The customer journey is the process that characterizes the points of contact between the consumer and the company. Describe and examine the steps of the user's journey before becoming a buyer of a product or service offered by your brand.
This “journey” that begins with the need for a product and ends with the purchase, is usually represented in its key moments through a map (customer journey map).
The customer journey map is essential to examine the strengths and weaknesses of each individual touchpoint (touchpoints between the consumer and the company). It helps to understand how to improve the overall user experience, to facilitate the purchasing process and, consequently, increase the sale of your products and services.
The customer journey map allows strategic planning of investments oriented to customer needs.
The 4+1 phases of the Customer Journey before the arrival of the website
Before the arrival of the web and online sales strategies, the customer journey was considered a linear process characterized by 4 + 1 main phases:
- Conscience: perception of the need for a product. In this phase, the consumer reaches the awareness of being able to find the answer to his need in a specific product. At this moment the user comes into contact with one or more sellers.
- Familiarity: In the second phase, the product sold by a specific brand becomes familiar and therefore recognizable compared to products sold by other companies. At this point it should not be assumed that the user has memorized all the information about that brand. However, some details, such as the colors or the slogan, attracted him over other companies and guided him in choosing that product.
- Consideration: This is a very delicate and decisive phase, dedicated to finding the information necessary for the purchase. This means that the consumer is definitively choosing the brand from which to buy and to do so he/she collects other information related to the characteristics of the product and especially the price. With the arrival of the web, this step has changed significantly because today the potential client has different tools to obtain information, for example they know that they can obtain it from other clients through reviews and generally trust them a lot. .
- Purchase: It's time to purchase. The time that passes before transforming the initial need into a purchase can be more or less long, depends on several factors and can also be characterized by various doubts. Therefore, sales are only one of the company's first objectives. At this moment it is essential to make the most of customer satisfaction to propel it to the next, most important phase.
The fifth phase of the Customer Journey
We talk about 4+1 phases because with the purchase it would seem that the necessary journey for the user to become a customer has ended. However, there are a series of essential activities to establish a bond of loyalty with the consumer (now customer) and get them to buy your product or service again.
We are talking about the Loyalty phase: the marketing activities and after-sales services essential to achieve customer loyalty and trust.
To achieve this objective, it is not enough that the sale has been successful and has satisfied the customer, since the relationship established between consumer and brand must be constantly nurtured.
A series of post-sales activities such as remarketing, customer service or even special discounts for those who have already made a purchase are required to ensure that the customer continues to choose only that brand without returning to the "consideration" phase to buy others. products The type of product or service offered greatly influences this aspect. In fact, the situation changes if it is an item that must be purchased several times or once.
The customer journey in the digital age
From the steps listed above, the user journey seems to take place in a very linear manner. However, today this model is no longer reliable because it does not consider all the new tools available to the user. It does not mean that these 5 touchpoints are no longer valid, but it is necessary to consider more intermediate steps to analyze the purchasing journey in the digital age.
Today, in addition to being a clear integration between physical and digital touch points, such as purchasing a product in the store after consulting the online site of the same brand, the consumer is no longer a passive spectator regarding the market: Your knowledge has been increased, you have many tools at hand to make a choice, and you are often an integral part of the product proposal phases.
Nowadays, the consumer offers information and advice to sellers and is part of the consideration phase of other consumers through reviews or shares on social networks.
In addition, the user has the possibility of comparing an indefinite number of brands, products and prices and many times it is the consumers themselves who convince other consumers about the reliability of a company, through new means of online word of mouth that offer the possibility of reaching a considerable number of people.
The sixth phase of the Customer Journey
That is why today a sixth phase becomes part of the customer journey: support for brands by customers on the web.
This is the support that the customer gives to the brand through positive online reviews: sharing on social networks and reviews related to the product.
At this point, the customer journey transforms into a “consumer decision journey” characterized by online and offline touchpoints leading to different moments of decision and indecision. These touch points can be managed directly by the company through advertising campaigns and through points of sale or indirectly as in the case of reviews, word of mouth and comments.
The influence of the smartphone in the purchase phases
A fundamental role in the shopping experience is played by the use of the smartphone. According to a study carried out by Google, we consult it about 150 times a day, with sessions lasting an average of 70 seconds.
It usually happens that when we are in a store or in front of a restaurant we consult our smartphone to look for more detailed information about a product, compare prices or read opinions about the quality of the food. From these actions arise what Google defines as "micro-moments", that is, the moments in which people understand that they have a need and to satisfy it they consult the world of the web with their smartphone.
The role of the company in these micro-moments is to be present in most of them, making the consumer's wishes come true.
The 4 micro-moments
Here is a list of the 4 main types of "micro-moments":
- “I want to know moments”: The user wants to obtain information about a product of interest. The ease of finding that information may tempt you to purchase through one site or another.
- “Moments I want to go”: At this moment the user is determined to discover what is nearby to buy a local product. Check your smartphone and then go to the store.
- «I want to make moments»: After making the purchase, the consumer often searches online for other information about that product to understand how to best use it. Suffice it to say that searches on YouTube with the keyword «How» increase 70% every year. Being prepared also at this stage, providing the consumer with all the information he needs, is of fundamental importance.
- “I want to buy moments”: This is the moment of final decision. A last step before proceeding with the purchase will be to read the different reviews or compare the prices of the chosen product.
It is clear that today the customer journey is an extremely complex journey. It is made up of several delicate stages that can bring the potential client closer or further away.
