Optimize E-Commerce Sales by Understanding the 6 Buyer Personas

Why is there such an emphasis on buyer personas today? Because buyer-driven websites are two to five times more effective and easier to use by their targeted audience. Studying and understanding buyer personas — research-based profiles depicting a target customer — helped 82 percent of companies connect with their customers and create an improved value proposition.

But that’s not the only benefit. By establishing customer personas, brands can craft marketing messages that speak directly to their target audience’s needs and desires. Defining the six shopper personas — cause-based, crowdsourcing, free agents, brand loyalists, deal hunters, and scientists — helps brands identify new opportunities to optimize their marketing, expand their customer base, and grow their business.

The 6 Buyer Personas

While different consumers may share some characteristics, a one-size-fits-all consumer doesn’t exist — nor should a brand’s approach to marketing. A shopper’s desire to buy from different brands, the amount of research someone conducts before making a big purchase, or the importance of aesthetics in decision making are just a few characteristics setting these personas apart.

1. The Brand Loyalist

Brand loyalists want consistency, reliability and trust in their purchases. They form strong connections to specific brands and are more likely to become repeat customers when a brand ticks all their boxes. It’s hard for product content or good deals from other brands to enter their circle of trust.

While they do check price comparisons, they spend the bulk of their time researching products to verify that a brand’s values align with their own before committing to a purchase. Once they find a brand they like, they stick with it.

These consumers expect high-quality products and consistent branding. The content they trust the most is on-product packaging rather than on-display or online content. This preference likely drives more than 50 percent of brand loyalists to visit two to three websites and research two to three products before they buy.

Of all the product content features available, brand loyalists appreciate and find scale imagery — imagery that provides context regarding a product’s size — the most helpful. More than two-thirds used augmented reality (AR) within the last year, and nearly half appreciated how animations helped them gain a sense of the brand or product’s personality.

2. The Cause-Based Consumer

Cause-based consumers, the smallest subset of the six personas, prioritize social responsibility and environmental impact when making purchase decisions. They favor brands that support cultural and social issues aligned with their values. These consumers take a more intentional approach to shopping, spending time ensuring they actually need or want a product before committing. They research two to three websites and two to three products before they buy.

Of all the product content features available on product detail pages (PDP), cause-based consumers gravitate most toward product reviews. They also want to see plenty of high-quality, accurate images. Their biggest pet peeve? Too few images. Over half have scanned QR codes in-store while shopping, and most have also used — and like — product bundling services.

3. The Crowdsourcer

Crowdsourcers rely heavily on peer reviews and recommendations when facing a purchasing decision. In fact, 61 percent of crowdsourcers will visit two or three websites — and nearly 40 percent research a minimum of four to five products before committing to spending money. They want to know what others think so their go-to product content is customer reviews. About 66 percent of crowdsourcers say others’ opinions carry the greatest impact on whether they make a purchase.

These buyers see e-commerce sites and apps operated directly by major brands and manufacturers as the most trustworthy shopping choices. This persona has begun to embrace the trend of online shopping, with more consumers gravitating toward big-box stores’ and online giants’ apps (e.g., Target, Walmart, and Amazon.com) for shopping.

They also find 360-degree spin photography the most helpful image type. Brands wanting to attract and retain crowdsourcers should prioritize having robust online reviews and recommendation pages.

4. The Deal Hunter

Who doesn’t love a good deal? Cost-focused deal hunters prioritize finding the best discounts when looking for items to buy. Reviews matter less if the price is right. They spend more time researching product content to ensure they’re getting the best value for their money and typically visit two or three websites — and weigh the pros and cons of several options — before deciding.

These consumers often use their smartphones to look up and compare prices when shopping in-store. Of all the product content features, deal hunters value accurate product descriptions the most. PDPs should have clear, consistent and accurate information accessible on any platform these consumers use to research and shop.

5. The Free Agent

Another consumer persuaded by product cost, the free agent values flexibility and independence and is most likely to switch brands frequently. Like cause-based consumers, these shoppers love compelling stories and willingly explore brands clearly connecting with their interests and needs.

More than half of free agents closely review PDPs to verify they’re getting good value, visit two to three sites, and research two to three products before they commit to a big purchase. Over 75 percent have bought items online and see brand and retailer e-commerce sites as the most trustworthy option.

More than half of free agents have scanned QR codes while shopping in-store, in part to price comparison shop. Their favored digital product content feature is 360-degree spin photography; about 60 percent have tried AR while browsing online.

6. The Scientist

Detail-oriented scientists pour over data and research and are most likely to thoroughly analyze product specs, read reviews, compare multiple PDPs, and visit multiple websites before deciding. Results from the Consumer Product Content Benchmark Report clearly showed that brands lacking accurate product content cause themselves a disservice.

These consumers are also increasingly shopping on retail-operated mobile apps, so merely posting PDPs isn’t enough. The content must be detailed, accurate and consistent across all channels.

The scientist persona appreciates multiple types of imagery, including scale images, 360-degree spin photography, product-in-use images, and infographics detailing a product’s features or benefits. To attract these shoppers, businesses should make it easy for scientists to find clearly written, detailed, factual product information and data.

Buyer personas help brands communicate more effectively with their target audience. Understanding your customers’ language, communication preferences and values empowers brands to craft messages that deeply resonate with customers, build stronger brand-customer connections, increase engagement, and grow brand loyalty.

Randy Mercer is the chief product officer of 1WorldSync, a product content platform for omnichannel commerce.