Hook, Line & Thinker newsletter, published by Troutdream Graphics - Vol. 1, No. 11 - February, 2003

Sellable moments

Imagine a typical drugstore from the owner’s point of view: You’ve stacked shopping baskets and ad circulars conveniently just inside the front door. Attractive displays of sale and seasonal merchandise with large, bright signs face the shopper entering the store. The pharmacy is all the way at the back, ensuring that customers will go deep into the store passing the maximum number of items. Sounds pretty good, right?

Now imagine the same store from the customer’s point of view: You enter the store on a mission to fill a prescription. Do you pick up a basket? No, you’re only there for the prescription. Do you stop to browse the sale and seasonal displays? Not with that prescription in your hand. Now, you’ve dropped off the prescription and you turn to face the store. What do you see? Vitamins, band aids and the backs of signs. As you work your way to the front of the store you pick up a few items. By the time you reach those ads and special displays you’re already juggling several items and there’s not a basket in sight. Time to just hit the cash register and get out.

How does this apply to website design? It’s about looking at what kind of experience you want to give visitors to your site. Finding the perfect moment to deliver each message. You can design your home page to entice people into your site, but where should they go NEXT? After they’ve clicked on one link, what lure is there to make them click a second time?

Sears.com does it poorly: The first messages on their site are about 0% financing and free shipping. Good stuff, but why would I read about financing before I even know if they have a refrigerator I’m interested in?

Amazon.com does it well: At every step of your journey through the site there are constant and varied enticements to keep shopping. Right up to the very moment you complete your transaction, they offer you items similar to the ones you’re looking at, reader-generated lists, other categories you might be interested in browsing.

This isn’t just for retailers. Are you a business consultant? Think about what invitation you offer to people who have read one of your articles. If they liked it, they may want to sign up for your mailing list to receive future articles. Or they may want to know about your speaking schedule.

You can do it well, but it takes thought, planning and really getting into your customers’ shoes and understanding their experience. Whatever your business, look for “sellable moments” everywhere.

The drugstore example is discussed in a fascinating book, “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping” by Paco Underhill. The book has one chapter devoted to online shopping but I didn’t find it nearly as thought-provoking as the rest of the book and I believe many of the lessons of shoppers’ interactions in physical retail settings can be used to make web sites more effective.

If you have a web-related question, drop me a line. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out.

You can find other articles and past issues of this newsletter at http://www.troutdream.com/stories.html

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