Business News ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Recognising and responding to uncertainty
As a shopper and retail insights consultancy focused on bringing an understanding of shopper needs and behaviours to the fore for our clients, we’ve obviously been watching and listening with interest to how consumer and shopper sentiment has changed over the past year or so. Never before has this been more important as the
world around us changes rapidly and the old rulebooks have to be torn up and re-written… a big ask!
‘Anything you can do to reduce uncertainty is important at the best of times, but it’s even more important these days’
If there is one thing that underpins almost everything we are hearing and observing, it is the uncertainty that pervades shoppers’ lives these days. Although this uncertainty emanates from fundamental concerns about physical, mental and financial health, it is bleeding into every other aspect of their lives, too. The fact is, humans don’t do uncertainty very well: to
our minds, uncertainty equals danger, and this causes stress and anxiety, whether we consciously recognise it or not. And, with stress comes mental fatigue; with mental fatigue comes indecision; and, with indecision comes a higher proclivity to procrastinate and to defer decisions… all of which means opportunities can be missed to convert valuable sales that may otherwise have been made.
Two key implications for B2C businesses in particular are:
Firstly, anything you can do to reduce uncertainty is important at the best of times, but it’s even more important these days. This can be done in many ways. There are obvious examples, such as online retailers
extending the returns period to reduce the uncertainty shoppers might feel about their ability to effect a return if, for example, postal services are stretched, or if they have to self-isolate. But there are more subtle ways too – such as by tapping into the cognitive biases we have as humans. A good example would be to use ‘social proof’
messaging, whereby it’s subtly suggested to potential customers that buying your product is something that lots of other people have done. The most common expression of this is the classic “#1 best seller”, but there are more creative ways to suggest popularity too. Secondly, reducing friction in the purchase process is,
again, a good idea that is even more important in these times. In other words, making it as easy as possible for shoppers to move from trigger to transaction, by understanding, and then removing the pain points (and therefore the stress) in their purchase journey. Of course, there are many nuances involved in the
best way to achieve these objectives depending on the sectors, the channels, and the categories you operate in. The most important thing is to stay close to your customers and understand their needs and their pain points so that uncertainty and frictions can be eliminated as much as possible.
For further information or an opportunity to chat, please contact Iona Carter on:
iona@tracerinsights.com
Iona Carter Founding Director Tracer Ltd
February 2021 CHAMBERLINK 31
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