Recent Study Results!

[pls-consignments]

A recent study about American online shopping habits has revealed information that all eBay sellers should give attention to.... "Impulse Buying". 

The study, which was published by Slickdeals showed that 73% of online shoppers are making spontaneous purchases. This is a 14% increase over a year ago! 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks for that info. Could you provide a link?

[reallynicestamps]

I once took a marketing course which among other points, noted that most people are right handed and immediately turned right on entering a store.

So Specials (not discounted, but advertised like seasonal fruit or Christmas sweaters) should be displayed on the right of the entrance.

I've been cautious about shopping ever since.

[luckythewinner]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

The study, which was published by Slickdeals showed that 73% of online shoppers are making spontaneous purchases. This is a 14% increase over a year ago! 

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Can you elaborate?

73% of online shoppers are making spontaneous purchases

Does this mean that 73% of all online purchases are spontaneous? Or does it just mean that 73% of online shoppers have made at least one spontaneous purchase in the last year?  Because the difference between those two definitions would be absolutely enormous. 

And what is the definition of spontaneous?  Does it mean they literally happened upon it online and bought it? Or does it mean they saw something in person that they fancied, and then jumped online to find one? Again, the difference could be huge. 

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I call that drunk buying which ends up with no payment.

[anjofak]

Beat me to it. Pocket purchases..oops

[pls-consignments]

Yes, this was eye-opening for me especially when determining visibility strategies for sellers. 

https://studyfinds.org/consumer-impulse-spending-inflation/

[ten_o_nine]

To me, spontaneous purchases mean spontaneous returns.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@pls-consignments  That study is a year old, but still interesting.

What visibility strategies are you considering as a result of the report?

[blurryrobot]

Nothing wrong with impulse buys.   Every brick & mortar curio shop is mostly things sold on impulse.   Plus, impulse doesn't necessarily mean regret, it just means something caught your eye that you weren't initially looking for. 

At the store you arrange things in attractive displays to encourage people to browse.  Difficult to translate that to an online, search-driven platform.   Probably one of the larger unsolved problems with online retail. 

[pls-consignments]

I think it will certainly affect my expectations for organic sales. Many have been quite vocal about their drops in organic views. To me, organic sales provide a close indicator of buyer's "needs" vs "wants". As the % of organic (searched) sales continues to fall, sellers will need to adjust their visibility strategies. Of course, eBay is more than aware of these trends, which may explain the push for Promoted Listings, "Offers", and other marketing approaches.  

[12345jamesstamps]

I agree. After a few glasses of wine...the next day I can't believe I bought that.

[dnasilver]

Who did the study? If it is not an independent research company then the info has no merit.

[luckythewinner]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

Yes, this was eye-opening for me especially when determining visibility strategies for sellers. 

https://studyfinds.org/consumer-impulse-spending-inflation/

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"When shopping online, 70% of respondents are more likely to spend impulsively on their phones while lying in bed. In fact, shopping in bed was found to make up for a whopping 37% of overall impromptu shopping."

"Three in four (73%) respondents say most of their purchases tend to be spontaneous" 

[yuzuha]

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@blurryrobot wrote:

Nothing wrong with impulse buys.   Every brick & mortar curio shop is mostly things sold on impulse.   Plus, impulse doesn't necessarily mean regret, it just means something caught your eye that you weren't initially looking for.

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Heck, my B&M retail job specifically places certain types of items closer to the registers BECAUSE they're so often impulse buys. Someone will come up to the register to make their purchase, see these items, and grab one even though they hadn't initially come in to get that particular thing.