The main motivations of customers to shop online – Tips for e-commerce

You can have it all – with just a few clicks. It is obvious that with the growth of e-commerce, more and more people are opting for this form of shopping.

In 2021, the number of online shoppers will reach 2.14 billion people. This is an impressive 27.6% of all people in the world!

Can’t you imagine that? More than one out of every four people around you is an online shopper! You’re probably wondering why online transactions are so popular? In this article, I will tell you about the main motivations of customers to shop online. If you are part of e-commerce these may be valuable tips for you. Who knows… maybe it would help you expand your online sales potential even further.

Source: Statista.com

Comfort is paramount

You’ll probably agree with me that, above all, this is what we follow when we shop. We are customers too, after all. Online stores are overcrowded, because they give their users what they need – comfort and convenience. The possibility to do shopping at any time and from any place, numerous price comparison sites, as well as opinions and recommendations of products – all this assures the users of the highest quality of goods they have decided to purchase. Extensive support is also provided by Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, thanks to which the customer can experience the product without moving from home (e.g. through QR codes, 3D visualizations, the use of virtual fitting rooms, or the assistance of virtual salespeople!).

Source: Style.me

Secondly, TIME!

Who of us in the daily rush, a multitude of duties at work and housework has time for shopping? To find at least an hour and visit our favorite stores, we must band over backwards. Of course, there are days when we can afford a visit to the shopping mall – periods before Christmas, vacations, days off. It’s just a pity that during these times stores are overcrowded with people. So why bother, just sit on the couch, open your laptop or take your smartphone and simply browse your favorite product categories in peace and quiet.

Whether you’re a bargain hunter or just want to buy something for yourself in peace and quiet, online shopping is the perfect solution for you. Along with convenience, this is another of the main factors convincing customers to visit online stores. Consumers also save time thanks to numerous price comparison sites – instead of checking prices on the tag several times (or worse, asking staff), walking from store to store to find something cheaper, they can simply find a interesting offer for themselves in a few seconds. Sounds great. I think I’m going to take advantage of it myself!

If we are already talking about time, it is worth mentioning that online shopping can be done at any time – even in the middle of the night, on days when all the stores are closed and when for some reason we have to stay at work or at home. There are no limits here!

Source: idealo.co.uk

Customers like order

Another thing – order! Customers like to find what they came for. They don’t want to waste their time looking through everything in the store. They have more interesting things to do! Products grouped in clear categories do the job! This is another factor that makes users choose to shop online. Just think: you are looking for a white t-shirt in size 38, you select the appropriate category or filter products by color, size, cut and sleeve length. You find your product in just a few seconds. It’s a different matter when you go into a large physical store and want to find the same product. Piles of clothes that don’t match your expectations at all.

By the time you find a basic white t-shirt you will have lost some valuable time. In stores products are mixed, often for the first several minutes you just browse what you come across. Not a very nice feeling, right? After this introduction, you can empathize with your customers and further optimize your store to make it easier for them to navigate through it.

Source: hm.com

Safety during a pandemic

It is now commonplace to take care of your own safety and avoid situations that could put your health at risk. Regardless of how much truth there is in the Covid-19 debates, customers are right, better safe than sorry. Some are frightened by large gatherings of people in shopping malls, close encounters with other customers in physical stores and rubbing up against each other in lines or wearing the same clothes as a dozen other customers that day. Now, comfort and security have become even more of a factor, making customers prefer to stay at home, browse through grouped product categories at their convenience, in a place and above all – in peace and quiet. What’s more: try on products taken straight from the warehouse, not available to physical-store customers. Not only comfort and safety, but also hygiene! Will it stay that way after the end of the pandemic? Probably the users who have chosen online shopping during this period will partly stay with this form, but the rest will want to return to traditional shopping. However, as it was mentioned at the beginning of this article – e-commerce doesn’t stop and continues to grow, so the group of customers who will return to the mall will not make much difference here. You can keep some of them in your online store, but you’ll read about how to do that in the next section.

Shopping from home, plus… FREE SHIPPING

Could it be even better? Time saving, comfort, peace of mind, taking care of your own health, grouped products where you can easily find what you are looking for. And to top it all: delivery straight to your home! Perfect. Isn’t that what we’ve all been waiting for? Your customers are also convinced. Are there any other disadvantages to online shopping?

Free delivery is not only a great benefit for your customers, but also for you. Especially if its terms go hand in hand with a friendly return policy. By offering free shipping, you can really increase your customer base and the number of orders and their value. Customers get free shipping, so they feel they can put more expensive products in their cart. It really works.

You don’t have to cover the shipping costs yourself, just add it to the price of the product. And you’re done!

Source: MVMT.com

Great, you’ve just learned the main motivations for customers to shop online. Now that you’ve gotten through this topic, I encourage you to also check 5 ways to get your customers to visit your online store again. If customers came to you for the first time – because of any of the above factors – then take the opportunity to invite them back.