The customer buying process refers to the steps that a customer takes when making a purchase decision.
The Gist
- Customer understanding. Know the customer's buying process to improve marketing.
- Remove obstacles. Identify and address factors hindering the customer's purchase.
- Post-purchase engagement. Enhance customer retention with effective post-purchase communication.
Before making a purchase, people go through several different stages unique to each purchase. High performing businesses have figured out these stages to help turn prospects into customers, and customers into fans.
How do they do it? By focusing on and winning the customer buying process.
The customer buying process refers to the steps that a customer takes when making a purchase decision. It is a journey that begins when a customer recognizes a need or desire and ends when the customer is satisfied with the product or service purchased.
Usually, the process consists of a few stages, which are:
- Problem recognition.
- Information search.
- Evaluation of alternatives.
- Purchase decision.
- Post-purchase evaluation.
Along the way, each stage is defined by the customer’s specific actions and decisions and various factors, such as personal needs, preferences and external influences.
The customer buying process is a fundamental concept in marketing because it assists businesses in and developing effective strategies to reach and turn them into customers.
How exactly does the customer buying process assist brands?
- It can improve the overall customer experience and make customers more likely to buy from you again and tell their friends about you.
- Understanding it can also help a business find the best ways to reach customers, make better decisions about product development and even improve customer service.
- The buying process can also assist businesses in identifying any blockages or obstacles that may be preventing a sale and taking appropriate action to address them.
- Understanding it can assist businesses in increasing sales and improving customer satisfaction.
Let’s look at the five most important stages in the buying process and what you need to do at each step to keep your brand in your customers’ minds:
1. Problem Recognition: Most Important Step for Customers
Problem recognition is often seen as the first and most important step in the process. It is impossible to make a purchase without identifying a problem or need. The need may have been caused by something inside or outside of the person, like hunger or thirst (such as advertising or word of mouth).
2. Information Search: Customer's Quest for Best Solution
After identifying a problem or need, a customer may proceed to the information search stage to determine what they believe is the best solution.
Learning Opportunities
The buyer searches the internal and external business environments to find and evaluate information sources related to the main buying decision. Your customer may get information from written, visual, online or word-of-mouth sources.
Related Article:Customer Journey Mapping: A How-To Guide
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: Customer Attitude Matters
Individuals will evaluate different products at this stage based on alternative product attributes. The customer’s attitude is a major factor in this stage. Another factor influencing the evaluation process is involvement. For example, if customers’ attitudes and involvement are positive, they will evaluate several companies or brands. If it is negative, only one company or brand will be evaluated.
4. Purchase Decision: Customers Need Sense of Safety
The purchasing decision occurs midway through the five customer buying stages. The customer has considered several options, understands cost and payment and is determining whether to purchase. Yes, they could still decide to leave at this point, so you need to give them a sense of safety. They also needed to be reminded of the problem that had brought them here in the first place.
And if a customer decides to leave, this is the best time to get them to come back. Depending on your business, this could be something as simple as an email saying:
“Hey! It looks like you were interested in our fashion design but maybe didn’t find the right match. So we picked out a few other options you may have missed.”
Related Article:Customer Journey Analytics Basics for Better CX
5. Post-Purchase Evaluation: Customer Retention Strategies Matter
In the last stage of the customer buying process, buyers compare things to their expectations and are either satisfied or dissatisfied. As a result, these stages are important for customer retention.
It can impact the information search and alternative evaluation stages for future purchases from the same company. Satisfied customers will be loyal to your brand, skipping the information search and evaluation of alternatives stages.
Customers often leave product reviews based on their satisfaction. Companies should carefully craft good post-purchase communication to engage customers and maximize efficiency. Website, social media and word-of-mouth reviews are examples.
Conclusion: Thoughtfully Guiding Customers Along the Buying Cycle
With these five stages, you should have a better idea of what goes through your customers' minds when they buy something. They can be very useful if you use them as a guide to figure out what your customers are thinking and then use what you have learned in other marketing efforts.
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