The Watchers... committing them to act, convincing them to buy...

By : Business Owner
Published 28th November 2014 |
Read latest comment - 28th November 2014

In this article, we're going to look at 1 phenomena in 2 examples.

1.) Retail Watchers
2.) Internet Watchers

Both examples are real, and can be found in every facet of life, this applies as much to the the non business world, as it does to us traders.

So, what is a 'Watcher'. Well, they are on this forum, they show up in my analytics for my business websites, they walk by my retail businesses and peer in through the window. 

They are people who show an slight interest, or do something, but don't commit to anything beneficial to either party. They don't enter the premises properly, they don't engage in any conversation, they ignore the bait as if it didn't exist.

Is it a problem? I am not sure, but it's on the increase I believe, and it can really neg you out, especially if your time is taken up with analysing traffic online, or sitting in a quiet shop, looking at the window, as people look in at you.

1.) Retail Watcher
He comes to the window of the shop, scanning the inside as if he's looking for a lost dog. Some watchers will press themselves up to the glass to have a good look inside, leaving behind hand and nose marks on your clean pane. They are usually on their own, and don't appear to be in a rush.

Don't confuse this with window shopping, or someone browsing your window display, this is trying to get an insight to the store, without physically entering. It is bizarre, and, I once started to get very paranoid over it, until I realised every retail business has them.

I have spent a year or so trying to figure out how to deal with this - and I think I may have found a partial solution.

Firstly, we increased the lighting inside our stores, making sure there were no dark spots, addressing potential subconscious fears of being eaten by a coat monster.

Secondly we obscured window display areas, so, by looking into the window, all you can see is the display, and nothing within the store. This means, the display shows you some products we hold, but if you want to see more, you must enter through the doors. The doors are clear glass, and you can see into the store, with larger items at the furthest point of vision - but standing there causes the doors to open, and an air curtain warms you up, inviting you in.

We don't appear to have the retail watchers any more... or perhaps we just don't see them.

2.) Internet Watcher
You notice your hit / view count increase, and the watcher spends a significant amount of time looking at your products, or reading articles, but then fails to make the all critical purchase, or doesn't even attempt to comment, or create another action.

In an online store setting, it's so important to know where your potential customers came from, how they got there, what they looked at whilst they were on your site, and where they exited. 

Online store wise, we tweaked constantly. 

Do not confuse bots, - they aren't shoppers. Also, the people who spend 10 seconds on your site - I reckon they are there by mistake. Don't worry about them. But the people who search for your product, find it online, enter your site, then don't purchase... who are they?, and why don't they buy?

Understanding their thinking is key. We noted a lot of abandoned shopping carts. People added products to the cart, and then dropped off before entering their details. We rectified this by offering more payment options (Paypal, Cheque, COD, as well as a good Bank merchant account). We then also make our shipping charges clearer from the start, offering free shipping on orders over £60. This increased incidental purchases, and also decreased the amount of abandoned carts.

We identified some shoppers just didn't have the revenue available to make the purchase for the items they want - so, we did something quite cool. Wherever possible, we have 2 products that both more or less give the same function. One is your Rolls Royce, the other is your Fiat Uno. The only item in the physical store is the Rolls Royce Product. Now, both budgets and needs are met.

We offered Christmas clubs and the such (This isn't credit - never give credit unless it's underwritten by an authorised company - never allow debt!). This worked a treat.

But how about Forums, Blogs, Twitter and Facebook posts? Now this is frustrating, especially for admins.

You spend hours creating a masterpiece on Youtube, you upload it, it gets 200 views... but no one clicks like, and no one comments. One day, someone clicks 'Dislike'. Your head spins out, and you delete your channel.

Firstly, with youtube, assuming the keywords are correct, potentially, the subject you are presenting is so specialist, that only certain people are attracted to it. Others may float by. No views is for a reason. This doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.

If you stick a video up with a title of "Cat causes Postman Fail" you'll get millions of shares and likes, and around 3000 dislikes, and a few people commenting on the poor cat. 

If you stick a video up with a controversial subject, (Politics, Religion, Crime) you'll start a troll and comment war in the comments section.

If your video has 3 hits, no likes, and 3 months after posting it gets a dislike.. you've either got a troll shuffling by, or a competitor. Dont worry about it.

You write a really engaging article, you pose a call to action at the end of it (An open question). You get hundreds of views, but no one comments.

It's a numbers game, and there are so many factors at play. If on Facebook, you have 1 follower, then only 1 person if ever going to do anything (Probably nothing). So, no interaction is insufficient numbers in the audience.

As with a youtube video, your topic may be quite specific, and thus doesn't attract the masses. 

The time to be concerned is when you have a specifically purposed environment - lets say 'A Forum about Cheese Making', you have a lot of members, but no one does anything... they just sit there... 1/100th view posts, 0 post responses.

What a complete and utter waste of time. All your work down the drain.

Not quite. The information you produce is a legacy, and one day, it may become engaging, and whatever your intention for producing that information was is eventually rewarded.

But, how about making it engaging now? 

Address why people joined in the first place. Think why they may no longer visit.

People, in general, need to feel cared for, and respected. They need value in their lives.

I learnt some time ago the power of appropriate human contact, a hand on a shoulder, an embrace, a firm handshake. Wherever it is appropriate, contact is made.

We can't do this physically online, so we must do it in words, pictures, and videos. This is engaging content.

Engaging people with the many things that they may find interesting, such as competitions, advice pods, meet ups, conference calls, audible downloads, and a tonne of freebies is truly a key to success. Make them feel valued and welcome, and cover a wide broad range of topics.

 

But most importantly of all, and this is key... never ever give up. Tweak, Change, Alter, but keep going until what you're doing works.


The First Choice for First Aid
From Cardiff to Calcutta...
Comments

Retail Watching is a new on me, but a seasoned pro at Internet Watchers 

When you have a site that has a lot of informational content, it is expected you will have a lot of lurkers. People who are a passive audience are happy to simply absorb information rather than be active and interact, add opinion or simply acknowledge the author.

The majority of our visitors are passive and there is absolutely no problem with that, I'm exactly the same on a variety of sites myself. I go back to absorb more information, but rarely feel the need to interact, the moz.com blog is a good example. Obviously if a passive visitor decides to exit through an adsense unit (which are more prevalent for non logged in users) then so much the better, and it's another 50p in the meter

But the segment I find hard to reach out to are the non participating members. Those that have made the concious effort to join, create a username, land on the forum logged in, seeing it in its (nearly) ad free glory, then do nothing  Not even a hello.

I've had a similar conversation with Julia/ColonWhisperer25 but good to see I'm not alone with the watcher/lurker conundrum. 


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

Yes, absolutely Steve. Surely people realise the benefit in business to holding a non controversial opinion in print, or the sharing of knowledge or thought? 

The mad thing is, people sometimes do respond better to nonsense. Nonsense doesn't make money. (Unless you profit from Youtube)

It's all about making people feeling loved, and giving them incentive to come, and keep coming, and to input their own mental media. If we can harvest that ability, we would be very wealthy!

In this forum, there is no reason why people shouldn't have a large input. It benefits them net wise, It's a friendly place, it's easy to navigate etc etc. Perhaps a big stick with a feather on the end is needed to tickle people into action?

I love it. I can ramble on and on and on, and I'm quite happy knowing someone may comment next year. More so, someone may find the info in 3 years, and it could help them. That's so good for Karma!  


The First Choice for First Aid
From Cardiff to Calcutta...

I love it. I can ramble on and on and on, and I'm quite happy knowing someone may comment next year. More so, someone may find the info in 3 years, and it could help them. That's so good for Karma!  ”
 

We need to clone you about 150 times. Hmm, what regiment where you in... 


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

Haha! There's only one me... and you're not getting my DNA!

And all the others in my Regiment were nothing like me at all ;-)


The First Choice for First Aid
From Cardiff to Calcutta...

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