There is something new going on in e-commerce land and it sounds logical but is not fun (for all parties). FOBO. The Fear Of Better Options. What exactly is it and what can you do about it? You read it here.
You may already know FOMO: the Fear Of Missing Out - the fear of missing 'something', for example a drink with friends, an outing with your child's class, that handy Marie Kondo series on Netflix. Nowadays there is so much to do, so much information and so much to participate in, everything revolves around experience and you have the idea (perhaps partly due to social media) that you have to be everywhere because you miss it otherwise. So FOMO. By the way, I like to suffer from JOMO (the Joy Of Missing Out), but that's a completely different story.
What is FOBO?
The trend in e-commerce is therefore FOBO. And it goes something like this. You are looking for a new pair of black ankle boots and so you search online. You will find three pairs that meet your needs, put them in your shopping cart. Then you look at at least two other webshops, because you have to be sure that you have the right boots. That's the beginning of your FOBO, the fear of the better option you're missing. There is so much choice on the internet. If you shop offline in an average city you have a few shopping streets with at most about 5 shoe stores (and then you still have to do your best within 1 (mid) day). Online there are thousands of shops all over the world where you can potentially score those black ankle boots. This causes stress of choice, which is bad for conversion and significantly slows down the ordering process.
4 tips to combat FOBO
1 - Look critically at your product page
An attractive, detailed explanation of your product: please! But also offer the product information very clearly, concisely and point by point. Ideally, you should start with this and end with the more descriptive part. See below an example of a Victoria Secret product page. At least, the first part of it. After 'Complete the look' there are three other products ('You'll also love') that probably also appeal to you (with a 'quick shop' button - handy!!) and then comes a very ingenious 'Rating & reviews' section including the first ten reviews and of course an invitation to review directly.
The 'story' is more in the details here, by the way, as the description is just, "Instant warm-and-fuzzy feels, complements of this pom-pom slipper." Did you notice that 'Today's offers' tab?!
2 - Whatever you might like...
And yes, offering comparable products that are really relevant(!) under the product on the product page also has a positive effect. It inspires your customer, who often just wants to be helped.
3 - Let's chat
A well-oiled chat function in a webshop or service website is now (almost) commonplace and for good reason. It's a nice part of your customer service and you really don't have to be wrong 24/7.
We have been using Tawk.to for a while now, free by the way, you can do a lot with it. When we are at the office, we turn on the chat. If we are not there, it is set up in such a way that you can respond, we will then receive an e-mail. You can also set certain triggers, adjust the design to your branding, there is an app for your smartphone. The possibilities are endless. How do you deal with a FOBO with that? Because you can immediately settle 1-on-1 with doubts from the customer. You are there the moment she or he cannot choose from the three pairs of boots.
That is also the reason why the search function of your webshop is very important. A customer who searches wants to find a solution. If the search function is a bit vague in a corner, you have a chance that the customer will overlook it and click away.
4 - Reviews
Customer reviews are gold, real customer reviews - that is! Get these and show them throughout your site (and beyond). Why? Because the decision-making phase of ordering is often about trust. And if the customer with a FOBO wonders whether this is the right choice, a positive customer review can give just that last push to click on 'order now'.
Because: you are more quickly convinced if you hear from a friend or acquaintance that the yoga mat in question is really the only mat on which you can do an awesome sun salutation with good decency. Strangers also convince you relatively easily in your choice, because if they buy from the webshop where you also like to buy, then it must be right?! Then there is no easy reason to look further. Social proof is the technical term for this and customer reviews is what you need for that.
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nice example
May I now introduce you to the queen of all product pages? I don't need a repair shampoo I thought, but after seeing this product page I have doubts. Although there is no doubt that there is a better shampoo in the world than this one!
Do you want to keep the customer's attention with rock-solid content? This is possible with the Content coach program .
source: Frank.news
