Does your business market to moms?
Mom’s just need to get stuff done. Yet too often businesses that market to parents make it unnecessarily difficult for busy moms to make a purchase.
Moms are laser focused on what they need to do to keep their home running – your website needs to be laser focused on their behalf.
We interviewed R Creative Co-Founder and former Chief Creative Officer Gabrielle Rystedt – a busy mom of five children – about online shopping as a mom.
Here are her insights:
As a Mom, what is your biggest frustration when shopping online?
Not being able to clearly find what I need. If I want to order a dress in a certain color, I want to do it with a minimal number of clicks on a single page, rather than toggling between multiple product pages, for example. And when it comes time to pay, I need to go to my cart and checkout right there. Don’t make it hard for me to pay you! Chances are, I won’t.
What is one thing an online business can do to impress you and improve their chances of winning your business?
Get rid of ads or ad content — even your own pop ups — that prohibit me from doing what I came there to accomplish. Congratulations for getting half a cent for an ad viewed… you just lost a customer who might’ve paid you for hundreds of dollars worth of product. You know? It’s those choices you don’t realize you’re making… but every square inch of your site is either selling for you or becoming an obstacle to making that sale.
If your own content isn’t enough to keep your business afloat, maybe rethink the business plan. Consumers aren’t dumb. We know ads are a way you keep the lights on. But — and this is especially key if you’re selling physical products — too many ads tell me you’re not nimble enough to make ends meet doing what you supposedly do best. It makes me question how good your product really is.
Have you ever begun to order a product or service for your family and quit part way through? What happened? How could that company have retained your sale?
This happens pretty often, honestly. I’m not patient when I’m shopping online. I don’t especially love it, but it’s a means to an end and I’m busy.
I don’t know why it’s hard for some businesses to put it together, but collecting payment should be absolutely painless for your customers! I can’t even begin to think how many times I’ve shouted at my phone “I JUST WANT TO PAY YOU!”
Make it easy for me to pay you. The cart needs to be easy to find — especially on a mobile device. And it needs to not auto dump, like ever! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve filled a cart, run to change a diaper and stop a fight and clean a spill and all the mom stuff that happens, then I go back and it’s not there. Ugh! So frustrating. Do you really think I’m going to fill the cart again and risk the same thing happening? I mean, maybe if I really want something or can’t find it at some other shop. But I’m not going to be happy about it.
Have you ever visited a website and been immediately impressed? What impressed you?
Being able to do something from one page. Have a great item I should totally be ordering? Let me buy it from your homepage. Let me choose sizes, colors, whatever from a single product link. Don’t send me all over your site to find stuff.
Also, I really love it when stuff that’s out of stock is simply not displayed. Companies that win my business don’t show me pretty things I can’t have, nor do they make me scroll past all of them to find the thing I actually do need or want.
Coupon codes also do a lot. But have it as a banner, not a popup. Or just include it. Even if your stuff is priced a little high but there’s a lovely coupon: it wins my goodwill, you know? I love to brag about a good deal.
What is your one top piece of advice to online businesses marketing to parents?
Moms are busy, not dumb. Don’t make your site hard to navigate. Don’t use silly languages or dumb catchphrases that are “relatable”. Just have a nice site that’s pleasant to look at and easy to use. A little coupon goes a long way.
As a mom, usually I know exactly what I want or I’m browsing/researching before making some type of purchase. Don’t block my view of something with pop ups and other unnecessary content. But, you know, if I’m in the research phase, crisp, instructive product descriptions go a long way. Same with blog posts, particularly if your product requires some explanation to use well (like a learning tool or baby feeding item).
