There are entire categories that live and die in the impulse buying space. In fact, it is the leading strategy for many products in retail outlets, from drug stores to convenience, grocery stores, and mass. The importance of impulse buying for some brands can’t be overstated. But strategies for product placement in-store are one thing. Maximizing impulse purchasing in an e-commerce environment is another beast entirely. The odds are stacked against impulse buying in the online shopping experience which, given the dramatic and ever-growing shift to online, is a major hurdle for brands to tackle.
Thankfully, it’s not a shot in the dark. Optimizing the online shopping experience for impulse buying comes down to a little reimagining of the path to purchase and the shopper’s journey. In this article, we outline four ways to structure impulse buying – ensuring buyers are still adding those favorite impulse items to their e-commerce shopping cart.
The Important Differences Between Impulse Buying Online and In-Store
Impulse buying serves an important need for consumers. The in-store grocery shopping experience, for example, is a mixture of intentional shopping, navigation, and reward. Making our way down each aisle of the supermarket means we’re on the lookout for products on our shopping list, but we also have the opportunity to add items to the shopping cart that we’d forgotten or didn’t realize we needed. Impulse buying serves customers throughout this journey by giving a little dopamine hit to break up the task. Shoppers who take advantage of bulk-buy specials are more likely to reward themselves with a chocolate bar or splurge on another ‘treat’ to pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Well-placed impulse items at the checkout counter can tempt even the most health- or budget-conscious shopper with a small guilty pleasure or a snack for the kids. The list goes on.
Impulse strategy that caters to this dopamine reward in stores is fairly straightforward (although highly competitive) way, in that there are multiple opportunities to make a product or promotional offering; In the aisles at eye height, at the checkout at grab-and-go level, or on endcaps in strategic locations throughout the store. The part-navigation-part-intentional shopping mindset of consumers in the grocery store leaves plenty of opportunity to target with impulse items and natural interruption or dwelling points.
Online, the purchase path or ‘in-store purchase journey’ looks a little different. While 8 out of 10 impulse purchases are made in-store, the online space sees a much more planned shopping journey for consumers. In our research, we’ve noted that many online shoppers plan their grocery shop throughout the week, even going so far as to use the e-commerce shopping cart as their buildable shopping list – adding items as they run out during the week and completing the purchase over the weekend. That kind of behavior leaves a lot less opportunity for impulse purchasing.
The path to purchase, in quite a literal sense, is disrupted with online shopping. Rather than make their way down each aisle, starting with the deli and fresh fruits and vegetables, then into the cereal aisle, then finally at milk and frozen items, the online shopper is much more likely to start at the top of their list. The list that week may begin with frozen items, as they were the first thing to run out. At the very bottom are milk, bread, and eggs, as those petered out towards the end of the week. Suddenly, those predictable traffic flows and interruption points are gone. This means reduced opportunities to present shoppers with impulse items that fit in with their shopping journey patterns.
To make matters even more complex for brands, shoppers are now adopting a post-pandemic hybrid model of shopping. Having grown used to shopping online, many consumers are continuing to purchase things like canned goods, frozen foods, and cereals online. But for meats, fruits, and vegetables, nothing beats an eyes-on inspection for the best quality. Also in the mix are the subscription (Nescafe pods arriving at the door every 30 days) and subscription-esque ‘here’s what you ordered last time’ models being offered by online retailers. Many consumers are now ordering on autopilot for online items, whilst their in-store purchase journey looks nothing like it used to. To further upset the apple cart for impulse product brands, without waiting times at deli counters and checkouts, the opportunity to tempt a captive audience during these downtimes is a thing of the past.
Let’s not forget inflation. It’s having an impact on logistics, suppliers, stores, brands, and shoppers – in some new and interesting ways. Inflation’s impact on the psyche of the consumer carries through to their online buying behavior. With an ever-visible cart total value on-screen, it’s much harder for the budget-conscious shopper to rationalize the hedonistic spend of an impulse purchase. Seeing that cart value rise and rise is a disincentive to impulse buying.
4 Ways to Structure Impulse Buying Online
The impulse buying category has become more complicated and challenging than ever before, thanks to the emergence of online shopping and recent inflationary pressures. Thankfully, to help brands keep up with emerging trends, Explorer Research is constantly conducting research to discover new opportunities. When it comes to maximizing opportunities to present impulse items to consumers in the online experience, we’ve got four tips for brands:
1. Know your shopper’s online journey
In the absence of a footpath to follow through stores, brands should understand how buyers are shopping online. Are they using categories and grids to product shop? Are drop-down menus being utilized? How much time, if any, are consumers spending on product detail pages? Knowing how shoppers are using online sites to shop, where they’re selecting their cart items from, and how long they’re spending the majority of the browsing time, is key.
2. Make helpful suggestions rather than interruptions
During the in-store shopping journey, brands can strategically place impulse items at dwell stations (such as at the deli counter or checkout) or interrupt shoppers throughout the aisles to capture their attention. Online, interruptions are an experience killer. The key to tackling this and making sure those impulse items make their way into the cart is to understand your shopper and their typical basket. Make helpful suggestions that make life easier without interrupting the experience. Clever bots designed to seamlessly integrate with the online store can help with this.
3. Create virtual dwell time
In the absence of natural dwell time, stores can create this virtually during the cart review phase. While shoppers are taking stock of what’s in their cart and cross-referencing with their shopping list, it’s the perfect time to present them with some impulse buying opportunities. By tapping into that reward mindset at the end of a successful shopping trip, online retailers can make targeted suggestions (keyword: targeted – shoppers are unlikely to browse an entire shelf’s worth of impulse items as they would in-store). Suggestions that are easy to activate are essential.
4. Tackling inflation means continuing to offer the best value
Everyone is being asked to tighten their belts at the moment – brands and consumers alike. As we ride the crest of the inflation wave, it’s important to keep shoppers on-side with convenient and seamless online shopping experiences, helpful substitution and money-saving suggestions, and great deals on both the items they need and the impulse items they want. A downward spiral of price gouging is no winning strategy. But genuinely assisting consumers with meeting their needs (both the planned and the impulse variety) makes the world of difference.
Although the online shopping experience and journey are very different for consumers, creating an e-commerce funnel that promotes impulse buying isn’t rocket science. Shopper insights, as always, are crucial. Getting a better understanding of how your audience’s path to purchase, shopping journey, and cart experience play out will help your brand to uncover new opportunities for impulse purchase suggestions. Paired with creating virtual dwell times that mimic in-store experiences, and developing intuitive, helpful suggestions, brands can continue to grow the impulse buying category – even online.
