How online store users make their purchasing decisions

How do online shoppers make their decisions? René Zeier tries to shed light on this.FROM RENÉ ZEIER*The access options to various online stores have become very sophisticated. Via newsletters, links and banner ads, as well as while surfing, one is confronted with shopping portals. "Should I click on it - shouldn't I? The many offers reach me quickly and easily - and with a final click, the payment is triggered. " Many Internet purchases are planned and as facilitations no longer to be imagined without. Likewise, numerous spontaneous purchases take place because one cannot resist the online temptations.It is considered a truism that purchase decisions are shaped by many factors. Reflections before, during and after online shopping are fundamentally different. Based on numerous conversations and our own experiences, the following is a record of the thoughts that might accompany us.VacationMany probably start their online vacation planning with an initial idea. With search terms one will approach a vacation destination. Then it is breathtaking pictures, the ratings of former guests as well as the prices that cause the back-and-forth surfing on the Internet. The direct bookability is usually there - and yet the user often hesitates before the final payment click - because:- Aren't there even better offers on the net? I surf further.- Isn't there still the recommendation of a friend, which I forgot? I ask him.- These ratings could have been faked or at least influenced?- The price on the booking platform is attractive - but it would have to move down a bit if I booked directly. I ask directly at the hotel after.- So really warmed up I do not feel in front of the screen. And this time, which I have again verbraten. With a travel agency there would be specialists. Well, then the price will probably be higher again ...- Do I even want to go on vacation? Click!DressesThe selection is limitless. Top brands are available at the click of a mouse - and at super prices. You can use all kinds of criteria - the brand, the price, the color, the size, the cut, sorted by themes - but:- Do I even need this new piece of clothing? The storage space in the closet?- But yes - one treats oneself nothing else. And 100 other customers rated this piece as very fitting.- The size? O.k., I know my standard size, then order one size larger and one smaller. The return is in itself simple ... - or not ... again to the post office?- And at delivery I was not at home for the last time - then the pick-up slip - o.k., you could report this to the post office: please to the front door, hmmm ...- In the clothing store around the corner would still be the nice advice - the confirmation that it fits.- Do I even know what I want? So: what now? Click!Food Almost the entire food assortment of major distributors can be purchased online. Refrigerated products are delivered in refrigerated bags. Even a standing order could be placed, for example, for milk, bread, yogurt and the like - but:- The delivery will probably take place in a time window in which I am not at home. O.k. - in front of the door one can leave this deposited ...- And the fresh products? Weren't they only half ripe last time?- Every time the many new bags - o.k., that's part of it.- But going to the supermarket takes time - and then the queues at the checkout ...- And the social? Meeting neighbors briefly while shopping - but only briefly (!), that's enough.- Why do I even ask myself these questions? Click!MusicThe music industry is conditionally happy about the online access to their hard-earned productions. But it is a reality that young and also old download - or now stream down - the tracks they want from the net to listen to music - but:- If I want to lie down on the sofa at home and listen to music, I have to make an effort in advance and put together the songs I want. Do I take that time? The CD purchase still allowed to get whole music albums with the desired songs.- And how do I get the overview in my collection? There is no file rack - and looking at the screen again, no. Putting in a CD has its charm, or even more iconic are vinyl records. I don't want to show the electronic compilation to my colleagues anymore - O.K., reveries. One goes with the time - and the on-line purchase of music seems inevitable. The young ones are supposed to fix it ... Click!This is a modest attempt to present the areas of tension in the minds of online store users. But the question occupies: "Online yes - online no?" Ultimately, it is the experiences made which move one to more or less online shopping, as is the case with traditional commerce. Trust is everything - and this is where online stores have come a long way in the short past. The enormous investments in further online store developments prove this tendency.