5 Things to Know About Instant Gratification for eCommerce Pet Businesses
Erin
Co-Founder & Director
So, what is “instant gratification” and how can it affect the way you connect with pet parents?
In a nutshell, instant gratification is the immediate communication of value.
Whether that’s an answer to a question your customer has, a solution to a problem they’re experiencing, or another form of value entirely, it basically comes down to that hit of happiness/satisfaction we experience when our brain gets what it wants.
Instant gratification itself has pros and cons.
On the one hand, it means there’s extra pressure on eCommerce pet businesses to provide customers with an immediate solution or take an immediate action on their half. But on the other hand, if you execute instant gratification well, it’s an incredibly effective way of building trust with your pet parent audience.
We’re going to go into each point in greater detail, but here’s an overview of the 5 Things to Know About Instant Gratification for eCommerce Pet Businesses:
- Timing is key
- Needs to involve value
- Can take various mediums
- Essential to customer care
- Can increase conversions
Timing is Key
“Instant” is the buzzword here. With technology becoming so advanced, and our mobiles/laptops becoming even quicker and snazzier every year, the majority of your customers will expect some degree of instant gratification when interacting with your brand.
Just think about what happens when you type a question into Google…all those answers in a fraction of a second.
Or the expectation when we click a link on a website…we expect to be taken to that next page instantly, not thirty seconds later.
Luckily, automations can go a long way to helping embed instant gratification in your marketing efforts.
For example, if you offer “10% off when signing up to our newsletter” then a pet parent will expect this discount code to land in their inbox pretty much straight away.
In other words, speed is key.
Needs to Involve Value
“Gratification” is arguably even more important than how “instantly” it is.
Because what you’re ultimately aiming to do here is make pet parents feel happy.
And this happiness may be because – like we mentioned before – you’re providing a solution to a problem they’re experiencing with their pet, or immediately and clearly answering a question they have.
Equally, this happiness can be because you’ve offered them some form of financial value too (like a discount, offer or other tangibly lucrative reward.)
If you’re unsure what kind of value you can provide pet parents with, check out our blog on that very topic here.
But basically, it comes down to asking yourself…
What do pet parents need from me? And how can I deliver it to them?
For example, you could consider developing an FAQ page with a comprehensive range of info related to your pet product.
Or add a chatbot to your website to help direct pet parents to the right resource or solution they need.
Can Take Various Mediums
You’re probably starting to see how instant gratification is necessary to all areas of your marketing and customer service.
Whether it’s through digital means, like
- Your website
- Your social media
- Your email marketing
Or through in-person means, like
- Quick order fulfilment
- Same day delivery
- Ability to trial products
- Easy returns
You don’t have to limit yourself to one form of gratification delivery with pet parents either.
In fact, it’d be more effective to provide instant gratification in as many different ways and areas as possible.
For instance, consider things like:
- Your website speed, easy of navigation, suitability for all device types
- Accessibility of information on your social media (e.g. if you have a post plugging a blog, make sure it’s easy to click or find the link to this blog in your social media bio or the caption itself)
- Ensuring your email marketing is set up to be triggered automatically be creating “email flows” as explained by Klaviyo here
- Make it easy to request a return or replacement both on your website and via a paper slip with the order delivery
- Offer different shipping options (e.g. express or same-day delivery if possible)
The easy ability to submit reviews of your brand/product (e.g. if you’re on Shopify, you can set up an integrated app like Judge.Me)
Essential to Customer Care
Which brings us neatly onto the next point of how instant gratification is essential to customer care.
As pet parents share such an incredibly emotional bond with their pet, there’s already higher stakes when it comes to marketing to pet parents.
More often than not, pet parents put a lot of stock into purchasing from a pet brand. It’s not a flippant, throwaway decision.
And if they feel at any point that a pet brand drops the ball or isn’t putting their full effort and energy into looking after their customers, their trust in that pet brand can be irrevocably damaged.
Likewise, in our 2022 research project we asked pet parents what key mistakes they believe pet brands make; “I don’t feel seen or heard” was in the top six responses. It highlights just how vital it is that pet brands put the structures in place for pet parents to not only feel acknowledged by the businesses they’re purchasing from, but like they’re 100% attentive to the pet parent’s & the pet’s happiness.
As mentioned before, you can use instant gratification in your customer care through:
- A seamless ordering process on your website (i.e. quick loading pages are a must, plus a website design appropriate for laptops, tablets and mobile devices)
- Instant confirmation of their order on the website and via email
- Immediate clarity of delivery expectations (e.g. expected delivery date of their order + any additional customer care instructions)
- Text message updates on their delivery or additional rewards/offers
- Easy, quick way to provide feedback (i.e. through review app or direct email reply)
Likewise, pre-purchase you can offer instant gratification through:
- A 24/7 chatbot function (and if their query can’t be resolved via the chatbot, let them know exactly what time frame you’ll be responding to them within)
- Clear, comprehensive FAQs (so they can locate any answers easily on your website)
- Ability to book in for video consultations (so they don’t have to guess about a pet product purchase, and instead receive expert support)
Can Increase Conversions
Which brings us to our final point of how instant gratification can be utilised to increase conversions.
As referenced earlier, to not provide pet parents with instant gratification can actively damage their trust in your pet brand.
But the reverse of this can be true too.
With a seamless user experience on your website and well-structured automation via channels like your email marketing, this can go a long way to helping nurture belief and trust in your pet brand.
It shows that you are efficient, organised, and going above and beyond to ensure you’re providing pet parents with what they need in the most direct way possible.
The less wait time for pages to load, the less places they have to click around to, the less – ultimate – energy and effort they have to expend on you the better.
After all, pet parents are often busy juggling pet care with the other responsibilities in their life. The last thing they need or want is a convoluted, slow ordering process. That’s a sure way to lose out on conversions.
If speed is key, convenience is vital.
Plus, by providing pet parents with instant gratification, this is another sure-fire way to increase customer retention and loyalty.
Because you’ll be the pet brand consistently and dependably “showing up” for them, providing answers and solutions, whilst also offering extra opportunities with offers, deals and rewards.
Automatically applied discount codes, loyalty programs and gamification of financial offers can be highly appealing to customers sitting on the fence too. That last little nudge to help them make a decision to commit to the purchase.
To summarise, instant gratification isn’t really a choice for the modern pet brand; it’s a must.
Whilst small to medium businesses can’t necessarily compete with big corporations like Amazon and its same-day delivery offer, what you can do is get to know your pet parent customers more intimately and offer a much more personal relationship with your audience.
Actively research what they want or need – ask them directly through polls and surveys. Or when they sign up to your newsletter, send a follow-up email asking what kind of content they’d love to receive from you.
Remember, we’re always here to help. Book in for a complimentary consultation to discover how our team can help with your automated email marketing flows.