What are the 5 types of customers that exist online? What does it take to turn them into buyers? Learn how to identify, convert, and track them in this power guide.

1. 5 TYPES OF
CUSTOMERS
& WHAT
MOTIVATES THEM
2021 GUIDE

2. Do you know what types of customers visit your eCommerce
site? Or what it takes to turn each type into buyers?
The truth is, customers come in a wide variety of types, and
providing the same generic customer experience can damage
your conversions, revenue, and brand perception.
What drives customer loyalty for one customer may stop
another customer’s journey in its tracks.
Ideally, you want to provide every visitor a personal,
individualized experience by remembering them, recognizing
their preferences, and playing into their reason for visiting.
But how do you do that online?
2
Introduction

3. Remembering individuals and their preferences is a solved
problem on most eCommerce platforms thanks to cookies, but
recognizing types of online shoppers and their level of buying
intent? Not so much.
In this eBook, we’ll go over how understanding customer types
can increase conversions and other crucial KPIs, we’ll get to
know the 5 types of customers that exist online, and we’ll learn
how to identify, convert and track them.
3
Why Knowing the
Customer Types You
Attract Is Crucial
1
The 5 Distinct
Types of Customers
& How to
Convert Them
Identify and
Serve Your Types
of Customers
2
3

4. WHY KNOWING THE TYPES OF CUSTOMERS YOU ATTRACT
IS CRUCIAL?
There are three main ways to segment customers so you can tailor marketing and sales efforts:
demographics, psychographics, and behavioral. You might already be familiar with them, but let’s do a quick recap.
4
Dividing the audience into groups
based on their locations,
gender, age groups.
Grouping customers based on
their goals, beliefs, challenges,
interests, likes and dislikes and
personality traits.
Segmenting customers based on
their behaviors and the actions
they take, such as whether they’re
a new or returning visitor, what
traffic source they came from, how
they’ve engaged with your
website, etc.
Demographic segmentation Psychographic segmentation Behavioral segmentation
Level: Basic Level: Intermediate Level: Advanced

5. Demographic and psychographic segmentation help narrow
your audience and segment them into groups based on how
they might act, so you can target marketing spend to attract
visitors most likely to convert.
The third, behavioral segmentation, uses data to narrow your
audience based on what they actually do in real life, so you can
anticipate what they need to move forward in the customer
journey.
Combined with onsite behavioral analytics and intent
prediction, you have a powerful blend to personalize the
onsite promotions and overall experience.
But there’s more to consider.
Each segment you identify harbors different types of
customers. Let’s say you sell luxury watches, and your
audience isn’t swayed by budget items. That doesn’t preclude
them from being thrifters looking for the best deal. Thrifters
are just one type you may encounter in your store.
5
Behavioral segmentation,
uses data to narrow your
audience based on what they
actually do in real life, so you
can anticipate what they need
to move forward in the
customer journey.

6. Online shoppers generally fall into five different types, based on their online shopping habits.
The first three patterns focus on the purpose of a visit to your site. The other two refine these further.
Novelty-
Seekers
Go-Getters Investigators Thrifters
One-Timers
1
2
4
THE FIVE CUSTOMER TYPES ARE:
5
3
6

7. 7
Each customer type exhibits distinct
buying behaviors, has varying
informational needs, and wants a
different type of customer
experience.
Knowing which types of customers
you attract, and which ones you
don’t, makes it easier to fine-tune
the customer experience, so you can:
Maximize your revenue per visit (RPV) and average order value
Optimize for same-session and future conversions
Protect brand perception
Drive average discounts down
Improve the profitability of your eCommerce channel.
5 Benefits of Identifying The Types of
Customers Visiting Your Site:

8. 8
THE 5 DISTINCT TYPES
OF CUSTOMERS &
HOW TO CONVERT THEM

9. 9
Investigators (which we’ll cover below) can turn into Go-Getters
once they’ve made their selection, other Go-Getters may have done
their research offline, or act on someone’s recommendation.
1. GO-GETTERS
Go-Getters know what they want and go straight for it.
They don’t linger, and they don’t look at other items in your
store.
If they notice an item on sale, they won’t pay much attention.
Any attempt to upsell or cross-sell with interstitials is an
annoying interruption that gets in the way of completing their
mission: purchasing an item they’ve already decided to buy.
Go-Getters often are return purchasers, restocking what they
buy regularly.

10. 10
You know you’re dealing with Go-Getters when you see
their signature sequence of events in your analytics data.
They go to the product via the shortest route possible,
either going straight to the product page or entering on an
arbitrary page and using your navigation or in-site search
to locate the product.
Then, they put the product in a shopping cart, go through
the checkout process, and leave.
They’re regular users of quick-buy options like Amazon’s
“Buy it again” feature.
This online customer type has the shortest path to
purchase of all.
Typical Onsite Behavior of Go-Getters
Go-Getters
1

11. 11
Turn Go-Getters into regulars by removing all friction.
How to Optimize the Customer Experience for Go-Getters
Invest in an intelligent search feature that lists only relevant products
Make it easy to confirm they’ve located the right product with easy-to-read identifications,
meaningful names, and detailed images
Avoid pop-ups and interstitials that slow them down
Remove or reduce upsells and cross-sells from your checkout process
Ensure your checkout process is as fast as possible
Make reordering easy
Consider offering auto-ship on consumables
To interest them in other products, use transactional emails to suggest related products
Go-Getters
1

12. Relevant KPIs
• Time to purchase
• Cart and checkout abandonment rate
• Site speed, specifically checkout
process
• Retention rate
• Customer lifetime value
• Email click-through rate on
transactional emails.
Go-Getters
1
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13. 13
2. NOVELTY-SEEKER
Novelty-Seekers are in it for pleasure. They linger, browse
around, and enjoy looking for great finds.
They love to shop and to be in the know about the latest
products. They crave novelty, seeking out what’s new and
changed. Every new shiny object attracts their attention.
They don’t buy often, but they’re prone to impulse buying.
Don’t knock them, though. They aren’t shy about sharing their
finds with their friends, and when they do buy, they’re easy to
upsell and cross-sell.
Serve them well, and Novelty-Seekers can turn into your
biggest fans and advocates, bringing in friends and followers.

14. 14
Here are signs you have Novelty-Seekers in your customer segment:
Typical Onsite Behavior of Novelty-Seekers
Low bounce rates
High pages per visit
High traffic on “what’s new” pages
Sorting product lists by popularity (rather than relevance)
High click-through rates on “people also bought” links and related or recommended products
Low purchase conversion rates (per visit)
High goal conversions on sharing products on social media or by email.
Novelty-Seeker
2

15. 15
Turn Novelty-Seekers into buyers, fans, and advocates by making them feel good with a consistently excellent and convenient
experience.
How to Optimize the Customer Experience for Novelty-Seekers
Turn them into regular visitors with easy access to the latest, the most popular, the top-selling,
and of course, the fabulous finds (cool products on sale)
Put sharing buttons for the major social media sites within easy reach and populate the message
Offer lists of related and recommended products
Upsell them with “also looked at” lists
Cross-sell them with “people who bought this, also …” lists
Optimize your site and images for speed so as not to slow them down
Offer a newsletter and notifications of “new arrivals”
Reduce your checkout process to the bare necessities; don’t interrupt an impulse buy
Offer a referral program
Novelty-Seeker
2

16. Relevant KPIs
• Onsite activity metrics:
a. Time on site
b. Pages per session
c. Unique visitors vs
pageviews (return visits)
• Customer engagement
(reactions, shares, email
subscriptions)
• Social media
engagement
(followers, reactions,
shares)
• Products added to
wishlist
• Refund and return rate
• Site speed
• Average referral rate
• Referral conversion rate
Novelty-Seeker
2
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17. Investigators have a purchase in mind, for example,
a printer or a coat, but they haven’t yet settled on
which product to purchase.
Making an informed choice drives their behavior.
Investigators devour product reviews, seek out
recommendations and comparative reviews by
experts, research advantages and disadvantages,
and compare features and prices at length.
They may take a while to make up their minds, but
they turn into Go-Getters once they do.
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3. INVESTIGATOR

18. 18
Investigators leave tell-tale signs in your analytics.
They resemble Novelty-Seekers in:
Typical Onsite Behavior of Investigators
Low bounce rates
High pages per visit
Low purchase conversion rates (per visit)
Investigator
3
But they distinguish themselves by:
Focusing on a single type of product (or a limited set of highly related ones)
Spending time on review pages
Coming back to the same product pages, often over several visits
Sorting product lists by review stars or price
Methodically visiting every product in a category or searching for products of a specific type.

19. 19
Turn Investigators into loyal fans by quenching their thirst for knowledge and becoming their go-to source for product information
and easy comparisons.
How to Optimize the Customer Experience for Investigators
Put explanations “at their fingertips” without
overwhelming other visitors, for example, a short
explanation “on hover” with a link to more details
Create buyer’s guides
Offer a “favorites” feature or let your shopping
cart do double duty by keeping items across
visits and allowing easy modification
Offer user reviews, and take a page out of
Amazon’s book with a “verified purchase” tag to raise
trust in reviews
Write your own comparative product reviews
Investigator
3
Use consistent product information across a product
category, such as charts or ordered lists
Help narrow candidates with elastic search options and
customizing the options for each
product category
Facilitate product selection with easy category-specific
comparisons and an option to show only
the differences between products
Alleviate choice overload with “<your shop>’s choice”
ribbons on product images
Build a knowledge base with explanations of product
terminology and why they would care about it

20. Relevant KPIs
• Products added to wishlist
• Product comparisons executed
• User reviews
• Knowledgebase and blog views
• Site speed
Onsite activity metrics
● Time on site
● Time on page, in-page navigation
(tabs and sections)
● Pages per session
● Unique visitors vs pageviews
(return visits)
Investigator
3
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21. 4. THRIFTER
Thrifters want the best deal.
They need to feel like they’re saving money or getting
a better value.
They’ll even spend more to qualify for a discount or
another “saving,” such as free shipping, overnight
delivery, and complimentary gifts. But they’ll bolt as
soon as they spot a better deal elsewhere.
Don’t discount them; a whopping 67% of shoppers
are Thrifters.
You’ll find them amongst Go-Getters,
Novelty-Seekers, and Investigators alike, and they
can also be One-Timers.
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22. 22
Signs of Thrifters in your store’s analytics include:
Typical Onsite Behavior of Thrifters
High bounce rates on product pages when the products are not on sale, high conversion rates when they are
Many carts just over the qualifying threshold for a free perk — a gift, free shipping, etc.
Reordering products only when those products are discounted
Higher than normal order quantities when a product is on sale
Purchases consisting mostly — and even solely — of discounted items.
4 Thrifter

23. Make it easy to enter discount codes in your checkout process
List your promotions and discount codes to keep them on page
(Consider using pop-ups or
banners to highlight discount codes and deals)
Apply discounts automatically, for example, drop shipping costs to
zero when a cart’s value
qualifies for free shipping
Lead with benefits in product descriptions to give them other
reasons to shop with you and become loyal returning customers
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Turn Thrifters into repeat customers by convincing them you’ll always give them the best deal they can find.
How to Optimize the Customer Experience for Thrifters
Flaunt items on sale, but mix them in with full-price
items to draw attention to them
Have an easy-to-find “sale” section
Drive home the savings by showing the regular and
the discounted price and how much they
save both as an amount and a percentage
Offer coupons and discount codes for handing over
their email address and send new ones in a
regular newsletter
4 Thrifter

24. Customer
acquisition
cost
Average
order value
(in relation to
promotion
qualifying criteria)
Cart composition
(discounted versus
full-price items)
Average profit
margin
Relevant KPIs
4 Thrifter
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25. 25
5. ONE-TIMER
One-Timers are on a mission to fulfill a one-time need.
They may be looking to buy a gift, spend a gift card or gifted money, help
someone out, or make a large purchase they’ll only buy once.
You’ll find them amongst all other types, and they can be Thrifters, too.
What sets them apart is their unfamiliarity with your brand, site, and
products. They often have no idea what to get — not even a category, and no
intention of returning after fulfilling their mission.
They’ll browse around to familiarize themselves
with your products and may hone in on a price range
set by their available budget.
Any trouble navigating your site or finding a product
they like can send them packing. Forcing them to
create an account to complete a purchase can do
that, too.

26. 26
Analytics signs of One-Timers on your site include:
Typical Onsite Behavior of One-Timers
5 One-Timer
Using structured navigation
Browsing several product categories, often within a specific price range
Abandoning carts at the point where you get shoppers to create an account
Visiting pages about your company and shop.
Most of the time, though, you’ll only know you were dealing with
a One-Timer after the fact — when they don’t return.

27. 27
Giving One-Timers a smooth experience is your best bet for making a sale now (instead of losing them to the competition), and
getting them to return later.
How to Optimize the Customer Experience for One-Timers
5 One-Timer
Offer a “guest” checkout — ordering without creating an account
Help them figure out what to buy with easy to understand product categories and clear product descriptions and images
Include price ranges in your elastic search filtering and keep the setting when they switch categories
Safeguard against customer journey hijacking, as one-timers can easily be lured to competitors
Create an easy to navigate information and site architecture
Consider flexible or lenient return policies to alleviate uncertainty around buying gifts for other people
Invest in trust signals:
Easy-to-find company and full contact information
Store ratings and reviews, preferably through one or more independent agencies
Membership of and certification by consumer protection associations

28. Cart and
checkout
abandonment
rate
Refund and
return rate
Bounce
rate
Products added to wishlist
Relevant KPIs
If you don’t offer a wishlist or
favorites feature, cart
abandonment may be high
because it’s used to collect items
of interest.
5 One-Timer
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Identify And Serve Your
Types Of Customers
Intent-Based Promotions offers top retailers the best way to run
personalized, buyer-intent-driven onsite promotions.
By analyzing intent signals and purchase behaviors,
Intent-Based Promotions identifies the type of customers
shopping on your site and uses machine learning and AI to
understand what motivates them.
It then offers the accurate minimum incentive needed for each
customer to convert (if any) during each session, increasing
profitability and protecting brand equity.
+15%
Digital Revenue
-25%
Promotion Cost
-45%
Time-to-Purchase
-15%
Journey
Abandonment
20X
ROI
SCHEDULE A DEMO TODAY