> Do Mums Know Best? Understand Your Customers if You Want to Grow Your eCommerce Business
Do Mums Know Best? Understand Your Customers if You Want to Grow Your eCommerce Business
As technology progresses at a pace that even the most experienced and forward-thinking eCommerce operators wouldn't have predicted five years ago, it is no longer sufficient to take the approach that a website is something you need to have, something that will automatically pull in more sales and a tool that will help you extend your customer reach.
Of course, a website needs to do all of these things. But it also needs to be sophisticated – in a very subtle way – and, crucially, very carefully targeted to the end user. So do you really know who your customers are? You might think you do. But are you aware that women and mothers, in particular, are now key decision makers when it comes to online purchasing?
Insightful research in the US by Razorfish has highlighted the influence of women when it comes to making purchases online. The power of the ‘digital mom’ is highly significant as mums are more likely to spend time researching a product or service before they buy it – and they are more likely to take control of the process when the purchase is for a husband, partner or son.
The US research points to their ‘multidimensional online behaviour’. By this, it means that mums are very receptive to all types of digital technologies – social networking, for example, texting (SMS) and mobile phone browsing, online gaming, pod casting and so on. They read about products online, they read blogs, they access news online as well as on TV.
In short, these women are extremely sophisticated and any company selling a product or service online needs to wake up the fact that they are going to become increasingly important to your bottom line in the future. Some facts about the UK Mum:
- Age 18 to 35 comprise 22% of the UK female population and represent 37% of female population who go online.
- This group assumes the role as family decision maker
- Mums control / monitor family spending
- This group recommends online shops of mutual interest to similarly aged friends thus suggesting a forecast of 30% increase in “UK Mums shopping power” by 2009
Properly understanding your market and your customers has to be the starting point. And that means keeping abreast of trends; both in your own marketplace and in the wider and increasingly persuasive online world. Remember, mum might just know best!