— The first thing to realize about digital consumers is that there’s basically no such thing.

—  The customers and prospects marketers encounter online are the very same people who walk into the brick and mortar store every day, call to book orders on telephones or order something from mail order catalogue.  

—  These consumers are doing exactly what people have been doing for thousands of years- communicating with each other.

—  However,  e-tailors should take a moment to recognize that not all online shoppers are created alike.

—  Different types of online shoppers have different goals and shopping strategies.

There are 6 basic types of online shoppers;

1) The “New to the Net” Shopper:  Shoppers who are new to the Net are still trying to grasp the concept of e-commerce. They typically use the Web to research purchases, and are likely to start buying online with small purchases in safe categories. 

Strategies:  (i) These shoppers require a very simple interface, an easy check out and lots of validation to buy online. 

(ii) Product pictures will do a lot to convince these shoppers to complete sales transactions.

(iii) Customer’s reviews matters to them.

II) The Reluctant Shopper:  They are nervous about security and privacy issues. Because of their fears, they start off wanting to use the Web only to research purchase, rather than to buy online.

Strategies: (i) Clearly defined security and privacy policies will help these customers comfortable with the web.

   (ii) These shoppers also need immediate online customer support to quell their concerns.

III) The Bargain Shopper: They use comparison shopping tools extensively. Sporting, no brand loyalty, these shoppers are just looking for the lowest price.

Strategies: (i) Online retailers must convince these shoppers that they are getting the best price and do not need to continue searching online or offline for better deal.

(ii) Sale-priced items listed on the site, or made available through an operator, are very attractive to these shoppers.

 IV) Surgical Shopper: “Surgical” Shoppers know exactly what they want before logging online and only purchase that item. Typically they know the criteria on which they will base their decision, seek information to match against the criteria and purchase when they are confident they have found exactly the right product.

Strategies:  (i) Archived opinions are essential to persuade surgical shoppers that what they found is what they need.

(ii) These shoppers also benefit from real quick access to insights from shopper’s experiences.

 V)The Enthusiast Shopper: These shoppers use shopping as a form of recreation. They purchase frequently and are the most adventurous shoppers.

Strategy : They are enthusiast customers and to fuel their enjoyment, web sites should offer them engaging tools to view the merchandise, personalized product recommendations and  community applications such as bulletin board and customer feedback pages.

VI) The Power Shopper:  They shop out necessity, rather than as form of recreation. They develop sophisticated shopping strategies to find what they want, and do not want to waste time looking around.

Strategies: (i) They get attracted to those sites which have excellent navigation tools and offer lots of information on the available products, customer experiences, expert opinions and customer service.

(ii) These shopper want instant access to information and support and expect highly relevant product recommendations that match their criteria.