The story goes that the longer you get people to hang around your site, the more likely they are to buy. In the physical world, the virtue of stickiness has a name: loitering. How do you recognize sticky stores in the physical world? They post "No Loitering" signs.
Tightfisted vs. Tightwatched
Where would you rather shop: a Web site that lets you get in, find your product quickly, and check out with few clicks, or one that has a bulletin board, buyer reviews, and other sticky features? Your answer probably depends on whether you value your time or your money more highly - whether you're tightfisted or tightwatched.
One of the problems with the Web is the assumption that the mall or department store rule of "more time in the store equals more money spent" has been touted as fact. I'll bet Amazon, king of stickiness, has one of the lowest dollars spent per page clicked of any major retail site on the Web. I pop over there all the time to read reviews of books, look up authors (who want to be featured in this column), and do research on other products. Amazon also does an excellent job of making quick checkout easy. It would be interesting to see if they have (and would share) any data about what percentage of their purchases come from people who click right to what they want and check out, versus what percentage comes from people who have clicked around the store first.
Convenience Store Rules: No Loitering
I believe the convenience store has more to teach us about shopping and buying online.
I don't have the space to question every bit of conventional wisdom given to Web designers and merchants, but what if some or all of the following were true:
- People who buy more than they browse value their time more than their money.
- People who buy more than they browse are more likely to be loyal to merchants because they don't have the time to do extensive research for every purchase.
- People who buy more than they browse are less likely to be interested in community features like bulletin boards and chat rooms.
- People who buy more than they browse are less price conscious.
- People who buy more than they browse are less likely to resent the shipping cost, knowing the alternative is going to a physical store, which is time-consuming, and they assign a dollar value to their time.
On the contrary:
- People who browse more than they buy are more likely to look for the lowest price.
- People who browse more than they buy are less likely to be loyal to a merchant because they're willing to do research for each purchase, and might even consider their online research or getting the best deal to be a hobby.
- People who browse more than they buy are more likely to be interested in community features.
- People who browse more than they buy are highly price conscious.
- People who browse more than they buy are likely to consider the cost of shipping, especially if they can get the product at a local retailer without paying shipping.
The Time vs. Money Tradeoff
Does any of this sound so far-fetched? When I've had time, I haven't had any money, and when I've had money, I haven't had any time. I believe there are two kinds of people (with each person being in only one camp at once), or at least two kinds of people shopping for any particular product. Some people may generally value their time more than their money, thus not be inclined to do extensive research before purchasing, except when it's for one particular category of product, such as golf clubs, garden plants, or vacations. In other words, shopping is not a hobby, but when they're shopping for their hobby, the time/money equation is different.
Who, then, is your target market? Are you trying to attract people who make shopping a hobby, who don't assign very much value to their time, so have the time to shop around for the best deal? This was the target market of Value America, by the way. It was also the target market of Walmart.com - a site that is rethinking the Web as a channel.
The sites that are and will continue to be profitable are those that sell merchandise at a profit (what a concept!) to people who value their time more than their money: the tightwatched. I know few writers, analysts, or pundits have been willing to say this - for fear of appearing elitist -but shopping online will ultimately be a boutique experience for those who are willing to pay for it. I believe there are enough people who are willing to pay for it to make it an enormous industry, but it's not for everyone.
Find Your Target Audience
Everyone buys books, you say? Yes, but not everyone buys books online. I have friends who do their research for books, but then when it comes to shopping, they go to the physical store because they don't want to pay shipping fees. This is not unusual, nor should it be surprising. Target either the tightwatched or the hobby shopper (but not tightfisted) and see a profit. Target the tightfisted and see a bankruptcy attorney.
Alexis D. Gutzman is an E-commerce Technology Author and Consultant and author of The HTML 4 Bible, FrontPage 2000 Answers!, and ColdFusion 4 for Dummies. Her newest book, The E-commerce Arsenal: 12 Technologies You Need to Prevail in the Digital Arena is now available. She can be reached at agutzman@internet.com
