Business Opportunities Weblog

September 6, 2006 by Rich Whittle | 0 Comments

ecommerce-guide.com:

When it comes to shopping online, teenage users are a contradiction: Most teens don’t have their own credit card, yet they love to shop online. Which proves they have access to their parents’ card.

Another paradox about teens online, or perhaps it’s best described as a myth: Teens are not the super tech-savvy users they are popularly thought to be.

However difficult it may be to reach these fickle consumers, they represent a potentially lucrative market. A Pew study in late 2004 estimated the total online teen audience, age 12-17, as 21 million.

Five Key Rules for Selling to Teens:

1. Show Price Upfront
For teenage shoppers, it’s critical to display the price with the first mention of the product. The reason teens are so price conscious, they don’t have a lot of money.

2. Allow Sort by Preference
Again, because of teens’ limited budget, it’s a good idea to allow users to sort products by a variety of factors – by color and size, and definitely by price.

3. Offer Wish Lists
Offering an online wish list is an effective sales tool with teens. Though many teens don’t have a credit card, posting a wish list allows them to direct other users like parents or friends to gifts they want.

4. Don’t Require Registration
Requiring registration prior to purchase has a negative effect on both adult and teen shoppers, but it’s especially bad for teens. Their limited patience means that filling out a form discourages sales.

5. Speedy Checkout
Your site’s checkout process should be as short and easy as possible. Since many teens have limited experience with checkout, answering questions about billing and shipping address or finding a credit card’s three-digit security code might be time consuming.

Photo by Cherie….

In Ecommerce, Operations, Psychology, Public Relations, Strategy, Teens | 0 Comments