To buy or not to buy? How to use data to convert hesitant shoppers

Looking for any way to squeeze more sales? Maybe you’re neglecting one group of customers that could send some cash your way if you only paid attention to them.

What are you doing about your indecisive shoppers, people who browse your shop a lot but don’t buy?

Yes, there are ways to make them finally place an order and you’re missing out on a golden opportunity here.

Those people already indicate interest in your products by visiting your site repeatedly. Hold on to them.

You should be using all the information they leave when “just browsing” to fight their objections and help them make a buying decision.

Even when they don’t place an order, people leave traces:

– what products and categories they looked at,

– what content they consumed,

– what other pages they visited (like terms & conditions or delivery),

– how often they check your site,

– how often they buy something, and many more.

All this data from your ecommerce analytics can be used to make perfectly-timed and hyper-personal marketing messages to catch those hesitant shoppers on the spot and convert them before they can resist.

Here are 5 ways to put the info you already have to use and make some extra revenue.

Triggered emails at specific customer actions

That’s the first thing you could set up easily and fire away every time someone engages promisingly with your site and leaves.

Automating emails to follow up on specific actions taken on the site keep the conversation going and keep you in the potential customer’s mind for longer.

Using the concrete information what they’re interested in, indicated by their actions, you can make your emails much more relevant than just sending the same “come back” email to all your contacts.

What different triggered emails can you craft? Here are a few examples of events worth following up on and possible email content:

• Read an article -> special ebook/ pdf with much more info
• Download a free resource -> include a coupon for all products featured in the resource
• View a certain category (e .g. Sale, seasonal, new in, etc.) -> a buying guide with products from this category only, tips for choosing and using, and a discount code
• Register for site membership -> ask them what they’re interested in – for example, new products, tips & tricks, promotions, and tag them to receive only the emails they want
• Complete a quiz or other engagement tool -> walk them through the relevant products matching the results of the quiz or the scope of the game (e.g. summer mountain hiking gear)

Press after a certain number of sessions

A classic psychological trick of shopping assistants at brick-and-mortar shops is to start pushing for a decision after the client has spent quite some time in shop.

Related: Imitating offline shops

They take this as a real proof of interest and use it to convince the buyer.

Most people feel uncomfortable to waste somebody’s time and resources and make a purchase out of politeness. Their justification goes along the lines of, “I really have been checking that thing out every day for the past month. I like it. Nothing wrong with buying it.”

You can use the same tactic after they’ve made a number of sessions or have viewed the same product a few times without buying.

What can be stopping them from placing an order?

• Not sure how the product looks in reality or if it’s a good fit
• Not trusting it’s the quality advertised
• Waiting for a price drop
• They’re still not in a hurry to buy

You can overcome all these objections with simple emails. Prove you really want to help them make the right choice by giving more information:

• Draw their attention to your user-generated/ Instagram pictures of the product in use
• Show the product in action with a video.
• Highlight the positive reviews and publicity you’ve received
• Promise free returns and exchanges
• Offer a discount, or state why you don’t do discounts and claim your value
• Stage a limited quantity stunt to create urgency
• Curate a list of related products to create a fuller vision of what the experience will be (e.g. full set of camping gear instead of just the sleeping bag)

Shorten the customer journey

Maybe some customers don’t convert because the whole process is too much effort. Without going into the vast topic of conversion optimization, there are three basic things you can do.

Quick preview

Some commodity and staple products can be bought without reading a ton of specs.

An option to quickly add to cart right from the category page can earn you extra orders from impatient shoppers who wouldn’t waste time opening product pages.

List product variants separately

Some people can’t go to each product page and all of its variations.

For the sake of converting them, listing different colors, for example, as separate products on the category page might make it less of a hassle.

Special categories on home page

People often look for an item to use on a special occasion – a best-man suit, 50-anniversary gift, swing dance shoes for absolute beginners, etc., etc.

So they tend to browse around a lot, hesitating if the items listed under the general categories would be suitable for their specific need.

To make decisions easier for those customers, it’s a good idea to have curated sections with suitable items ready. This will reassure them and make a purchase seem less risky.

Send perfectly-timed reminders

When you know how much time your customers take between one order and the next, it’s a child’s play to send them a reminding email just before they’re ready to shop again.

Instead of waiting for that next order, proactively show them what’s new, build on their previous purchases, and move at their own pace.

That strategy catches customers in buying mode and saves you useless emails at other times when they’re not going to convert by no means.

It also keeps a healthy relationship with the customer without spamming too much so they don’t feel overwhelmed or annoyed, and churn.

Learn from browsing behavior

To find out what troubles your “window shoppers” so they don’t place an order, look at their browsing sessions.

If they bounce back and forth through categories and products, maybe they’re really not looking for anything in particular. Making your social follow buttons and New in category more prominent might help them stay in touch with your brand while waiting for the right item to steal their heart and money.

If they check out pages like terms and conditions, shipping, delivery and so on, you might have trust issues. It’s better to display the main points right on the product pages so they don’t need to worry.

If they always check out only one category, you can try hyper-targeted content via email and remarketing on Facebook with the same products.

See, converting hesitant shoppers is not impossible, you already have the data to use. Since behavior reveals tastes, interests and preferences, the result is not just revenue for you, but better customer experience and happier customers who got products they really like.