Al Gerrie, CEO at ZigZag, looks at the five types of shopper and how to engage with each cohort to win loyal shoppers:
When it comes to order communication, everyone’s different. Some people want constant, speedy updates, others want to be left alone until the parcel hits the doorstep. The difference might seem small, but retailers have a significant opportunity to win loyal shoppers in a tough consumer environment if they have a plan that matches their consumer base.
ZigZag’s latest annual report, ‘After Checkout: The New Rules of Post-Purchase Experiences in UK Retail’, found that well over half of consumers (62%) would stop shopping with a retailer after a bad delivery experience, meaning rivalries can be won and lost in the window after a customer clicks ‘buy’. It also revealed that many retailers are struggling to take advantage, as communication falls short for 1 in 5 online orders in the UK. That affects around £23.5 billion worth of purchases, leaving vast sums on the table for retailers that can sway shoppers with a solid post-purchase communications strategy.
Convincing shoppers involves providing them with the right level of visibility, speed, clarity,
convenience, and relevance at the moments that matter most. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but if you understand the makeup of your customer base there are patterns to shopper preferences that help you along the way.
Five shopper cohorts
Our research identifies five consumer segments based on social dynamics and communication preferences. Each group drives different levels of online spending and places different emphasis on priorities ranging from clarity to convenience to relevance.
Convenience Maximisers
These high-spending, time-poor shoppers are 23% of the population but do 27% of the non-food spending, making them highly valuable to retailers. These predominantly Millennial consumers have busy routines and favour retailers that make an effort to work around their lives. Seventy percent of these shoppers rate convenience as extremely or very important.
How to engage Convenience Maximisers:
If you know your customers fit this description, your strategy should focus on removing barriers to effort rather than simply adding more communication. Regular updates are the most obvious service to provide, but there are other areas where questions and complaints should be anticipated:
- Holdups or diverting from delivery preferences would be a bigger turn-off for this group than others, so prioritise flexibility and convenience
- Offer multiple carrier options
- Make sure your policies are easily accessible and reasonable
- Create a frictionless customer service experience
Do the work so these customers don’t have to. There is a little extra legwork required with these shoppers, but in return you’ll secure a loyal base of relatively high spenders.
Confidence Seekers
Just below Convenience Maximisers in terms of average income, these shoppers purchase online around once a week and make up almost a quarter (23%) of online spend. They too place high value on visibility, but are more likely to lose confidence without regular updates.
Predominantly Gen X, Confidence Seekers see silence as worse than bad news. Reassuring them that someone is accountable and on top of issues is more important than instant resolution.
How to engage Confidence Seekers:
Retailers need to get ahead of the triggers for delays and have measures in place to acknowledge problems swiftly before the customer chases:
- Connecting carrier, warehouse, and returns data helps show when pinch points are likely to emerge
- Customers with delivery-related complaints should be triaged to a higher priority response so they’re not left waiting
- Clear next steps give an extra level of reassurance that can be the difference between a bad review and repeat business
Beyond this cohort, 95% of all consumers expect an update within 24 hours when something goes wrong. Any retailer anticipating a busy period will lose customers without the capability to know what problems are emerging and communicate them quickly.
Self-Reliant Browsers
Younger shoppers are the most sensitive to overcommunication. They want to know when their parcel is arriving and only want useful information in between.
How to engage Self-Reliant Browsers
Self-Reliant Browsers need a low-intervention policy:
- Provide a reliable self-service tracking page
- Proactive messages should be reserved for dispatch, material changes, or problems
- These also provide an opportunity to seed loyalty schemes or bonus offers as these communications are the most likely to actually be read
Channel fit matters more than offering more options to the younger generation. Knowing how and when to communicate is a greater draw to them than choice over channels.
Functional Pragmatists
Straightforward support is often better than over-egging it. All 12% of shoppers want from a delivery is the basics, spelled out clearly from the outset.
How to engage Functional Pragmatists:
This is arguably the easiest cohort to design for:
- Provide clear dispatch confirmation
- Make sure delivery windows are accurate and achievable
- Signpost returns policies the route to support if needed
Retailers need to remove ambiguity from the process rather than adding too many novelties. Having these functions in place is unlikely to upset anyone, making ease of use a priority that works across all – but particularly Functional Pragmatists.
Certainty Planners
Older shoppers make up a higher share of the population but shop online less frequently than others. Even so, simple measures to provide certainty about delivery costs and expectations will convince them to choose one retailer over another.
How to engage Certainty Planners:
- Be up front about costs and timings
- Flag all relevant information at checkout, including refund timing, fees, delivery expectations, etc.
The customer journey for these shoppers, predominantly Baby Boomers, should look to minimise enquiries and make sure there are no nasty surprises after checkout.
Be prepared for all eventualities
These cohorts shouldn’t be used as hard-and-fast rules. I’m not suggesting that retailers set up rigid workflows that map exactly onto shoppers’ ages. Retailers with the underlying capabilities to meet a range of different preferences are best poised to take advantage of the peak season loyalty opportunity. Connected order data and early preparation for busy periods give the flex necessary to win.
