Types of Amazon Shoppers and How to Make Them All Your Customers

More people than ever are shopping on Amazon, and, as an Amazon third party seller many small retail companies and entrepreneurs can benefit from getting involved with Amazon selling, even if they have primarily been an offline concern in the past.

When creating your Amazon listings making use of good Amazon SEO is a must if you want searchers to choose your listings over others. But once those efforts have drawn them in, what is the best way to actually get them to add your products to their cart?

Amazon cat
photo credit: Stephen Woods / Flickr

You need to recognize that just as is the case in offline retail not all Amazon shoppers are created alike and to be successful your Amazon listings needs to meet the needs of all of them.

We can break Amazon shoppers down into several “types” and there are different ways to turn each of them into regular, loyal customers who will keep coming back to your Amazon listings, credit card in hand.

It’s not an exact science by any means and will take more than a little testing and basic ‘trial and error’ and maybe even the help of an Amazon SEO expert to get right. But to start off we should look at the basic Internet shopping personas likely to be landing on your Amazon listings.

The Amazon Newbie

Despite the big increase in popularity there are, perhaps surprisingly to some, still plenty of people who are new to the idea of shopping on Amazon.

They may think of just using Amazon to research a purchase rather than actually taking the plunge and buying online, perhaps because they are not confident they will get what they want ‘sight unseen’. However, give them the right experience and you may well be able to change their minds.

What you need to give them- An easy to scan listing with a lot of product information and pictures. Clear pictures that focus on the product rather than on styling and clear, informative descriptions to go along with them.

The Scaredy Cat Shopper

These shoppers like the idea of buying online via Amazon rather than taking a trip to the store, they really do, but they are constantly worried about what would happen if the item they buy does not fit/is the wrong colour/arrives broken etc.

What you need to give them – Very clearly return policies and online instant customer support to quell their concerns. These shoppers have quite possibly read all those articles that offer tips to online shoppers so will have been warned many times that doing business with a seller difficult to contact or track down is a no-no.

The Bargain Hunter

The bargain hunter is not one for brand loyalty and has likely mastered any number of online tools to help them find the best possible price on what they are looking for on Amazon. The keenest bargain shoppers are willing to spend hours surfing around to save money and many have it down to a fine art.

What you need to give them – Somehow you have to convince these shoppers that they have indeed found the best deal and that there is no need for them to continue their search any longer. Posting price reductions prominently or offering special “one day only” deals are effective ways to capture these customers.

Amazon Nestle page

The Surgical Shopper

The surgical shopper goes on Amazon knowing exactly what they need to buy and intends to purchase only that item. They will purchase, but only when they are sure that they have found is what they were looking for.

What you need to give them – Information. Product specs, product reviews, product pictures. The surgical shopper needs to be assured that they have indeed found exactly what they were seeking.

The Recreational Shopper

These are the customers that every Amazon seller wants to capture and turn into regulars. These people shop for fun with no specific product in mind. Some people go to sites like Amazon almost every day to window shop just to see what they might be able to find of interest but they are not just browsers, they do buy.

What you need to give them – These shoppers are fun-loving people and a boring looking listing will probably have them clicking away quickly. Offer them lots of pictures and engaging, Amazon SEO friendly product descriptions and, wherever possible, customer reviews that lay out just what the product did for them.