It’s not the most scientific reference, but in the film “Confessions of a Shopaholic” the famous quote goes “when I shop, the world gets better”. We all know it’s true. Whether a customer is shopping online because they need something or because they want something, that sense of gratification at the end of a purchase is there. That customer will probably even shop with you again!
BUT, and it’s a big one, this only happens if that customer doesn’t abandon said purchase. At an alarming 50-80%, basket abandonment is higher than ever and retailers need to be doing more to reduce it.
Encouraging customers to buy from you starts with understanding what’s driving customers to buy from you and why they’re shopping generally. Now, this is where psychology comes into play with Noble prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s theory on how the human brain functions. In short, what drives a purchase (that gratification at the end!) is our System 1 brain (emotional), as opposed to System 2 (logical) which only plays a small part in the decision making process. That System 1 brain can be triggered in the ecommerce journey at various stages, with both the positive and negative flagged. For instance, product scarcity would trigger a negative emotion because of the sense of urgency attributed to a product. Whereas customer reviews are positive. For our tips below, we’ve highlighted whether it’s positive or negative for reference.
If you’re starting a new strategy for your ecommerce website, then ’emotional ecommerce’ is definitely an overarching concept you should consider when mapping out the changes you’ll be making.
We took a look at a few websites dishing up great emotional ecommerce selling techniques to their customers. Some of these examples are Magento, some not, but take note of the styles they use and the way their content engages customers to help stop them from abandoning a potential purchase.
Create Product Scarcity
In the same way that exclusive offers and flash sales cause shoppers to throw rational thought out of the window, lower stock levels create a fear of loss and a sense of urgency that encourages consumers to buy. They’re used commonly on the PDP and in product variation drop downs.
Emotion type: negative
Stock countdown
‘Limited time only’ messaging
‘In your basket for another 20 mins’ messaging
Whilst the above options are not suitable for every ecommerce business, there will be variations that achieve the same result. So, analyse your website experience and customer demographic to find out what you think will work best for your Magento website.
#FOMO
One of the key reasons that we buy comes down to how popular we think a product is. If you’re a trend-focused brand, using information that allows you to exploit FOMO (fear of missing out) will help to boost conversion.
Emotion type: negative
One of the key reasons that we buy comes down to how popular we think a product us. If you’re a trend-focused brand, using tools that allow you to exploit FOMO (fear of missing out) will help to
‘X people are viewing this’ or ‘only X left in stock’ is a good way of creating product scarcity and highlighting how popular a product is
User Reviews
We all know that pretty much everyone (61% in 2015 according to Econsultancy!) looks at reviews before they buy from anyone online. But why does that happen?
Emotion type: positive
They positively reinforce how great (or not great!) retailers are and build trust with customers.
It’s for confirmation that others are doing something we’re thinking of doing – Psychologists call this ‘social proof’.
Reviews are the most persuasive tool you have to hand and TrustPilot is so confident in the ROI retailers will see that they’ve created a calculator for retailers who are new to their services.
Reviews are an endorsement, in the same way that a social influencer/blogger is. This is not new information and the reason why retailers use reviews is because of the way that customers shop; it is more conversational, more transient.
How to do these on Magento
These three changes to your Magento 2 website could really make a difference to your pre-checkout game and can be installed relatively quickly using plug-ins that are available on the Magento Marketplace. For TrustPilot, you’ll need to ‘claim’ your business on the website, which will allow you to respond to any negative customer inquiries too – another great way to boost positive customer vibes!
There are so many changes that you can make to your website to make it more emotionally driven, whether it’s UX changes, website speed, a better checkout, art direction, your branding. The list is endless because every part of your ecommerce business plays on the emotions of customers, how they feel about your shop and you as a brand.
If you’d like our team of Diligent experts to help you with your Magento website on an ongoing basis or with a website refurbish, email us on hello@diligentcommerce.com
