Building Shopper Perceived Ownership in the Era of eCommerce

The reasons why in the countries with developed trade Super- and Hypermarkets have been strongly outperformed traditional trade with over the counter sells are feasible for marketers now.

One of the core drivers of this shift is related with the success with which modern trade stores have managed to build shoppers perception of the product ownership even before shoppers actually put the product in their basket and pay for it.

With the development of the modern trade stores companies also pay much more attention at the ergonomics of the product packaging – trying to stand out from the shelf so much that shoppers start willing to take this product in hands. One of the best experience that shoppers can get with product packaging in FMCG categories definitely refers to Cosmetic Perfumeries. If you are looking for packaging ideas, welcome to the Perfumeries world! The concept of perceived ownership perfectly works here- after the shopper starts product exploration, he or she is eager to put it in a bag.

But what does happen in that case in eCommerce environment? Do eStores have any chances to drive shoppers perceived ownership?

My investigation both across various scientific papers and available books in consumer behavior shows that eStores do have many opportunities to build shoppers perception of the product ownership.

Thus, for instance, R. Dooley (2012) shows that product squeeze page, that represents “one long page filled with product data, testimonials from satisfied customers, and answers to common objections and so on”, allows to build strong shoppers engagement in the product information (see also http://www.codrutturcanu.com/13-best-squeeze-page-examples/). As a result it builds ownership imagery about the product.

Another driver of the perceived product ownership is linked with different types of augmented reality. Ray Ban represents a strong case on how augmented reality can drive product ownership- in their site a shopper can find a virtual mirror where he or she has a chance to select a type of Ray Ban model, color of glasses and then make a photo of his-/herself via web camera.

Source: http://www.ray-ban.com/france/virtual-mirror

To sum up, development of eCommerce technologies allows to enhance and diversify solutions that will enable companies to drive consumers perceived ownership. Therefore, I would recommend marketers to continuously develop enhanced eStore content bringing digital novelties like it used to be with augmented reality to build stronger consumer ownership imagery.

Sources: Dooley, R. (2012).Brainfluence: 100 Ways To Persuade And Convince Consumers With Neuromarketing, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey