In the world of eCommerce, recognizing and catering to different types of customers is essential for optimizing their experience and maximizing your business’s success. Each customer type has unique buying behaviors, informational needs, and preferences for their shopping experience. By identifying these types, you can tailor your strategies to enhance customer satisfaction, increase conversions, and boost profitability. Let’s delve into the five distinct types of customers and explore how to best serve each one.

1. Go-Getters

As the name suggests, Go-Getters are decisive shoppers who know exactly what they want. They aim for efficiency, bypassing distractions to quickly find and purchase their desired item. Upselling or cross-selling attempts are usually seen as interruptions rather than helpful suggestions. They are your usual returning customers, who know exactly what to purchase and are typically restocking their favorites.

Onsite Behavior

You can identify a Go-Getter by their way of navigating your website, which usually follows this sequence:

• Directly navigate to the product page or use search functions

• Add items to the cart and complete the checkout swiftly

• Frequent use of quick-buy options like “Buy it again”

• Rarely browse other items or sales

Optimization Strategies

Go-Getters bring in your regular income. They are loyal to your offerings as they are usually returning customers. They are an important group of customers and it is important to make their buying process as smooth as possible:

• Implement a powerful, intuitive search feature

• Ensure product pages are clear with detailed images and descriptions

• Minimize or eliminate pop-ups and interstitials

• Streamline the checkout process for speed, offer 1 click checkout

• Facilitate easy reordering and consider auto-ship options, put a ‘Buy Again’ button upon login

• Use transactional emails to suggest related products

2. Novelty-Seekers

Novelty-Seekers shop for enjoyment. As the name suggests, they love exploring new and trending products and often make impulse purchases. While they might not buy frequently, they are influential, sharing their discoveries with friends and followers.

Onsite Behavior

You can identify Novelty-Seekers and separate them from other types of customers by their behavior:

• Low bounce rates with high pages per visit

• High interest in “what’s new” sections

• High click-through rates on related products and recommendations

• Low conversion rates per visit but high social sharing rates

Optimization Strategies

Novelty-Seekers can be turned into buying customers by tweaking certain aspects of your website and making it more appealing using following strategies:

• Highlight new, popular, and unique items prominently

• Add sharing buttons for social media and email

• Provide lists of related and recommended products

• Use “also looked at” and “people who bought this also bought” suggestions

• Optimize site speed to prevent frustration

• Offer newsletters and notifications for new arrivals

• Simplify the checkout process to encourage impulse buys

• Implement a referral program

3. Investigators

Investigators investigate and conduct thorough research before making a purchase decision. They compare products, read reviews, and seek expert opinions to ensure they make an informed choice. Once satisfied with what they have read or enquired about your product, they can turn into go-getters.

Onsite Behavior

Investigators also have their signature style of navigating your website which include:

• Low bounce rates and high pages per visit

• Extensive time spent on review pages and product comparisons

• Repeated visits to the same product pages

• Sorting products by reviews or price

Optimization Strategies

Investigators can be easily turned in to buyers as they have very specific needs. As long as their questions are satisfactorily answered, they will go on to buy your products. Implement following strategies to help solidify your website to suit their needs:

• Provide detailed, consistent product information and comparison charts

• Implement advanced search options tailored to each product category

• Facilitate easy product comparisons with clear displays of differences

• Highlight recommended products to reduce choice overload

• Build a knowledge base with explanations and buyer’s guides

• Offer user reviews with verification tags

• Write and feature comparative product reviews

4. Thrifters

Thrifters are interested in getting the best deal. They are attracted to discounts and promotions, and need to feel that they are saving money on buying your products. They also don’t shy away from making additional purchases to qualify for additional savings like free shipping.

Onsite Behavior

Track these analytics to see how many thrifters you get (& don’t be surprised when it’s more than 50% of your customers):

• High bounce rates on full-price product pages, but high conversion rates on sales

• Carts just above the qualifying threshold for discounts

• Reordering primarily during promotions

• Purchases mainly consist of discounted items

Optimization Strategies

As long as thrifters are made to feel like they are getting the bang for their buck they will buy your product, here’s how you can make them feel this way:

• Highlight sale items alongside full-price items to draw attention

• Create a prominent “sale” section

• Display regular and discounted prices with clear savings

• Offer coupons and discount codes in exchange for email addresses

• Simplify the discount code entry process during checkout

• Automatically apply discounts when criteria are met

• Emphasize benefits in product descriptions to encourage loyalty

5. One-Timers

One-Timers are on a specific mission, such as buying a gift or making a one-time purchase. They are often unfamiliar with your brand and have no plans to return after completing their purchase.

Onsite Behavior

One timers are customers who do not know your brand. As such, their interaction with your website usually follows a first timer’s pattern. They do not know what you offer or what they want to buy. They typically browse and can be identified by following behaviors:

• Use structured navigation to explore multiple product categories

• Abandon carts if forced to create an account

• Visit informational pages about the company and shop

Optimization Strategies

It is crucial for you to close One Timers on their first visit, otherwise they are the quickest to shift to a competitor. Don’t be bothered in collecting their data as they are anyway unlikely to return. Other ways to gain their trust to compelling them to complete the purchase include:

• Offer guest checkout options to avoid mandatory account creation

• Provide clear, easy-to-understand product categories and descriptions

• Include price ranges in search filters and maintain settings across categories

• Ensure the site architecture is intuitive and easy to navigate

• Consider flexible return policies to reduce uncertainty

• Invest in trust signals like company information, ratings, reviews, and certifications

Understanding the different types of customers and their unique needs is crucial for tailoring your eCommerce strategies effectively. By optimizing the customer experience for all types of customers you can enhance their satisfaction, drive conversions, and build lasting loyalty.