Online shopping: dopamine in the new world of shopping

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Shopping, as a leisure activity, has – and will always have – a great influence on consumers’ daily lives. Whether it’s to buy a vase, a bottle of wine or an item of clothing. On the other hand, shopping, as a space, currently faces major challenges – many of them related to the digital transformation of the physical space or the migration of the experience to online shopping.

When shopping
According to several neuromarketing experts, there are three main factors that have a great influence on purchases, whether in physical spaces or online shopping: dopamine, irrationality and loss aversion.

Dopamine production
Dopamine is produced in our brain and is responsible for feelings such as pleasure and satisfaction. Therefore, when we lose control when shopping and buy more than we should or intended, it is the effect of dopamine. For kazakhstan whatsapp number database reason, we often hear "I went to the mall to relax" or "I bought this bottle and it made me feel better straight away". Basically, consumers produce more dopamine when brands are able to present solutions that relieve stress and minimize fears.

The fallacy of irrationality
Irrationality represents a major contradiction in human beings. The truth is that we believe we are rational beings, but sometimes this is not the case. Most of the decisions we make are based on feelings and intuitions and not on a considered and studied decision. In fact, when we try to make decisions in a more rational way and devalue the emotional component (i.e. ignore our intuition), we make less comfortable decisions.

The power of fear
Fear is the biggest motivation when it comes to buying: fear of buying or not buying, fear of buying and finding it cheaper elsewhere, fear of buying now and finding better options in a few days. Ultimately, it is the consumer's feeling of missing out on an opportunity.

All of these factors speed up the purchasing process, repeat purchases and the purchase itself, whether in a physical store or online. Hence the importance of working on these aspects when it comes to online shopping.

Commercial strategy in an online shopping mall
Online shopping malls (such as DOTT and OLX, both PRIMAVERA clients) are excellent examples of online sales channels. In addition to offering companies that are just starting out in the e-commerce sector the possibility of moving forward with little effort, they are a mechanism for quickly reaching potential customers and, in addition, simplifying the entire logistics and purchasing process.

However, an online shopping mall is also a showcase where several competitors are present, which ends up making online sales difficult. That is why it is important to work on dopamine, irrationality and fear in a more strategic way than other brands, whether in the online shopping mall or in the various touchpoints of the brand – such as its website , online store, social networks, etc.

Working on dopamine in online shopping
As we have seen previously, e-commerce in Portugal has taken a big leap forward in recent months and is expected to continue as a solid trend for a long time. Much of this expected success in the future is due to the new rules in traditional shopping – wearing a mask when making purchases, wearing gloves in many stores or having to wait in line to enter stores, among many other changes, as a result of the new normal, in addition to the greater convenience that online shopping has proven to offer.

However, as a result of the new rules of traditional shopping, there has been an exponential increase in stress and fear in the shopping process – isn’t shopping supposed to be enjoyable? – and this leads to a huge opportunity for transformation and growth in online shopping.

Responding to the security of the purchasing process, offering pleasure in the act of purchasing and confirming the convenience of online shopping is the way forward: buying online and/or in online marketplaces, guaranteeing a complete offer and with better conditions than at other points of sale.

Bypass rationality
It is true that, after all, we are not rational. But we all make some convenience purchases and these are subject to greater rational analysis. In other words, selling online means that we are more easily exposed to analysis, scrutiny and comparison by our customers.

Therefore, manage your pricing policy well :

Have a consistent price across the various sales channels – price discrepancies do not give the brand a good image;
Ensure an exclusive offer for marketplaces, with more competitive prices. This way, you will be able to put pressure on and outperform your competitors (as long as this makes sense in your positioning), in the midst of the “crowd” of offers;
Work on the psychological price – €9.59 vs €9.99.
Also work on emotions in online shopping
Not all purchases are convenience purchases and therefore price-sensitive. Therefore, structure your speech well, in the online shopping mall you are present at:

Why was that product created? What motivated the company to create that product? This will lead to closer ties with customers and greater engagement with the brand.

Why should I buy this product? What are the benefits and what problems will it solve? It will help the customer understand how you can help them.

And finally, the technical specifications . If you haven't managed to convince the potential customer yet, here you should reflect all the technical information (well organized and easy to read) about the product.
Invest in interesting videos and appealing images – ranging from images of the moment the product is being used to specific images of the product – don't forget that, given that the customer won't be able to "touch" it in reality, you'll have to bring those sensations online.