I never thought I’d write a blog post about the 4 steps you can take to get repeat purchases from your online customers. Why? Because it’s all about building habits…and the one thing I’m better at than creating habits is figuring out a way to get out of those very same habits!
But when I started my first online store, I accidentally created a habit.
A really, really GREAT habit.
I had four kids, and I’d learned early that if I was going to get a lot done, I had to get up early to do it. I also thought that if there was another mom like me, she’d probably get any online shopping done early because…they had to do it before their kids got up.
That’s why I posted that first product at 7 a.m., and I did the same thing the next day, and the day after that.
Wanna know what happened when one day I didn’t post on time because of a technical glitch?
My store’s Facebook page lit up with people wondering if they’d missed it, or if something was wrong. THAT’S when I realized I’d created a habit.
Not just for me—because I admittedly had done that. I was 100% devoted to getting that product posted even when I was literally in a hospital bed. But I recognized that I’d created a habit with my customers, too.
I learned that my online customers who constantly made repeat purchases had alarms set on their phones so that they wouldn’t miss out. Others had programmed themselves to look at their phones the moment they rolled out of bed in the morning and check out what the product of the day was.
Create a Habit in These 4 Steps
Scientists have studied how to create habits that stick—including a well-known study conducted by MIT in the late 1990s. There have also been a number of books written about habits. One of my personal favorites is “Atomic Habits” written by James Clear, because he lays out the process is a way that’s easy to understand.
According to James Clear, there are essentially 4 steps to building a habit:
- The Cue: that’s the thing that gets our brain to start something…because our brains know that there’s an awesome reward at the end of whatever it is the habit leads us to do. My friend lives in a small city that has dozens and dozens and DOZENS of coffee places. But one of the local coffee brands has a roaster right on the corner of two major streets. Guess what the BUSIEST coffee shop in town is. The smell of coffee coming off the roaster has people turning in before they even realize they’re doing it. That’s just one example of a trigger.
- The Craving: cravings give us the desire to do a specific action. And here’s the kicker—it needs to be attractive. A cue can be your stomach growling—which can be dealt with by eating a cracker. But a CRAVING tells you to fulfill your stomach’s need with something warm and delicious and DESIRABLE like a yummy omelet, a gooey grilled cheese, or a tasty handmade pastry.
- The Response: this one is pretty straightforward, right? It’s the thing we do. We’ve had a cue, we’ve had a craving, so now we do whatever that “thing” is. And the secret is to make the response as easy as possible. Want to drink more water during the day? Always have your mug handy.
- The Reward: Yay! The favorite part. The win, the thing that makes you feel awesome, the satisfaction. That fourth step is what makes it all worth it.
For examples of how to build habits to get repeat purchases from your online store customers, listen to this episode of the How to Sell Online podcast. I give real-life ways you can put these principles to work for you.
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