The OS for Online Shoppers: this should help!
This is an excerpt from Valuegraphics: The OS for Your Target Audience, David Allison’s next book. It’s a work-in-progress, and we will be sharing short excerpts as he nears the finish line! If you want to be on the list for sporadic and random updates register at www.valuegraphics.online/bookupdates ✍🏻
Since what we value determines everything we do, values are the real OS for humans. And Valuegraphics (shared values) are the OS for your target audience.
So many businesses have dived head-first into an online sales environment in the last year – Thank You Covid19! – we decided to see if we could help. I wrote about four new markets the pandemic has created here. And then we decided to do even more.
So, we profiled online shoppers who buy something online at least once a week, and found four target audience segments. Three of those segments match broad stereotypes that many people would have guessed at, which makes sense as this study was broadly based, and not for an individual brand or website. Stereotypes are (sometimes) stereotypes for a reason.
We found one segment of online shoppers who are workaholics, hate wasting time, and see online retail as more convenient.
Another segment was made up of people who feel they have no choice but to shop online for a variety of reasons: price, availability, etc.
And of course, there are the loners who hate crowds and personal attention and will do just about anything to avoid shopping in person.
The Valuegraphics for each of these segments are unique and interesting, but we will leave those for another time and place because it’s the fourth segment, which makes up 20% of the online shopping universe, that I want to talk about here.
I call them the Treasure Hunters because they are just as interested in the hunt as they are in the product or service they are hunting for. The process of researching, discovering, comparing, considering, and securing a product or service is an experience they savor and enjoy. It’s both the journey and the destination for these digital experience acquisitors.
Here’s how their values stack up against the baseline for all online shoppers:
There are so many things we could focus on here, but I’m zeroing in on the huge importance they place on Possessions, Self Expression, Creativity, and Social Standing.
How any of these values can help you with your specific goals and objectives will depend entirely on what you are trying to sell, but across all categories, these customers will be drawn to your online store if you can give them the thrill of the hunt they are looking for. Only you will know how best to do that, but here are some kooky thoughts for illustrative purposes.
As an online retailer, how can you leverage the value these shoppers place on Possessions? It isn’t surprising to see, because after all this is a group defined by their desire to hunt for things. But look at the massive 24% difference in the impact that Possessions has on the behavior of this segment compared to the overall online shopping population. It’s hugely and uniquely magnetic, this value. How can you make what you sell into a precious and treasured possession?
They will appreciate beautiful packaging. Can your packaging be reused for other things, or perhaps for storing whatever it is they’ve purchased from you?
They will devour stories about the makers of whatever you are selling, where the materials were sourced, and how long it took to make. Nothing makes a possession more of a Possession than layers and layers of story. Can you include stories in the package? Can you reference these things in your online store?
Even more fascinating is how they would respond if you can find a way to let them flex their Creativity and Self-Expression muscles. How can you involve them in the creation process? Are there opportunities for personalization and customization in what you do? Can you tie this to the Social Standing boost that they are looking for?
“Julia! Where on earth did you find that beautiful painting hanging over your fireplace?”
“It took forever but I tracked it down through an obscure artists-run-cooperative-store in Antwerp. They had no idea it was an original, of course. There was a hellishly byzantine process to secure shipping permits to bring something that old out of the EU, but I found a way to subvert most of the rigamarole and get it done. When it arrived I opened the crate and plopped it up there and haven’t given it much thought ever since. But it is nice, isn’t it? How is your martini?”
Here’s another random thought: you might want to consider making your site feel like a rare discovery, something that only a select few treasure hunters have found. I’m thinking about a cocktail bar in NYC that you had to access through a phone booth in the back of a greasy-spoon diner. The only way you knew it was there was if someone told you. It was a secret. And it was uproariously successful as a result.
Want more information on this subject? Send us a note: info@valuegraphics.com