The psychology of buying and how it affects eCommerce

What makes you buy a product? Chances are it’s because of a heady mix of psychology and buying tactics the business has employed to entice you in. Think you buy something just because you like it? Think again.

Let’s take a look at some psychological tactics that your eCommerce business should be making the most of.

Social proof

This is an incredibly powerful and successful tactic. Social proof is the recommendations given by others who have purchased your products, often on social media and review sites. Why does it work so well? People are unlikely to purchase something they have never tried before, and use reviews to gauge whether they should or not. Let’s be honest; if you don’t immediately scroll down to the reviews on Amazon when buying a product, who even are you?! Make social proof work for you by including a review or testimonial section on your website.

Hicks Law

This psychological principle predicts that when you give users more options, they will take longer to make a decision. Good aesthetics and an easy-to-use interface improve the perception of your brand. You’ll know yourself, difficult to use and unattractive websites are a no-go zone.

Consumers do not have the patience to struggle through your website, and any amount of time and effort only increases the chances of them clicking away. This means keeping it simple to use and easy on the eye. No jarring colours, mismatched graphics and competing fonts.

Well-known for its beautiful designs, Apple carries its famous aesthetics through to its website. Not only does the website’s creative elements mirror the modern sleekness of its products, but it is also incredibly easy to use. The customer journey is also very short and succinct, taking you from the home page to checkout in just four steps. It’s simple to navigate, with large, bold fonts, creative product imagery and clear CTA’s leading the customer down the correct path, which is why it works so well.

To avoid Hicks Law, look to reduce any repetitions in your buyer journey and try to reduce the options. If you can’t, use clever creative elements to make it easily skimmable.

Framing

This principle states that the way information is presented affects how users make decisions. Let’s jump back to Apple. There are various options when choosing a product, screen sizes, microchips, and colours to name a few, but Apple lays out the different choices remarkably well, like a comparison table without the lines.

As a company, they are exceptionally good at the user experience, and it shows in everything they do. They know that consumers like to be able to see the different options before they make a choice, they also know that consumers don’t want to have to navigate to different pages to find the information – so the website is designed with this in mind.

When designing your website, remember, make the buying journey as easy as possible, include creative elements such as colours, fonts and imagery that show off your products and lead the customer down the path you want them to go, and employ psychological tactics to drive sales.