Starting from the choice of perfume to the choice of clothes, shoes and many more, a consumer makes thousands of choices or buying decisions every day.

These decisions might seem insignificant to some, but keep the marketers up all night. Because at the end it’s the marketers Job to decode and understand the customers buying decisions and use that info to boost revenue.

As rightly said- “Amazing things will happen when you listen to the customer”. -Jonathan Midenhall

So how to understand customer’s buying behavior and keep them coming back?

What Is Buyer Behavior

Buyer behavior is the study of individuals or groups and all the activities linked with the purchase or use of goods and services. It includes how customer’s emotions, preferences and attitudes affect their buying behavior.

It is the process of understanding how and why people decide to purchase any product or service and how they can become loyal to your brand. Buying behavior is the driving force for every marketing process.

Why Is Understanding Buyer Behavior Important

The very first importance of understanding consumers or buyer behavior is to help the marketers understand what influences the buyer’s decisions.

By understanding this, they can fill in the gap and identify the products that are actually needed and the products that have become obsolete.

A buyer behavior analysis reveals the following:

• How the environment influences consumer behavior.
• What makes the customers choose between various products?
• Consumer’s thoughts while researching and shopping.

Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behavior

There are various factors affecting consumer buying behavior. They are listed in the below table.

Types Of Consumer Buying Behavior

# Complex Buying Behavior

Also known as extensive behavior, this buying behavior includes purchasing of expensive services or goods such as a car, diamond jewelry etc.

In this type, the customer is deeply involved in the buying process and performs a thorough research before any purchase, owing to the high degree of risk.

# Limited Buying Behavior

Under this, consumers are faced with limited availability of the product in the market and therefore have to make limited decisions.

For example, you really want to buy a fancy pair of heels and only two brands have those heels. Both are expensive, but one of them is slightly cheaper, therefore you buy the slightly cheaper one since there aren’t many options available.

# Habitual Buying Behavior

This buying behavior includes the items from our daily routine. We do not invest a lot of thought and research into buying these products and they are cheap and available in bulk, at the same time.

For instance, you keep buying sets of pens. Either because you always run out of them or misplace them. So you continue buying the sets of pen that cost the least amount of money and it literally becomes a habit of yours.

# Variety-Seeking Buying Behavior

In this situation, a customer keeps switching among the brands just for the sake of curiosity and variety.

For example they may buy a shampoo from a particular brand without putting much thought into it. Next time, they will choose some other brand just for the sake of change.

Buyer Behavior Patterns

Although each buyer has its own unique habits, still there are some typical patterns that all buyers tend to follow:

# Options for places to purchase

If the customer has the option to access various stores, then they aren’t loyal to one place. This means that even if all the items are available in one place, they still divide their purchases amongst several outlets.

# Analyzing a shopping cart

Analyzing a shopping cart can give the marketers a lot of insights about the items purchased by a customer and also its quantity. Obviously, the necessity items are purchased in bulk whereas the luxury items are purchased less and in small quantities.

The quantity of each item purchased is also influenced by its perishability, price, unit of sale and also the purchasing power of the buyer.

# Time and frequency of purchase

With the development of technology, purchasing has become only a few clicks away. Therefore, marketers should analyze how often and at what time people tend to buy the most goods.

It is considered the shop owner’s responsibility to identify these patterns and to be able to match its services according to these patterns.

# Method of Purchase

Nowadays there are various methods available for the consumers to buy goods. They can either visit a store or buy items online. Some may use a credit card while others may pay using cash.

The way a consumer chooses to purchase an item speaks a lot about the type of consumer he is. Therefore, it is important to gather information regarding their behavior patterns so that you can identify ways to make them buy again.

How To Analyze Buyer Behavior?

To offer relevant services and products to your audience, it is important to analyze the buying behavior of your customers. Here are some of the ways to analyze consumers buying behavior:

# Customer reviews

One way of analyzing your target audience’s behavior is by studying their feedback. These reviews not only help in understanding people's feelings but also to understand the why’s and how’s of choosing a product.

# Using computer softwares

With the help of a Computer software, a marketer can gain valuable information about a customer's experience for a particular purchase.

This includes analyzing preferences of different groups of buyers and also understanding their purchase habits. Example- WooCommerce is one such example of computer software.

# Conducting surveys

The idea of conducting online service can also give you the opportunity to research the buyers behavior from every angle. Surveys provide direct information and the decision making based on these surveys becomes easier.

There is no business without customers. And to gain customers, it is important for the owners to understand the buying patterns and behaviors and to act accordingly.

To stay ahead of the competition, one must know the marketing strategies to attract the potential buyers and to gain their loyalty.