An Introduction to Impulse Buying Persona [Infographic]

Stacey Rudolph — April 19, 2017

You have probably made an impulse buying decision before. According to Invespcro, 80% of shoppers have at one time made an impulse purchase. Moreover, UIE found that impulse purchases account for nearly 40% of all ecommerce purchases. As such, many retailers are strategizing on how to influence customers to make impulse buying decisions in order to reduce cart abandonment and drive sales.

Infographic source – Impulse Buying Persona – Statistics and trends

Impulsive consumers can be characterized as those who use their emotions to make purchases decisions. Knowing this will help you to develop a marketing strategy to help you improve your sales.

It is important to note that everyone uses logic and emotion to make purchases. However, impulsive buyers use more of emotion than logic when making buying decisions. In short, impulsive customers:

• Are risk takers
  
• Are driven by emotion
  
• Are positive minded, upbeat and gregarious
  
• Are competitive
  
• Respond visually
  
• Defy logic
  
• Prefer instant gratification.

So the best approach to take is to assume that most of your customers are impulsive and are more likely to convert than logical buyers.

Here are few tips on how to increase impulse purchases on your online store.

Create a great website

Your website is everything. It is your online version of shop front. Make it persuasive and useful. It should have answers to all your customers’ questions. However, you should be careful to make it appropriate for both impulsive and neurotic buyers. For instance, if you create with only impulse buyers in mind, you are likely to lose methodological consumers.

Having said that, a website is conducive to impulse buyers if it is useful, easy to use, attractive and easy to navigate. Perform user tests to come up with the right combination of elements.

One study found that most impulse purchases were made via category links as opposed to direct product searches. Therefore, it is important to ensure your navigation is great.

Increase your site’s credibility and trustworthiness

More people are likely to buy from you if you are credible and trustworthy. There are many ways to make your site more trustworthy and credible. It is recommended that you:

• Include reviews and ratings on your site
  
• Include warranties and money-back guarantees in your offers
  
• Offer free shipping and friendly return policies
  
• Offer low prices and quality products

Ensure your site is mobile responsive

Mobile conversions will soon overtake desktop because it is cheaper, more convenient and easily accessible. This makes mobile the perfect domain to optimize for impulse purchases. Statistics from eConsultancy show that mobile is likely to increase impulse purchase by 20%. The idea is to create a conducive environment for online shopping.

Hit the right psychological trigger

In order to ensure your merchandise are purchased, you need tp entice the customer by hitting the following four basic psychological triggers in your marketing messages:

Urgency—make people see the urgency of buying the product NOW. Consider imposing time limits on your offers.

Value—clearly point out the value your customers would be getting if they purchase your product.

Scarcy—tell them that they risk missing out on the product if they don’t purchase it now. However, this also depends on the type of product you are selling.

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