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What Baby Boomers Want from Ecommerce

You may think Millennials are the generation most in love with ecommerce. After all, they’re a tech savvy generation with a taste for the unusual. Ordering squid ink candy on their phones from an international site sounds like something they’d do pretty frequently. Meanwhile, you might assume that Baby Boomers are inclined to do their shopping offline or in person, when the actual truth is Baby Boomers outspend Millennials in online purchases. If you want to capture a share of this lucrative market, here’s what baby boomers want from ecommerce sites and how you can give it to them.

Ecommerce Boomers

When you break it down, it makes sense that Boomers would outspend Millennials. For starters, they do have more disposable income. Plus, they’re often buying bigger ticket items like furniture and homeware.

Millennials shop more through mobile platforms and do more research for the items they’re buying online. Boomers use mobile frequently enough but tend to do the bulk of their purchasing from desktop computers. Rather than research things online the way the younger generations do, Boomers are more likely to find a brick-and-mortar locationto ask questions or get information.

If you’re starting an ecommerce site to appeal to Boomers, have a phone number or email where they can reach you directly. Many ecommerce sites have direct lines of contact because they’re small businesses and customer service is important. Anyone who’s wondering how to make a website for ecommerce should do plenty of research into their target audience and what that audience wants. Being easy to reach and having great interactions with customers is beneficial in general, and even more so with Boomers.

Generational differences aside, nobody likes shipping costs. In fact, it’s the number one cause of abandoned carts at the payment page. When it comes to Boomers, 85 percent of their carts get ditched due to shipping. That’s higher than other demographics by quite a bit. Boomers want convenience and low shipping costs when they’re shopping online, especially if they’re looking to spend a lot on an item. Sites with free shipping and easy returns have better conversion rates than those that don’t. While this is true for every generation, it’s especially so forBoomers.

The main reason Baby Boomers like to shop online is convenience. Mail order catalogues were big for most of the Boomer’s lives, so they’re comfortable when it comes to buying from afar. Even mail order had business hours though, not to mention long waits to get what you ordered. For Boomers, being able to shop whenever, have reasonable shipping costs, and receive your order within a week is a huge draw. These are things that the younger generation might take for granted. Millennials expect their items to arrive in as short a time as possible. Baby Boomers appreciate it because that wasn’t always the way it was.

By and large, Boomers and Millenials want the same things. Who’s going to argue with low shipping costs, good customer service, and expeditious delivery? Making Boomers happy isn’t too difficultand it’s definitely worth your while.

Given they outspend Millennials and buy more expensive items, Baby Boomers are a logical demographic to attract, regardless of what you’re selling. Once you understand what baby boomers want from ecommerce, you’ll be able to keep them happy and generate conversions. Just remember to keep shipping costs low and customer satisfaction high. Of course, this is good advice regardless of the nature of the demographic you’re going after.


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