaces use as a huge advantage. They know that your mind is registering some basic signs which have an overall influence on your shopping decision and they play on that fact.
For the buyer, shopping is not a science based on a predetermined set of rules; it is instead a necessity. You have to shop. Be it for food, clothes, gadgets or furniture; you have to go out and buy. There are so many options out there that make the decision-making process harder. Even if you set out with a mind of steel fixated on a particular product, the grass always looks greener on the other side and is why there are so many impulsive shoppers out there – in fact, love.shopping.fm claims that 84% of people have made a shopping decision based on impulse at some point.
Organizing an experience in a brick and mortar store takes into account many factors that affect shopping decisions and habits, and most shoppers do not particularly well understand these subtle clues and pointers.
Similarly, arranging a web page into a particular fashion, relying on ethical marketing practices and reliable customer data, is the intersection of functionality, good looks, sense of control for the customer and many others. That’s one of the main reasons why robust e-commerce platforms like Magento 2 are so widely adopted.
Magento, in particular, is designed with online shopping in mind and provides a massive array of tools to implement to perfection any marketing strategy that comes to mind. Whatever is missing from its core functionality, can be easily added with the top quality extensions, made by Mageplaza, which enhance the customer experience and boost the user engagement manifold.
You see, for the people who set storefronts and optimize websites, shopping is very much a science. If you don’t trust me, check out a short online course at a quality learning platform like Udemy and the infographic below to see the real power of a well-structured website and good contextual promotion.
There you can find out that how you shop depends on the mode of shopping, you decide to adopt. A way to categorize these modes is conscious shopping and unconscious shopping.
As the name suggests, conscious shopping occurs when you deliberately go out to shop armed with the means to make an informed decision. Unconscious shopping is the opposite of that. These two modes of shopping have their different characteristics, and they are listed for you below.
Characteristics of Conscious Shopping
You buy less
You opt for quality over quantity
You shop with a list
Armed with a budget which you follow strictly
Attributes of Unconscious Shopping
You shop together with friends and family
You buy because you are lonely or bored
You purchase an item just because it’s on sale
You never ask yourself why you need a particular piece
Some factors affect the shopping decisions you make. These factors are mostly sensory and are indirect. But trust us, they have a significant influence on the purchases you make.
1. Visual information:
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words which is especially true when it comes to shopping. Even without focusing on an image, your mind is absorbing the information unconsciously. The human brain processes visual information is sixty thousand times faster than written information. And huge brands and departmental stores know this very well, indeed. A whopping 90% of information sent your way is visual, and this ultimately affects your decision-making process.
2. Colors:
A staggering 80% of shoppers have admitted to making a decision based on colors proven that colors increase brand recognition by up to 80%. Colors which always attract shoppers are yellow, red, green, blue, Black, orange, and purple. In fact, bright colors such as red and orange used by food chains. That is because these colors awaken hunger and tend to attract compulsive shoppers.
3. Music:
Everybody can relate to music. It might not be the same tune as your neighbor’s, but you listen to music. And this affects your shopping choices. 33% of shoppers have admitted to staying longer in stores to finish listening to a particular song. On the average, 24% of shoppers have acknowledged to waiting longer in a store because of the music played. Classical music in wine stores has been known to push shoppers into buying expensive brands of wine. All small things add up.
Even from the comfort of your home while shopping online, some factors still affect your psychology. These factors include free shipping, increased website speeds, favorable customer and product reviews, attractive deals, and presence of images and videos.
Infographic URL:
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
