What Makes a Buyer Click?

Scroll through Instagram, see an ad, keep scrolling, see it 20 more times.

It’s an ad for a product clearly based on a host of information from your browsing habits. It’s a little alarming… but you still kind of want this thing. It starts to take up space in your mind. Maybe one day, you click on the ad just to see what colors they have available. The next thing you know, you’re comparing it to equivalent products on different websites. You’re checking specs and sizes to ensure it will fit over the couch or around your waist.

When shopping online, we never really consider the individual micro-decisions that carry us to the purchase button. The path leading us to that button may have included days or weeks of subtle pushes via social media platforms, digital ads, or even legacy media marketing. For the most part, this work is done by companies because they have a product they believe in and want consumers to connect with it. Obviously, profit is important, but way more people are passionate about what they sell than just passionate about selling in general, and these days, consumers are looking for that kind of sincerity.

At Mile6, we can claim nearly 30 years of experience in understanding and building digital products to make the shopping experience easier for the user, which is the key final step in the e-commerce process. Good user experience is essential to a potential customer becoming a return customer. Their digital experience needs to align with the experience of your brand that they’ve felt along the way. For example, if you’re selling Toyotas, you must have a digital platform that Toyota buyers will expect. If your website looks like you sell McLarens, customers will be confused. So, it’s essential to truly understand who your users are on an individual level so that you can design the site they need. At Mile6, we develop individual personas to get to know your users; in other posts, we explain why those are important and how to create them. Today, let’s dive into some broad user types in an e-commerce environment to identify the experience they’re looking for.

The Consummate Shopper

This type of user is looking for a familiar experience. They want all the standard UI elements that they’ve come to expect while online shopping. The more of these we can provide them along their journey, the more likely they will be to purchase and return to the digital product. That isn’t to say that we can’t surprise them with great new, intuitive experiences. Remember the first time you encountered the hover zoom over a product image? It was a surprise initially, but you immediately and intuitively understood what it was for and how to use or avoid it.

Users like this one expect a product page that has an order to it: image on the top left, product description, configuration, and pricing options to the right, product specs and comparison below that, similar products below that, and then reviews. We know this structure without even actively thinking about it. Large online retailers like Amazon mostly dictate this, but that’s fine! They’ve done a TON of research into understanding user behavior and preference. You can piggyback off that work. The point is to give this kind of shopper their desired experience.

The Impulse Purchaser

These buyers are making decisions based on a brand connection and need limited purchase options. Product pages for this user type should feel like an experience. Give them incredible photography. Make it flashy. Think of scroll effects, animations, and impactful text. An impulse shopper is almost ready to purchase based on the ad they saw or a recommendation they received elsewhere. If you’re selling products to these folks, your job is to convince them that they’ve arrived at the right place and the product available on the page is the one they’ve heard about and have been looking for. You can hint at “it’ll make all your dreams come true,” but be careful not to appear insincere. This user journey example is an excellent opportunity to flex some creative energy.

The Product Researcher

These users are the hardest to convince, but that’s typically because you’re selling them a high-ticket item. Digital platforms selling these items usually require complex product configurations, financing options, search, and filtering. The user will often engage with this website or app near the beginning of their journey. They may want to configure a piece of equipment and then speak to a salesperson for more details, like delivery date, availability, or financing options.

The trick with this user is understanding that they are NOT just looking at your site or app. They have tabs open for all of your competitors and are comparing back and forth. We must provide the familiar experience we discussed earlier, but beefed up with more options. It’s important to understand that whether they want to or not, the user will equate the experience they get on the digital platform with the experience they will feel with the product. These sites and apps must be the perfect melding of intuitive user experience and sophisticated branded design.

Never Stop Changing

Every user is different, and we can only make assumptions about expected experiences based on best practices, competitor research, and available behavioral data. We need to understand that a design is just a starting point. Expect to continually adjust the experience based on the information we get post-launch. At Mile6, we use tools to track conversions, mouse movement, and scroll depth. Every purchase and visit is a data point you can analyze to improve user experience and your conversions. Your site should evolve as your business changes. Successful e-commerce merchants understand that their site requires constant research and adjustment. Expect to continually invest in the design and development of your website for as long as you’re in business.

Jake Trunk

Creative Strategy Director

Jake Trunk is our Creative Strategy Director. He brings a passion for creativity, sound design principles, and a desire to provide delightful digital experiences. Jake is always eager to walk our clients through the process of understanding their users, identifying the users’ needs, and creating digital products that help them accomplish their goals. His aim is to always provide innovative and intuitive solutions to digital problems. Jake brings skills in all kinds of creative mediums from digital illustration to website prototyping, and he believes that the muscles of creativity grow stronger not only with repetition but with stretching. Outside of work, Jake can be found in his art studio working on his latest paintings, or spending time with his wife and two small kids.