Social shopping allows users to easily compare products and offers, which enhances selection. This provides for user cost savings. The online environment offers a platform for users to share their experience. However, there are challenges to e-commerce. Marketers are scrambling to get people involved in their product. It is challenging to stimulate user interests, so they have an exciting experience to share. The goal of e-commerce strategists is to create a “sticky website.” They want users to stay on the site for a long period of time. If they can present their product in a way that encourages people to stay on the site, they have created a site that is considered the “holy grail” in marketing (Solomon, 2015).
Online shopping may seem like
178). The Sources of Influence defined in the text are: Social Proof, Authority, Affinity, Scarcity, Reciprocity, and Consistency. Social proof is when a lot of people select one option and consumers interpret that option as the right one. Authority uses the opinion of an expert in the field to persuade an audience (Tuten & Solomon, 2013, p.177). Affinity is the tendency for consumers to respond to people they like or find desirable (Tuten & Solomon, 2013, p. 178). Scarcity is based off of the principle that people want something more if they think they can’t have it. Reciprocity is a behavior that gives consumers the urge to repay a debt or favor. Consistency refers to the drive people have to be consistent with their beliefs, attitudes, and past behaviors (Tuten & Solomon, 2013, p. 179). There are many tools marketers can use to enhance these Sources of Influence. These social shopping tools include: “ask your network,” brand butler services, deal directories, deal feeds, filters, group buy, lists, recommendations, referral programs, reviews, share tools, shop together, storefronts, testimonials, user forums, user galleries, and geo-location promotions (Tuten & Solomon, 2013, p.
To me, the top three influencers are social proof, affinity, and consistency. When shopping online I will often sort products by the most popular or most reviewed. I get the feeling that if so many other people purchased the item and liked it; I will most likely enjoy the product, too. If my friends or a celebrity I identify with like a brand, I am more apt to at least check it out to see if it is something I would like. I would also say I am a consistently a brand loyal consumer. I will pay more if I feel I am getting the quality I want in a brand I trust. There are only a few products that I am satisfied with buying the generic brand product. From these Source of Influence, I can deduce that my ideal shopping experience would include: testimonials, “ask your network” tools, recommendations, referral programs, reviews, sharing tools, shop together tools, forums, and
Paco Underhill, the author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, created a company in which he and his colleagues credited themselves on mastering the science of shopping. Big name corporations would hire him and his company to execute research in their establishments, whether it is a department store or a family restaurant, and determine how they can be more efficient in their selling strategies. Through his years of service, Underhill has uncovered incredibly insightful bits of information that have allowed these companies who get the help of Underhill to have one up on the competition.
Topshop has focused on the social media platform not only the make its brand name known but to trap some revenue from the online sales. It has seen Topshop being ranked as among the companies with the extensive range of customers in all the social media platforms. The most targeted group in this strategy is the younger population hence this makes social market easier to the company (Schmidt & Iyer,
Technology is a great gateway to reach the affluent consumer audience. Consumers in this category are likely to use technology to thoroughly research a product or company before making their purchase. It is suggested that companies take extra time and effort to online sources in order to attract affluent customers. Recommendations include, “reach out to users who post negative reviews and find ways to mitigate their impact or explain misplaced blame, connect with shoppers on a more intimate level than broadcast TV through blogs, and use social media as a way to improve customer satisfaction” (Haack,
Here I go again preparing to go to the store Stater Bros and checking my shopping list to see what to buy. As I walk through the store to my left, I can see the organic food and wind up at Services Deli while when going to my right. Buying prepared food saves me time cooking at home and the store has exclusive recipes for everyone. “Human begins walk the way they drive, which is to say that Americans tend to keep to the right when they stroll down shopping mall concourses or city sidewalks,” according to Malcolm Gladwell in his article “The Science of Shopping” (1). He explains how consumers’ shopping behaviors are affected by walking from scanning from left to the right and how it is easier for shoppers to do. Charles Duhigg, writer of The Power of Habit, says that “Realization came from a growing awareness of how powerfully habits influence almost every shopping decision. A series of experiments convinced marketers that if they managed to understand a particular shopper’s habits, they could get
In his book The Tipping Point, he states that large-scale trends are prompted by small, precise actions that builds momentum over time, making things like products increase and spread in popularity. This is what is called the “tipping point,” a domino effect that persuades people that a specific product, thought, or behavior is good or acceptable. Gladwell mentions three major factors that propels a product to its “tipping point.” The first factor is the “Law of the Few,” which include people who are able to influence others: spreading awareness or promoting a product by using it themselves or through other forms of propaganda. Three types of people who are able to influence other people include the mavens, the connectors, and the salesmen. The mavens are considered as the consumer experts, and other consumers trust his or her opinion on products. Connectors are individuals with a large social sphere, like celebrities. They are able to make connections very quickly and spread the word around to many people at once. The salesmen are the smart and persuasive people who sell the products, using their manipulative power and enthusiasm to capture people and lure them into buying their product. The second factor is the “Stickiness Factor,” which explains what makes the message or product so valuable or significant and describes why people become attached. The “Stickiness Factor” is
Consumers are influenced the most by personal and experiential experience and has the greatest impact on the decision. Public and commercial sources just adds to the information but does not have an impact to the extent of decision making.
The organized results provide the company with a detailed analysis on each customer’s private information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns. Using this data, customers can be segmented into groups of buyers with different tastes and budgets. Columbia can then identify the most profitable, frequent, and unhappy customers and individually market to each group using promotions created specifically for them. Columbia can continue to serve new and long-term customers by practicing social engagement, knowledge management, and customer retention. CRM systems could analyze social engagement by encouraging communication through social media to identify key media influencers within that customer community. Columbia’s CRM systems may also provide customers with an online community that may be similar to a blog. On these webpages, customers may seek advice from each other, give feedback to the company, and share their own ideas for potential products and
Firms today are showing a great interest in finding effective ways to attract and retain customers, simply because e-commerce is moving quickly and the competition has been rapidly increasing throughout the years. As a result, most of the firms are focusing more in the development of their e-marketing methods since it can form a better relationship between the customer and the firm and possibly lead to stronger consumer loyalty. E-marketing is also a main focus as it has become increasingly and internationally popular throughout recent years, since it is a very fast and easy way to portray messages and promote company products and services. It is also an entertaining way for companies to show their individuality and range of offerings in terms of products, services, and communications. Essentially, e-marketing allows for firms to create strong ties with consumers, engaging them, and allowing them easy access from almost anywhere. This project is going to examine Nike’s e-marketing environment through the analysis of Porter’s five forces, to eventually show that firms can face both threats and opportunities in a marketing environment (Kotler et al, 2001). Furthermore, it is going to illustrate how Nike uses sources of social media such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to entice new customers to its own web-site. It does so by providing motivational videos including famous professional athletes wearing their gear. It also promotes its services by providing photos of products, along with detailed descriptions of their functionality, along with inspiring messages. This report is also going to show the relation of some of the eight different factors called the 8C’s to what Nike’s marketing department has done in order to obt...
In a world ran by money, Paco Underhill has discovered a way for stores to generate a larger profit. In “The Science of Shopping”, Malcolm Gladwell reports on retail anthropologists to examine their theories they use. Gladwell does this to inform store managers on how to set up their stores to maximize their profits. Paco Underhill has shopping down to a science. Inside American Eagle, Meijer and Hollister his theories of the decompression zone, invariant right, and zoning can be found.
The first influence is in reference to product knowledge. Product knowledge “refers to the amount of information a consumer has stored in her or his memory about particular product classes, product forms, brands, models, and ways to purchase them” (Peter & Donnelly, 2013). Product knowledge can influence the type and how much information a consumer wants, and how quickly their decision-making process can go. The second influence refers to product involvement. Product involvement is “a consumer’s perception of the importance or personal relevance of an item” (Peter & Donnelly, 2013). In simpler terms, the more interest there is for a product, the more consumers want to know about the product which will also increase the time they take to complete the decision-making
Product differentiation – by offering different products, services, or product features, the company can charge higher prices, or appeal to different audiences. Use of IS have enabled new products and services, that increase the levels of convenience in using existing products and services. By acquiring PayPal, eBay greatly enhanced the ease with which customers can pay for their products. Google keeps an innovative approach towards search engines, by introducing Google Maps, Google Translate and others, which improves the ease of usage. Using online live chatting systems and social networks contributes to understanding of customers. It also adds value and improves customers’ stickiness to website (Booth, Roberts, and Sikes 2011)
Successful social strategies result in reducing costs/increasing the customer’s willingness to pay through the establishment/strengthening of relationships by customers who do so for free on the company’s behalf (Pikorski, 2011). Through a collaboration with Facebook, the Link/Like/Love application connects an AE card holder’s Facebook account to their past purchases, providing customer specific rewards that are credited to their AE card if accepted. AE are taking the individual – advertising relationship to a whole different level with the introduction of the company into the digital/convergence era (Campos Da Silva, 2013). Through Facebook, users can choose to inform their ‘friends’ when they have taken up the discount offer. If a ‘friend’ then clicks on...
There is enough encouragement out there for shopping. The slogan, "Shop till you drop, " appears innocent and cute. The good old axiom "Live within your means is drowned out by the noise of the new commercial inducement, "Buy now, pay later."
People affect each other in many different ways. Prior studies have shown how friends can influence one’s own behavior. The presence of a friend spurs some consumers to engage in impression management that in turn drives their spending decisions (Kurt, Inman, & Argo, 2011). Studies have demonstrated how the purses carried and the cars driven by others affect an individual’s own purchases in those categories (Berger & Fitzsimons, 2008). People may be influenced by close others such as friends or family members (Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer, & Welch, 1992), or by distant others such as celebrities or online reviewers (Zhang, 2010).
Businesses use the media to convince consumers to buy their products. Since the start of mass media, companies have used communication to broadcast to large numbers of people about their product (Shah). Companies spend a great amount of money to encourage people to buy their product, by winning them over (Shah). The media provides information, rates, and suggests new products and services such as movies, computers, restaurants, books, fashion items, and more (Rinallo and Basuroy). Back in the days where brands had to buy advertising or secure media placements are gone. Today it is becoming really hard to know the difference between the role of marketer and publisher. This gives the chance for companies to become satisfied conservators, making their own items on their websites for their businesses (“Media Influence”). More and more people are considering traditional advertisements as untrustworthy; in fact, 75% of people do not think traditional advertisements are true. Companies uses online advertisements to influence people to buy their product. People today are trying to make more informed buying choices, using all the information they can find online. A person’s online experience can influence them to shop at a particular store; in fact, 91% of people shop at stores because of reviews online (Peneycad). People spend a large amount of time researching products before they decide to buy them. 86% of people use search engines to research products. 62% of people who research products online buy products in the store. People who research services and products online are more likely to make a buying decision (Peneycad). 78% of people are influenced by post from companies on social media websites. 72% of people are trusting of online recommendations of products. Peneycad mentions,“This means 72% of people trust complete strangers just as [much] as people they know when it comes to making a purchase decision (Peneycad 2).