Prepare for Latent Conversions! How Women Search and Shop Online

In "Web Searching Foretells Shopping Sprees," an article in today's Media Post Online Media Daily, Gavin O'Malley writes of new research by Yahoo! Search Marketing and Compete that gives insight into the way people search online and then buy.  The trendy Internet-y term they use sounds religious, but it's not: latent conversion.

According to the research, and as written in O'Malley's piece:

"Most consumers who buy clothing online after conducting research at search engines don't make the purchase the same day as their search, or even during the same Internet session.  Just one in five conversions -- 21 percent--occur within 24 hours of an apparel search, with the remaining 79 percent occuring up to two months later..." (There are other interesting stats mentioned, so definitely give the article a look.)

There is no gender breakdown mentioned in the article, but the idea goes right along with how women, in particular, conduct their purchasing processes. 

The path a woman takes may not necessarily be directly from search to click-to-buy.  Rather, she's likely to approach a purchase much more deliberately (for consumer goods of some significance - we're not talking toothpaste here), and:

- do some online research,
- stop and think about it,
- ask a friend,
- stop and think about it some more,
- go to your site again,
- stop in your store,
- and so on.. long before she ever hands over the debit card.

So, what's a marketer to do about the "latent conversions" of so many women and men?  Relax and embrace the process.

Latent conversions are a reflection of the longer research process we already know that women go through before investing in a wide variety of consumer products and services.  If you can allow for the more involved, possibly slower decision-making time, and thus, invest in women in return - they will often, finally and latently, "convert" or buy from you.  Plus, the way will then be paved for them to remain loyal to your brand so that one conversion will be worth a lot more.

The moral of this story: Invest in conversions no matter how latent they may be. ;-)

Comments

[Erin]

I enjoyed reading your article. I'm the owner of an online store www.amorefashion.com and an online shopper myself. I agree with you somewhat. I guess it depends on what you are selling, right? My cliental already knows what they want (size, designer, etc) prior to a sale.