The 10 keys to seducing and conquering consumers online (Part 1)

E-commerce is one of the new tools that brands and companies have discovered in recent years to connect with consumers and to offer their products and services. Its growth has been increasing in recent times, which has meant that more and more sectors have been incorporated into online sales. There is more to see, for example, what has happened with food. The super online has become a new competitor with strength in the market.

But this growth of e-commerce not only implies more opportunities but also more work and more analysis. Firms need to understand what consumers want in that environment and how they can adjust to it to position themselves. How can you get into the online shopping habits of consumers? How can you connect with potential customers and get them done with your own products and not those of the competition?

One of the mistakes that are usually made in e-commerce is to see it as a kind of isolated reality, in which it only matters what is being seen at that moment. However, what is important on the internet is not only what happens at the moment when the consumer enters the web and thinks about buying, but starts much earlier and encompasses many more elements. As pointed out in the analysis, it is important to make a communication campaign so that consumers know the brand and its products and to start not only to be aware of their existence before buying but also to trust in it.

How can you talk to the consumer when you are selling online; and especially how you can break the trend to go to another scenario where they can buy cheaper? Competition in terms of price on the internet is quite brutal, and companies have to be able to position themselves in a much more efficient way to nullify that trend. In fact, analysts point out that we have to work to differentiate ourselves. That is to say, we have to work to create a brand identity that is unique and different and thus make the price much less relevant.

The promotions have traditionally been a powerful tool to attract consumers that have been employed by all types of companies and brands. On the internet, promotions are much more important and decisive, as consumers value them and look for them much more than they seek and value them in other scenarios. Brands and companies have to use these weapons, but they have to play with them in an efficient way. They have to know how to use them to attract the consumer and retain it.

One of the less attractive experiences I had buying online (and one of the most memorable from the negative point of view) was in an online supermarket. When I was buying I discovered that they had a quantity limit that I could ask to be sent home, something quite absurd when one of the reasons for buying online is to get high amounts of those products that you do not want to buy all the time at the supermarket.

The analysis also highlights this reality: online stores have to be able to offer the volumes of product that the consumer wants. Consumers buy three times more online (that is, if they make the purchase online they will buy, say, three times as many bottles of water). Therefore, you have to be able to offer what the consumer wants to buy and always have the stock prepared.

Or what is the same, online shopping not only has to be simple and simple, but it has to be integrated with many other elements so that consumers have what they are looking for when they want it. Allowing to make shopping lists or wish lists, for example, are already mandatory issues.