How brick and mortar growth psychology can help you win in eCommerce

It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon and you’re walking down the street of your favorite boutique centric downtown shopping area. You see a line of people out the door at one particular shop and you head in to see what all the buzz is about. This seems like a no brainier.

This is because it’s natural human psychology to imitate others. You see, once you can create that buzz around your store — it creates a snowball effect. People keep coming and ultimately, purchasing your products.

The great debate of the recent years has been pros and cons of brick and mortar vs. eCommerce. As we see more and more eCommerce stores opening flagship retail locations, it’s also important to note that eCommerce can learn a lot from traditional retail practices.

Knowing the snowball approach has worked so well for brick and mortar retailers, how can you incorporate it into an eCommerce practice? What if you could create a busy “live” atmosphere that you can see in a retail shop?

You can — and the answer is actually quite simple.

Sales Pops

Sales pops are real time notifications that pop up on an eCommerce store that show when a customer has made a purchase. These pop ups provide social proof to build confidence with visitors and increase conversions within your online store.

You have likely purchased from an online store who has already has been using this technology as it has been an essential tool in conversion optimization lately. Now, more than ever, there are third party apps for the major eCommerce platforms to have this technology installed on your store within minutes.

Notice the small pop in the bottom left. This does not throw off the look and feel to stores, but shows that the store is active and people are purchasing.

Over 80% of visitors leave a store without making a purchase. Lack of urgency, trust, or brand authenticity are among the most common reasons these visitors are purchasing upon first visit.

A subtle pop up combats this by allowing the visitor to see real people purchasing products. This creates a sense of trust and urgency that can be just what a first time visitor needs to be drawn to completing a check out.

FOMO and Human Imitation

Let’s dive a bit deeper into what prompts something so small to make such a big impact…

FOMO (Fear of missing out): You have probably heard the acronym FOMO. FOMO is described as “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent”. Since the introduction of social media, FOMO social anxiety has skyrocketed. People do not want to miss out on what others are doing.

How it relates? In today’s world, there is such desire to show a perfect life. To be popular. To be cool. When web traffic is on your store and has the ability to subtly see others jumping at your products, FOMO kicks in and they’re more compelled to follow the masses.

Human Imitation: is an “advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another’s behavior”. This is a topic that psychologists have been studying for hundreds of years. Human imitation is a natural part of brain development and how humans go about learning.

How it relates? We know by now that humans want to copy humans. This is how viral videos spread. This is how viral trends spread (think fidget spinner, ice bucket challenge). Imitation has only become easier in the new age of all things digital. Similar to FOMO, the human imitation factor comes in to play when a visitor is presented with subtle visions of what others are doing. This can be just what it takes for the visitor to copy the ways of their fellow shoppers.

So, will this help me grow my online store?

The best marketers are ones who not only understand how marketing technology works, but understands and incorporates real human psychology into converting human beings into paying customers. Studies are in favor of these notifications, showing that up to 60% more conversions from first time visitors to an online store.

This means that simply adding this pop can help you convert users at a much higher rate while not throwing off the overall look and feel of your store.

These pops also use social proof such as FOMO and Human imitation to promote a busy “live” environment that once was only thought to be achieved in person in a brick and mortar store.

Get Sales Pops

Shopify: Sales Pop by Consistent Cart

BigCommerce: Beeketing Sales Pop

WooCommerce: Live Sales Notifications