In a traditional shop everything you do is controlled by the retailer. The route you take through the store has been pre-planned. Retail psychologists observer shopper behaviour and help retailers maximise their sales by having the right offers in the right place. It is no coincidence that most supermarkets are laid out in much the same way; it’s done for a reason because it makes us buy more.
Online, however, controlling the shopper’s behaviour is much less straightforward. They can enter your shop at any point – unlike a real store were you control where they come in. Shoppers online can also choose any route they like trough your shop – unlike in a real store where lighting, signage and displays are used to route people around in particular directions.
So what can you do about this online? How can you control your shoppers so they see what you want them to see? The trick is to set up a store which, at first sight, does not have a myriad of options. Offer new things as shoppers progress through YOUR idealised shopping journey based on your analysis of your online shoppers’ behaviour patterns. In other words, adopt the tactics used in retail psychology to ensure your online shoppers go where you want them to go. That means not having all parts of your web site visible and accessible.
