Don't buy now

Customers seem to be getting less keen on buying. Not only are in-store sales falling, reports are now trickling in that a higher proportion of online buyers are abandoning their carts.

So what can be done? One of the approaches is to focus on the reasons people aren't buying, understand the objections and remove them.

In the boom times the psychology was different, with a shop, shop, shop mentality. Now times have changed and people are looking for excuses to defer their purchase. It’s important to understand this psychology if we are to improve business performance. Here are a couple of the common reasons why people can drop out of the sales funnel. They illustrate the need to think carefully about all aspects of the online sales process.

Discount codes

Discount codes are designed to drive up sales, so it’s a surprise that in the wrong circumstances they have a truly adverse impact.

Some time ago I came across a website where sales had almost doubled when the discount code field was removed from the checkout. I am reminded by a recent report that this is still a current issue. The point is this. Whenever I am at the checkout and I see a discount code field, and I don’t have a code, I know that I am paying over the odds. I now tend to search for discount codes online before proceeding. If I can’t find one, I may not bother. And the statistics say that I’m not alone. So use discount codes by all means, but it may be better to embed them in emails so that they are automatically used when a prospect clicks through, but the normal buyer isn’t even made aware that they are available.

Customer accounts

Forcing customers to create accounts is another area, with solid experience that backs up the assertion that this is a really, really stupid idea. Although it may be well intentioned as the customer won’t need to key in their details on a return visit, it falls down on the psychology front.

First of all, there is the feeling of intrusion – they will be storing my details. I know that they have them in a database anyway, but we’re talking about how buyers feel.

Then there’s the glum realisation that the password is something else to store securely somewhere, or to remember. And please don’t tell me to use the same password at every site. There’s also the knowledge that if I return another time, and can’t remember my password, it probably won’t allow me to complete the purchase.

Finally, it may only be a password that’s required, but it is more data, and I don’t want to be bothered. Personally, I always click away from any site that tries to force me to create an account, and I’m not alone.

We’ve just looked at two examples here, but there are many others. In times of more buyer reluctance, eliminating all obstacles is a must. Let’s hope that these two particular blockages become a thing of the past, but in the meantime you can profit by being smarter than the competition.