A Guide to Driving Sales in the Consumer Technology Category
As marketers, we all know that the sales transaction is the most valuable moment in marketing. However, not all transactions are created equal, especially in the consumer technology sector. Unlike a routine grocery shopping trip, purchasing a tech item needs more thought and consideration, requiring a consumer to engage rational system 2 thinking as well as tapping into their emotional system 1.
As the old saying goes, ‘No-one ever got fired for buying IBM’ and while that may be out of date today, it does demonstrate a mindset that is still true for many modern tech consumers. Buy a big, popular brand in the category and there probably isn’t too much that can go wrong. For the big brands, the key to success is therefore to make sure that they are seen as the easy, intuitive choice, and for challenger brands it is to remove as many barriers as possible on the purchase journey and influence consumers at key moments with the right message.
Depending on the consumer segment that a shopper occupies in a particular category, shopping for the latest tech innovation can be associated with feelings of excitement and anticipation. However, for others, it can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety about making the “right decision”. Is this a brand I love and want to be seen with? (Prime example: the ongoing Apple versus Android debate.) Does this have the right technical specs to do the job? Does it seem simple enough and intuitive to set up and use? What are the reviews like? What do my cool friends own and use? A consumer can feel overwhelmed with all the different SKUs and factors required to make a decision from brand loyalty, technical specifications, ease of use, word-of-mouth, and reviews all coming into play.
At Behaviorally, we have over 5 decades of experience and specialization in the shopper space. More recently, we have adopted a fully digital-first approach and taken all our learnings and applied them to understand how brands can succeed in eCommerce as well. The key to succeeding in the technology sector however, is a full holistic understanding of the shopper’s path-to-purchase to influence their choices. This includes understanding the benefits, barriers, motivations, and behaviors along the journey in physical, digital, and even social retail channels.
With this in mind, Behaviorally has taken a multi-modal approach to understanding and influencing the shopper journey with a full product stack of solutions. These products are flexible enough to tackle any business question within any shopping environment.
The product stack includes: video-based ethnographies, behavioral observations, advanced analytics, choice modeling to map and explain the shopper journey, and digital modules that illuminate the online journey, website interactions, search traffic, and conversion activities.
Together we call these tools TransactionPathTM, which help us to explore and influence the 4 key stages of the purchase path:
- Discovery: Understanding the motivations, behaviors, influences, and attitudes that consumers have while shopping for a specific product or in a whole category.
- Evaluation: Mapping the path-to-purchase and key opportunities to influence consumer decisions and actionable learnings on which messages have the greatest impact on shopper choice in marketing materials, packaging design and claims, social media posts, and point-of-purchase materials.
- Purchase: Quantifying the benefits to purchase and minimizing the barriers to facilitate ‘moving power’ – making the transaction as easy as possible for the consumer.
- Post Purchase: The moments after purchase that include everything from the emotions associated with unboxing to creating social posts or reviews. The key is to understand if the performance and functionality of the product lived up to the expectations of the shopper.
In the competitive consumer technology sector, understanding the shopper’s path-to-purchase is essential to success. At Behaviorally, we have the expertise and tools needed to help brands influence consumer choice and stay ahead of the curve. Contact us today and we will help you own the sales transaction in consumer technology.
THE AUTHORS
Simon Wyld is the Senior Vice President out of Behaviorally’s Los Angeles hub working with the Customer Success team. Simon has a strong passion for designing and implementing behavioral science-based market research solutions with a strong focus on the tech sector. Originally from England, he now lives in LA with his wife, twin kids, and pup. On weekends, you can catch Simon golfing!
Click here to connect with Simon on LinkedIn.
Danny Rodriguez is a Director at Behaviorally’s Los Angeles hub on the Customer Success team. Danny also has an extensive research background rooted in the behavioral sciences, serving some of the biggest tech brands located on the West Coast. He lives in LA with his wife and two pups. In his downtime, Danny plays guitar, travels, and is a foodie – ask him for restaurant recommendations!
