Are You Driving Potential Buyers Away?
Are You Driving Potential Buyers Away?
Why less is sometimes more
Have you ever been in a position in which someone likes you a whole lot more than you like him or her? The interesting thing about these situations is that you are, typically, driven away instead of returning the same level of feelings. Incidentally, many businesses are guilty of setting up a similar scenario in regards to online sales.
As discussed in the above video, businesses often provide long, detailed descriptions about a product or service. Although it is necessary to be informative, there is a danger in providing too much information. Does it really persuade a customer to buy if every single feature is mentioned? Probably not.
Businesses need to be aware that the purchase process is a mentally draining process. Before deciding to buy, most consumers take the provided information, evaluate it, and then compare it with the competition. This can turn into a lengthy process.
When businesses create their feature lists and descriptions, they should think about the consumer. More often than not, businesses put strong emphasis on details that consumers may not even understand or care about. When they include too many insignificant details, it could result in information overload and easily drive a potential buyer away.
When it comes to how much is too much, the answer is somewhat gray. The important thing for businesses to understand is to include their most prominent features and those that set them apart from their competitors.
Businesses can also look to established brands to see what their approach is. For example, Amazon is great model for those involved in ecommerce. It offers suggestions such as “Frequently Bought Together” but doesn’t provide an overwhelming amount of data.
Businesses that extend service packages can apply these same principles. A good example to look to for service offerings is XM Radio. It gives consumers 4 packages to choose from, which provides options but not an overwhelming amount.
If a business really feels like it needs to include an extensive list, it could always display a few and then integrate a button or arrow into the page that users can click to view more.
Ultimately, businesses want to drive sales. To do this, they should make sure their product/service details are clear, balanced, and organized.
The NRF thinks sales increased 0.5 percent since March of this year, which isn’t bad given the kinds of decreases everyone has grown to fear. But it also believes that an increase of 4.6 percent occurred since last April, which is quite impressive.
