Customers are the backbone of businesses as they provide the fuel that burns the wheel of any business, whether small or large. The number of customers a business attracts goes a long way in determining whether they expand by opening new branches or close pre-existing branches of the business.
The multinational companies that are in existence today are still alive because they have a customer base that trusts in their ability to provide quality goods and services to them. When people visit or relocate to a new environment, they ask for directions from their host or neighbors about where the best shop for certain products or services is located. The shop they will be recommended to is those that over the years, have been trusted by the individual to offer the best product and service in the neighborhood.
The emergence of online marketing has made it possible for various commodities to be found online. Customers can also verify the authenticity of the product they wish for, the quality of products or foods to shop online, and the best services they can obtain from various sources.
Businesses must understand how customers decide on an online shop to do business with, and how unsatisfied customers or bad reviews can either promote or destroy your business. This article will help businesses understand some factors that contribute to customer shopping behaviors.
Search Engines
For most people, the quickest way to find any product they wish to purchase is by using search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. These search engines place websites that offer the best quality of products and services on the first page, thus helping the customer narrow and hasten his search.
Recommendations
People do not only make referrals in the physical market; referrals also happen online. Various groups in different platforms have people who offer advice on various products and services of online shops. A visit to review websites like ReviewsBird.com can turn up more information on customers’ online shopping behaviors.
Reviews
One of the first things a prospective customer does when visiting a website or online page is to navigate to the review section, where they can read the comments of different people that in the past have done business with the platform before they decide to either buy or leave the shop.
Risk
Because most businesses conducted online do not bring the customer into physical proximity with the seller, some customers may be skeptical when it comes to making that final decision of paying for a product online, which is why some stores offer pay-on-delivery options.
Service
Some products bought online might not come with instructional manuals to allow the customer to fix the product themselves, or have very poor customer services in place that do not respond to customers inquiries quickly.
How can businesses benefit from the knowledge of customer shopping behavior?
Customer service
In any organization that sells commodities either in the physical market or online, good customer communication skill is important, as it goes a long way in determining if a customer will return or promote that organization.
Relevance
The service your business renders to your customers that motivates them to return to do business with you is important and must be maintained. Your competitors are studying your business strategy and quality of the products or service, and any wrong decision or a drop in the quality of products or services would push your customers to your competitors.
Understanding your customers is important and beneficial only when there is a plan in place to profit from the knowledge.