Since the advent of behavioral economics, merchants have grown to assume that shoppers, or at least a hefty percentage of them 
will buy product on impulse, instead of using a more rational approach, as classical economics once suggested they did. New evidence, as featured in this May 27, 2011 Media Post article, is prompting the retail industry to think classically again.
Because consumers have access to a vast amounts of product information via coupon sites, social networks, review sites, etc. they are a lot less likely to just buy something on impulse; rather, buyers are taking more time to research products they are considering buying.
The article goes on to say that consumers are shopping online in a way that resembles a game, but not just any game; this is a collaborative, complex one in which shoppers are engaged with the singular purpose of hunting for the best deal. Perhaps the developers of Call of Duty can create for scheming shoppers a new ecommerce simulation sequel titled, Shop Ops. But as for the merchants, what can they do to help these new line of consumer gamers “win” the game?
Pro-Ecommerce merchants probably have nothing to worry about, as long as they’ve been keeping up with the latest trends of the trade. There really isn’t one upgrade out there that can do it though, so go through this list to make sure everything possible has been done to make it easy for shoppers who like to do their due diligence before buying:
- Many shoppers are researching product information from their mobile smart phones, so make sure your ecommerce store websites have been upgrade to be mobile commerce friendly.
- Customers are also asking their friends what they should buy and watching who purchased what via social media networks. Ecommerce merchants should not only be active on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc., but also make it easy for customers to find you and your products via social. Make sure to have social icons posted prominently on the homepage, and “Like” & “Social Share” buttons on product pages, blogs, etc. Some merchants are even installing social share widgets on their site, so as to build a community of product reviewers interacting right there at the store.
- Ensure that product listings are submitted and go live on shopping comparison engines on a regular basis.
Sure, there are a number of other steps that can be taken, but this is a good checklist to start with.
Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions to add.
