Written by Priscilla Green
You're wanting to establish a business and sell online? Or you might be just venturing into marketing your products online? One of the important steps in starting a new business venture is market research. I know as well as anyone that it's time consuming and it's hard to work out what information is reliable. So, I've done some of the work for you here. What things should you know before you start selling online? These are the essentials:
1.What motivates customers to actually purchase?
2. What are people buying online?
3. When do they shop online?
1. What motivates customers to buy?
It's the 10 million dollar question isn't it. Like most things in business you have to start with "What's in it for me" (WIIFM) It's a somewhat rudimentary principle in business education, but these days many online entrepreneurs have little or no business training so it's often overlooked. So what will people pay big money for? What you have to remember is it's not about the a product, it's about what they derive from it. Does it make them feel excited, proud, is it a stressful experience or do they feel secure, do they enjoy the experience. Let's look at some important motivating factors.
1.Speed and convenience, they want it now! They want it easily. These days everything is at our fingertips, food, information, entertainment. So they expect the experience to stress free, quick and reliable. If it is they'll do it, what's more, they'll do it again.
2.They want the work done for them. The research, the comparisons, the curating and coordinating, the best buys! People are used to having a lot of the old fashioned research and organising done for them. People don't want to have to search all the different websites or visit all the stores to compare anymore, especially when there are online resources, forums, blogs that do it for them. So tap into this form of service, do some of the work for your customers. Provide them with time saving information.
3. Status - they want what nobody else has, they want a unique product or unique experience. Status has always been associated with the 'haves' and not the 'have nots', so don't be afraid to puff up the luxury, originality, rarity, limited edition factor, especially in your online marketing. Let's face it, we a like to feel a little bit special sometimes.
4. They want the leading edge, the best available, the newest to the market anything that gives them an edge. The lines at Apple are a pretty good indicator of this. Plus the positive sales figures in electronic goods backs up this notion. Make sure you remind prospective customers of why your product is leading edge. Is it created based on new research, is it using the latest technology, how will it improve their edge at work, in life, in appearance, in performance?
5. They want access, help, interaction. Yes the old fashioned stuff still applies. Prospective customers want to build trust, that's created through contact, updates, communication and access to you. Whether that's being able to email or ring with questions, access forums providing answers, using social media to keep up to date. Build a rapport with your prospective customers, this is how you create loyalty to your product and brand.
So now you have the basics on how to motivate your prospective customers to buy, what's next?
2. What are people buying online?
Sure ideally everyone wants to find a unique product or niche market to fill, but that's getting harder and harder unless you have access to the very latest technology or research well before your competitors, so first you need to understand what people want and what they feel comfortable buying online.
The most popular online purchases on Amazon according to The Street were :
- Books
- Electronics under $50
- CD's, DVD's, Blu-ray Discs
- Kindle books
- Toys
- Electronics over $50
- Games
- Personal care, shampoo, shavers etc
- Vitamins and food supplements
- Cosmetics and fragrances
Similarly, research provided by AlphaWise, Morgan Stanley Research in The Insider Australia found books and consumer electronics have the highest sales rates. Followed by athletic apparel, sports goods, shoes, pet supplies and clothing and jewellery.
Market research on online buying behaviour is critical, so what are the top selling items on eBay in 2016. According to crazylister.com these are products that are most appealing to online buyers.
Most popular ELECTRONICS
Dell Laptop - new $692 used $645
PS4 Console - new $497 used $428
Samsung Smart TV - new $510 used $358
iPhone 5 - new $458 used $355
GoPro Camera -new $335 used $306
Amplifier - new $217 used $106
iPod Nano 1st gen. - new $195 used $63
Garmin GPS -new $132 used $82
Canon Camera -new $323 used $301
Most popular COLLECTIBLES
Warhammer 40k Ork - $213
Real Flight R/C Simulator G5.5 - $120
American Girl Today Dolls -$168
Wallace Sterling Silver Grand Baroque Cockatil Forks – 6 -$210
Coins: US Mint Quarters Silver Proof Sets 2010, 2011, 2012 -$88
1995 New Orleans Jazz Fest Poster, Blue Dog, Rodriguez -$775
Clint Eastwood Music Pocket Watch - $153
Most popular FASHION
Breitling Watch -new $4,682 used $3,014
Michael Kors Handbag -new $159 used $146
TAG Heuer Watch -new $793 - used $588
Nike Men’s Sneakers -new $99 used $97
Christian Louboutin Heels - new $550 used $409
CHANEL Perfume -new $64 used $68
Christian Louboutin Handbag -new $270 used $212
Lilly Pulitzer Dress - new $85 used $75
Coach Handbag - new $48 used $37
Most popular HOME & GARDEN PRODUCTS
KitchenAid Pro 5 Plus Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer -new $250 used $173
Dyson DC41 Multi Floor Upright Bagless Vacuum -new $330 used $218
Patio - 10′ Hanging Outdoor Market Umbrella - new $78 used $50
Zero Gravity Chairs (2) Black Lounge Patio Outdoor - new $93 used $80
Polaris 280 Pressure Pool Cleaner F5 Scrubber -new $418 used $195
DuroMax XP4400 Portable Gas Recoil Start Generator RV - new $416 used $215
Dyson DC34 Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner - new $80 used $162
There is a pattern forming, it's a matter of identifying the pattern and tapping into it at the right time. Which leads us to the next issue.
3. When do they shop?
Business strategist Pascal Cohan explains 'If you’re anything like the average shopper in the US or UK, you probably do most of your online shopping on Sunday'. Remarkety research indicates that Wednesdays are the best day to following up prospective online purchases with an email with a higher likelihood of the clicks converting to purchases probably as Mondays are too manic, hence the Wednesday option. This is followed by Sunday being a favoured shopping day. Evidently emailing your prospective customers to remind them to get clicking is best done (in order of most likely to be opened) on Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, Thursday, Sunday, with the most likely days to purchase (Hump Day) Wednesday and Sunday (relaxing day).
Supporting this evidence weblinc.com advises 'On Wednesday, traffic picks up as shoppers likely see an end to their work week approaching. Focus begins to wane and the weekend is nearly in sight. Research shows that open, click and email conversion rates on Wednesdays are steady, a signal that ecommerce marketers may want to test out a mid-week promotion via email'. Their information also supports the notion that Thursday and Fridays can be somewhat slow days when it comes to click conversions, along with Saturday however interest picks up again on a Sunday.
Social media advertising seems to have some varying peak times to engage with prospective customers. According to FastCompany.com 'You should post on Facebook during the afternoon slump. Most people need some motivation to get through the afternoon slump, and for many of us that means checking Facebook'. Therefore posting to Facebook between 1pm and 4pm results in the highest average click through rates. These numbers peak around 3pm and hit rock bottom on weekends, before 8am and after 8pm when people presumably have better things to do. They also recommend scheduling tweeting for lunchtimes Monday to Thursday.
Fastcompany also advises Pinterest is for daydreaming (ie. weekends). They say that Pinterest users are checking out home organisation hacks, delicious recipes, and dream purchases more on the weekends, especially first thing on Saturday. Weekdays they're less likely to engage Pinterest.
Shopify advises that the best times to engage with prospective Instagram customers are:
Saturday around 6pm being the greatest peek time
Tuesday after 11pm
Monday midday
Sunday 10am
Wednesday 4pm
It certainly couldn't hurt to schedule your posting at these times to see what result you get.
There is a wealth of data available online to help you determine your online marketing strategy and to assist you in profiling your customers buying behaviour. Often it's trial and error until you discover how your niche market responds.
If you are interested in business coaching and support in developing a business plan, doing market research or addressing your business management and staffing issues head over to my website www.coach4smallbusiness.com.
You'll also find more articles to help you with your business on my website!
Good Luck.
Priscilla
References:
https://crazylister.com/blog/top-selling-items-on-ebay/
https://www.thestreet.com/story/13099093/1/top-10-things-people-bought-on-amazon-in-february.html
https://www.blogmarketingacademy.com/things-people-buy/
https://www.similarweb.com/blog/shopping-days
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/what-people-buy-online-2013-1?r=US&IR=T
https://www.remarkety.com/online-shopping-trends-reveal-best-days-and-times-to-email-customers
https://www.weblinc.com/blog/trends-when-do-people-shop-online/
https://www.fastcompany.com/3036184/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/the-best-and-worst-times-to-post-on-social-media-infograph
https://www.shopify.com.au/blog/14288561-how-to-build-a-massive-following-on-instagram
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