December 19, 2009 80 Comments

Simplicity Trumps Most Other Emotions

marketplace I bought about 90% of my holiday purchases this year via Amazon.com. People on Twitter asked me why. My answer was that it was simple. I didn’t have to brave the crowds. I could search simply. It all went into one cart. I knew the rules of shopping via Amazon. I knew their customer service policies. There wasn’t much left to chance.

Think about buying from a non-Amazon site. Maybe your site. Why would I? So, if you’re not Amazon, you’d better have a decent answer to beat my first emotional reaction: simplicity.

What would make me search your site to buy something? There are some reasons I might choose another site:

I’d go to Savvy Auntie because Melanie Notkin will give me advice that would help me buy for kids, where Amazon’s just too big to feel helpful in that regard.

I’d go to Wine Library because Gary Vaynerchuk will take the fear factor out of buying something I’m not educated about.

I’d go to Glynne’s Soaps because I appreciate Gayle and Jennifer’s efforts via social media, so it’s like buying from a friend.

Beating Simplicity and Ease of Purchase is the Goal

Think about that for a moment. We think that price matters. We think that locale matters. We think that having a good shopping cart software matters (it certainly helps). What really has to happen when you think about buying is that you have to beat the current “best in class” for “simplicity.”

It’s not enough to push the “buy local” mantra. It’s not enough to push “homemade” as the big push. You’ll find someone for every one of the reasons why you think they shouldn’t buy from Amazon or Walmart or whoever you consider to be the competition, but to my thinking, the real goal is to instill a powerful reason why someone should buy from you over anyone else.

  • Expertise – Melanie and Gary give me knowledge I don’t have.
  • Support – Gayle and Jennifer could use some love for all they’ve done on Twitter and Facebook. (But support like that doesn’t last forever, I’d offer.)
  • Specialization – Someone like Thinkgeek does a great job of speaking to the nerd crowd.

And there are other ways. Adding value helps. Adding personalization helps. Adding some personality to every order helps.

What do you think? Who’s doing it right? Are you bucking that trend? Are you competing against any of the big guys and how are you doing it?

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  • kat

    i think his “cred” would be better off if he *didn't* bother answering these questions
    truly people
    this entire “disclosure” issue?
    we off that

  • http://www.vacationtimeisprecious.com/ Michael Kaye

    I'm knew at this. Chris is the expert and the co-author of a book on trust. Perhaps he could do a post on the “entire 'disclosure' issue.”

  • kimgellman

    Chris I agree with you 100%. How do we compete with the big guys in our market? We care about our customers. Simplicity and customer service equals showing you care. I think that goes a long way.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    What's lame is using an anonymous name to take a swipe, but I digress.

    None of the mentioned places are clients. I have a full page of disclosures at http://www.chrisbrogan.com/about

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    No need. I cover disclosure on my about page.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    That's the whole point of the article, Vicki. It doesn't matter if you're small or local. You have to earn it. You can't just accept that by being small and local, you earn me. Make sense?

  • Michael Kaye

    Not just lame, cowardly.

  • Michael Kaye

    My bad. I didn't notice the the reply to DSK or scroll far enough down on the About page.

    Seems like the take home is, “this entire 'disclosure' issue;” You're “on that.”

  • http://www.myadguy.com Ray Martin

    I had a pretty good experience recently buying online at Sears.com. They have a smooth pick up area at some of their brick and mortar locations. This saved me time from having to shop around the store, and I was able to save shipping costs by picking things up myself. I used Amazon quite a bit this year too.

  • marryroy01

    Sometimes the search functionality isn't there. Sometimes the navigation isn't navigable. In those cases, I'm off to Amazon.com. It's about simplicity and being able to actually find what I want fast.I want other to participate in debate and leave the useful comments.

    jeux ds

  • http://game-changer.net Jorge Barba

    I think it's really the become the same as 'googling' it. Amazon's simplicity is by default, we know what to expect and that is what makes them stand out. I know because just like you and others, I do 95% of my shopping on Amazon.

    Bottom line is create an expectation and make sure you over deliver on it.

  • http://www.brianhamlett.com Brian Hamlett

    These are very good points Chris. Two years ago I tried to help a client launch a new online ecommerce initiative. I'm big at education. If my clients do not fully understand what they're trying to take on, then my job is that much harder. Sure, I could build what they want, take their money, then have them blast me when it doesn't work because it's what I KNOW they didn't need! So I try to help them understand how they should setup their web initiatives.

    You want to know the hardest concept to get clients to understand (in my experience?) Simplicity. They want their site to have all the bells and whistles. To look cooler than Amazon.com, to have a tool that can do everything like a NASA Swiss Army knife, and then to couple that with the “lowest prices on the web” like that's going to redirect the droves of traffic going to other more well-known (and trusted) ecommerce sites like Amazon.com and even Walmart.com! They want to take the approach of Ron Popeil with the Showtime Rotisserie of “Set it and forget it!” Just turn on the site and we'll make money!

    You hit the key points: it's more than simplicity to get someone to stop using a trusted and easy system and come to yours! Simplicity is important (and in my opinion necessary to a point) but it is more important to offer something the big guys can't: personal service! That personal service leads to trust and a sort of comfort with doing business with you. That comfort and trust would help me be okay with shopping from your site because I would feel that if something went wrong (because your site wasn't that simple) that you would make it all right!

    So simplicity is important… but some form of specialized service is key!

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  • http://swiftpage.wordpress.com/ Annie Cooley

    I think you could easily relate this to how actual local stores stand out above places like Wal Mart and Target. What draws you to those stores will be the same thing that draws you to online stores. Their design stands out, they are simple and they have the products you want/need and products you never knew you needed. An environment and a community need to be created.

  • secretsushi

    Chris, many people forget the importance of design and its bearing on simplicity. The visual design, user interface, quantity of content & language used are all proportionately linked to the amount of friction potential buyers feel when looking to make a purchase on your site.

    This same premise can be applied to any brick and mortar business. Design factors into how how buyers interface with your business.

    Someone who does a great job of this offline is In-n-Out Burger out here on the west coast. Anyone who has seen their menu understands why.

    An online company doing it wrong is Godaddy. I often steer folks away from purchasing from them unless I have time to help them through the process. They always have 10 x more choices available on the screen than they should at any given time and frequently confront customers with messages during the checkout process in attempts to up-sell them. I have found many people who had intended to make a simple purchase of a domain who have spent far more than needed and purchased all kinds of additional options not understanding why.

  • maia

    Certainly, all the middle class people with home broadband and credit cards mean there's nowhere for people who have to pay cash like myself to actually buy most things in our small town any more.

  • http://twitter.com/endydaniyanto Endy Daniyanto

    “… take the fear factor out of buying something I’m not educated about.”

    That, is a swell observation Chris. Consumer education is one of the major points of the Trust Economy – and key to succeeding.

    Cheers,

  • http://www.bitsfortheboat.com/ ropes

    I am always Planned my holidays via Amazon.com. They had always provided me the best of the services.

  • BDF547

    Another example of someone making it easier to shop with simplicity, at Amazon anyway. For stuff that's out of stock there, I've been using an interesting free tool that monitors Amazon stock every 5 seconds and alerts me the moment something is back in stock. Worked great for some laptop accessories I was looking for. It's at http://www.azproductsnatcher.com

  • http://ItStartsWith.Us Nate St. Pierre

    Concur'd.

  • http://www.vitabits.de/multivitamine multivitamine

    Hi,
    I like amazon a lot. it is a fun, fast, friendly atmosphere. Everyone that you work with wants you to succeed. there are benefits, 401k, and profit share. You are part of the ownership of the company. there are also lot's of things they do to make the atmosphere lighter than anywhere else I have worked.

  • http://twitter.com/kanter Beth Kanter

    Glad to see this post on simplicity – we devoted a whole chapter on it in our book, The Networked Nonprofit — in a nutshell – focus on what you do best, network the rest

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  • edhardy11
  • http://www.sandor.com.my/ Kian Ann

    Simplicity is one, but I think trust also plays a good part – with Amazon, at least we all know that when we buy things, they arrive at your doorstep in good time.

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