Affiliate Classroom Blog

Online Shoppers Now Choose Service Over Price

Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 6:57 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Last year, KMG did a survey of U.S. online shoppers to find out what affects their purchase decisions, and it was a tie between price, selection, and convenience.

KMG did a follow-up survey at the end of the 2006 Holiday Season, and it looks like consumers have changed their minds about pricing. The winner this year is:

SERVICE!

According to KMG:

“81% of the 1,200 consumers surveyed said they shopped at the stores that had their desired items in stock, and 75% said a simple return policy helped them decide which retailers to patronize. Conversely, just 19% of the respondents cited price as the most influential factor in choosing a retailer.”

One lesson to be learned here is to make sure you pay attention to recent trends. Don’t just keep dong the same thing year after year; even if it’s working, it could be working better.

A few things you can do to capture shoppers are:

• If you have an in-stock guarantee, make sure the guarantee is shown in a prominent place on your web-site, and in any ads that you place if space allows.
• As an affiliate marketer, be sure to mention the return policy of the merchant you are promoting.

You will get more click-troughs to the merchant if you do these two simple things. That should make for a much more profitable 2007.

The other lesson is one that should be obvious: treat your customer well.

Even as an affiliate, maybe especially as an affiliate, you have a lot of influence over how that customer perceives the merchant. Everyone appreciates that extra effort to make them happy. Taking the time to treat each as an individual with a particular need or concern brings them back time and time again.

Happy New Year!

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