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Actionable Optimisation

Actionable Optimisation #57: Making the customer feel invested in the product

 September 14, 2021

By  Customers Who Click

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What is it about IKEA that makes us coming back - other than their meatballs?

You’d think customers would pay a little extra just to have their furniture put together by someone else.

We live in the convenience economy, after all.

But, whether you admit it or not, there is some insane part of some of us that enjoys putting IKEA furniture together. I mean, doesn’t it feel good looking at your bedroom dresser, knowing you built it all by yourself?

In consumer psychology, this effect is known as the IKEA effect where consumers consider a product they partially built to be of higher value. 

Essentially, investing (emotionally or physically) in a product makes the entire experience more rewarding.

If you’re selling furniture, you’re probably utilizing the IKEA in one way or another already, but what about if you’re in the supplements or apparel & fashion business?

If you don’t sell products that require the customer to physically build them, just remember: it’s all about personalisation and involving the customers in the shopping experience.

One way to do this would be to add a website quiz

Quizzes are the equivalent of a helpful shop assistant, who asks you what you’re looking for, what styles you’re after, and maybe if there’s anything you want to avoid.

And the customer has to put in the effort to complete the quiz, which is the main point I’m trying to make here. They invest emotionally, pausing and reflecting to give the most accurate answer because at the end of the day, they know the quiz is designed to help them find the right product.

Building your own promos is another great example of how you can apply the IKEA effect in your strategy. 

If you’re in Skincare, let them create their own sample set by answering a few questions about their skin type.

The same could apply for food & beverage, allow customers to create their own starter kits so they can try the products they think they’re most likely to enjoy.

Here’s what you get out of the IKEA cognitive bias:

1. Valuable customer data you can use to better segment & personalise your communications which turn into higher retention rates. If you’re asking for data in exchange for something valuable to the customer (like the website quiz that is designed to help the customer make a better purchase decision), they’ll gladly share it with you. 

That then gives you the data you need to nurture and cultivate the relationship, inspiring loyalty and retention.

2. Extra revenue because the perceived value of your product increases together with the customer’s emotional attachment to it - and so does their AOV. Once the customer becomes emotionally invested in the product, and you capture more of their data, your upsells and cross-sells will become more targeted - and your conversion rates will increase.

One word of advice though: the opportunity to get the customer involved should be effortless and enjoyable - the last thing you want is for the customer to become frustrated because the task is too complex or too unclear.

What do you think? Have you ever experience the IKEA effect yourself, or perhaps successfully utilized it your strategy? 

Header image source: Bloomreach

Customers Who Click


W.Laurenson

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