Archive for August, 2016
Different online shopping habits of various Generations
Everyone approaches online shopping differently, but were you aware that every generation has a different behaviour when it comes to shopping? Some generations are thrifty and don’t like to spend much money, while others live in the moment saying YOLO (for those who don’t know, that means you only live once).
As a result, marketers must cater for these different behaviours and with the world of online shopping that can be both trickier, and easier at the same time.
For starters, millennials and baby boomers are living in smaller spaces which means they don’t need as many items for their home as previous generations. They can get by with much fewer items for their home.
That said, there is another side to the story. Millennials are moving out of the home and must, therefore, buy furniture for their new apartment or house, most likely a house though if they live in a major city in Australia.
With the rise of fast fashion and cheap outlets like Zanui, people do not want to spend huge amounts on furniture and will often hunt around for the cheapest item they can find.
There is, however, an opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this and market their products towards these groups.
Baby boomers are willing to spend money in other areas.
According to research, they’re investing money into homewares and travel, so there are opportunities for online stores to promote these products to a greater extent than they presently are. That’s where the real opportunity lies.
Marketers need to take a different approach when dealing with millennials. Millennials have a much higher disposable income from other generations and as such, they have unsurpassed spending power.
With that though comes increased demand. Millennials know what they want and given they’ve all grown up with the technology they’re able to research the best deals online so they have all the facts in front of them prior to shopping.
Despite millennials wanting the best price around and despite the rise of fast fashion, they are loyal to their preferred brands when shopping.
Generation Z, the generation born after the mid-1990s, although like other generations there is no particular date, are less loyal to their brands. In fact, they don’t even have “their brands”. They are much more about price and will switch brands if they find cheaper elsewhere.
With increasing numbers of Generation Z consumers, marketers are faced with a real challenge. Once upon a time, it was possible to market to your consumers based on loyalty and relationships. Anyone in sales or who have known people who have sold products knows the importance of relationship building, and that you must develop a relationship with your consumers. That relationship can be performed in numerous ways, including through discounts for loyal customers, special products and rewards for loyalty etc.
As mentioned though, it’s harder to reach Generation Z this way so marketers must look to other ways.
When making purchasing decisions they consider online reviews and like to know what their peers are saying about brands or products. Despite them not being loyal to their brands, trust is a big factor that will influence their shopping habits. They are not fast to trust strangers and unsurprisingly they hate being lied to.
It has been well documented in the past that millennials do not like being tied down. While other generations liked the security and didn’t mind being locked into contracts, Millennials like to have the freedom to move around and shop for the best deal. That’s much harder to do if you’re locked into a two-year contract.
Millennials know all too well that they may miss out on a better deal if they are locked into a contract and that is why they avoid them. Millennials like to maintain freedom and the ability to choose.
That is why online shopping is fantastic, it allows consumers the choice and ability to conduct prior research before they buy a product. They can become fully informed without being locked in, and brands don’t lose out on possible consumers.
Comparison vs Daily Deal websites
There are so many different types of websites online offering discounts and advice around the best possible online deal. With so many, it’s easy to get confused and not know the differences between what a daily deal and a comparison site are. Luckily for you, we’ve done the research and can take away the mystery for you.
So what exactly is a daily deal website and how does it differ from a comparison site? Firstly, we must discuss what a daily deal website is.
A daily deal website is a website which offers daily deals. They offer daily deals based on agreements with retailers that are, as we’ve just explained, daily deals. They are limited offers. Generally speaking, daily deals will only last for up to a few weeks. Most commonly they will appear on the website for a few days at a time.
The main selling point of a daily deal is that they are a limited offer. They are only available for a short period of time to a select number of people and will not be extended.
There are many daily deal websites like Scoopon, Groupon and others. They specialise in restaurant, travel, health and fitness and other small goods that you would generally want a discount on.
The discount you get on daily deal websites can be anywhere from 10% right up to 50% and in some cases, it will be much higher. It comes down to the individual retailer who is offering the deal through the website.
Of course, what many people are not told up front is that a daily deal will normally have add-ons. That means that if your deal is for a drink and a meal at a restaurant it will only be up to a certain value and if you want to go above that value you will need to pay more.
The goal of daily deals is to get you in the door. Once you’re in the door it is easier to get your money and much easier to upsell to you. It’s like any sale. Getting the first part of the sale is always the hardest part but once you have crossed that threshold it is much easier to upsell to you. The key for businesses wanting to upsell is that their product must be good enough to entice the customer to spend more money.
Comparison sites are completely different from daily deal websites. The only similarities between the two is that they are websites and they are online. There is no other similarity.
A comparison website is designed so that people can compare various brands in a particular category. For example, comparison sites are popular across the following industries:
- Airlines
- Electricity
- Insurance
- Credit cards
A comparison site will take all the major brands and even some of the non-major brands that you wouldn’t think of when looking to change your insurance or credit card provider. They will then list the features of each product and you will be able to compare the different prices that are on offer.
Price isn’t all that is compared to a comparison website. They also analyse the features and benefits such as:
- What is the interest rate?
- What add-ons do I get?
- What rewards are available?
The comparison sites will analyse how the features and benefits stack up with the cost of the product.
Unlike product reviews which take a stance, comparison sites will review the products with impartiality and just lay out the facts for you without an opinion.
Comparison sites allow people to conveniently see what various brands are offering in one location and then make an informed decision on what product or service to purchase rather than just going with what seems like the best deal, but may not be.
Shopping at Ebay at the Lowest Prices
In today’s economic climate people don’t have as much discretionary income as they might have in previous times. This is due to the rising cost of living. As a result, they want to be sure that they are not paying too much for goods and services. That leads to them making decisions to save money. One such decision means that they are searching online for cheaper prices and looking for the best discounts they can possibly get their hands on.
Their online search is quite extensive and they will conduct research to find the best value for money. Value for money is not just defined by the lowest price. It is also defined by the number of features and the quality of the product that you are purchasing. People will look at goods on a number of sites. The sites they look at for the best deal around extends to Ebay as well as the major online retailers and discount chain stores.
Ebay allows shoppers access to many more products than what they could find in their local area. EBay has such a wide range of products that you can easily choose from without even leaving your house. All you need to do is go onto the website and enter a search term of the products that you want. Then you’re away and can easily find the products that you want.
Shopping through Ebay gives you access to products at prices you wouldn’t otherwise have access to. You can find products at a rate cheaper than what you would pay in store. When you buy online you have access to retailers that may not be in your particular town or city, so you’re not limited by geography or the cost of living where you are.
Often the reason why goods are cheaper online is that online retailers have lower overheads so they can charge less than what a local business would charge. The really good part about buying online is that the quality is just as good as what local brands would charge, but you do not pay local prices.
Sometimes people associated cheap with goods not being as high quality but that simply isn’t true. There have actually been reports that cheaper products are manufactured in the same factories as labelled ones and that in some cases the only difference is literally the label on the product. The product itself isn’t actually any different.
People are also busy today and don’t have the time to wait at stores. They want to get their shopping done easily. When you use online shopping websites that are done conveniently from your home and at any time you want. You don’t have to contend with crowds of people or worry about car parking. Online shopping allows you to be focused in your shop so you only target a specific product and don’t waste time.
When you shop online it is much easier to maintain focus and you won’t need to worry about getting distracted looking at products you don’t actually want or need. You will just search for the products you want. You can streamline your search so that you compare the different offerings available. Comparing prices and features is much easier online and you will not need to spend time travelling between stores That will not only save you money on the products that you’re buying. It will also save you the money you might have spent on others had you gone into a physical store.
Instead just sit back, browse products from the comfort of your own home and then wait for the discounted goods to arrive. It will be like Christmas for you all year round when you buy online.