How does Double 11 make you unable to resist shopping?

"Double 11" is coming soon, and you have already stocked up a lot of things in your shopping cart, right? Have you set the alarm and are ready to grab the shopping on time? Before you think it’s a great deal and click the buy button, I’d like to talk to you about one topic: What are the common tricks used by Taobao sellers, and is there any business logic behind these tricks?

In the first three weeks of Season 2 of "5 Minute Business School" (hereinafter referred to as "5 Business 2"), I have been focusing on a major theme "The irrational psychology of users" and have detailed what the "certainty effect", "semantic effect", "status quo bias", "proportion bias" and so on are. In fact, many of the tricks designed by Taobao sellers are based on people’s irrational psychology.

Today, let’s take a look at how Taobao sellers use these fighting techniques based on user psychology to make you unable to resist buying things step by step in the Double Eleven shopping spree.

1. Cost-effectiveness bias

The design of business routines is essentially derived from a formula: sales = traffic × conversion rate × average order value × repurchase rate.

If you want to increase sales, you need to work hard in four aspects: traffic, conversion rate, average order value, and repurchase rate.

I have said in Lesson 13 of “5 Business 2” that when people make transactions, they not only want to buy goods, but also want to feel that they are getting a good deal when buying the goods. This mentality of "getting more" or "paying less" is called " cost-effectiveness bias ".

Being cheap is important; making users feel that they are getting a good deal is more important; making users feel that they are the ones who ultimately defeated you and thus got the good deal is the most important.

Double Eleven is actually a way of stimulating traffic by creating a festival. It is a reasonable outlet for merchants to give users the desire to take advantage of them. Using everyday prices as a reference, through methods such as “today’s special offer” and “one day only”, a large amount of traffic is attracted, making you feel that you are getting a bargain when you buy something, and rush into the Double 11 shopping spree without hesitation.

2. Traffic-generating products + profit-generating products

I talked about the logic of “ traffic-generating products + profit-making products ” in Lesson 17 of “5 Business 2”. Smart sellers know how to exchange profits for traffic. First, we make a few popular items that don’t make money, so that you will think, “Oh my God, these are too cheap, you’d be a fool not to buy them!” As a result, a large number of people flocked to his store and kept shopping, and the seller had the opportunity to make money through other profitable products. The restaurant has a special dish every day, which serves the same purpose of attracting customers.

3. Free shipping

You want to buy an electric toothbrush, and after careful selection you find the one you like. Store A sells it for 199 yuan with free shipping, while Store B sells it for 189 yuan but adds an additional 10 yuan for shipping. The total price is 199 yuan for both, but Store A has much higher sales and reviews than Store B. Why is that? The prices are the same, just stated differently, will it really have such a big impact on the decision?

It really does. If you set the price at 189 yuan plus 10 yuan for shipping, it will trigger the customer's " loss aversion " psychology. The customer will feel that this toothbrush is only worth 189 yuan, but I have to pay an extra 10 yuan for shipping, and I will feel like I've "lost 10 yuan." If you set the price at 199 yuan with free shipping, it is equivalent to telling the customer, "This toothbrush is originally worth 199 yuan, you don't have to pay for the shipping, I'll cover it!" The customer will have a sense of value of "getting a good deal." Although you know that no matter which statement you use, the 10 yuan shipping fee is borne by the customer.

This is what I talked about in Lesson 2 of “5 Business 2”: the “ semantic effect ”. The same problem, but with some differences in expression, leads to completely different decision-making judgments.

4. Package Offers

You have chosen a toothbrush and confirmed the price, which is 199 yuan including shipping. Just as you are about to place an order, you suddenly see a toothbrush with a toothbrush head for only 209 yuan, while the brush head alone costs 49 yuan. This is almost like giving the brush head away for free. Which one would you buy? Of course, buy a toothbrush and brush head combination.

In Lesson 5 of "5 Businesses in 1", I talked about the " price anchor point ". This 49-yuan brush head is the "price anchor point" set by the seller. It is to highlight that the combination of toothbrush + brush head is particularly cheap, so that you will choose to buy the set without hesitation and buy an extra brush head.

5. Full discount

The toothbrush and brush head cost 209 yuan, which is 40 yuan cheaper. It's a great deal and you are very happy. Just as you are about to click "Checkout" in the shopping cart, you suddenly see two words: Get Coupon . I clicked on it and saw, "30 off for orders over 259", and the claim was successful. If you spend another 50 yuan, you can get 30 yuan off. You think to yourself, "Why not just buy another brush head? I'll need it anyway." So you added another brush head to the shopping cart, and the total price became 258 yuan, which is still one yuan short of 259 yuan. What should you do? At this time, you "just happen" to see two words: make up the order .

When you click on it, you see that the cheapest item in this store is a box of dental floss for 10 yuan. You think to yourself, "It's good to have a box for daily use," so you add it to the shopping cart and go to check out with satisfaction. In the end, I spent a total of 238 yuan to buy an electric toothbrush, two toothbrush heads and a box of dental floss. It was a real deal. Before you know it, you've bought two more things.

I talked about the " certainty effect " in Lesson 3 of "5 Business 2". If you spend 259 yuan or more, you will get 30 yuan off. You will definitely get this 30 yuan discount, so you will fight for it without hesitation.

The seller encourages you to place a group order by using discount coupons, and further lowers the threshold for you to place a group order through specially prepared "group order specials", thereby increasing the average order value.

6. 7 days no-reason return or exchange

You have your eyes on a shirt, it is a brand you often wear, and you like the style and color, and the price is much cheaper than in the mall. The only problem is that you cannot try it on. What if it doesn’t fit you after you buy it? The seller has already thought it out for you: 7 days of no-questions-asked return and exchange, and also offers shipping insurance. Once a return or exchange occurs, the shipping fee will be compensated to you, and you don’t have to spend a penny. This greatly lowers your purchasing threshold. Since you can return it if it’s not suitable, just buy, buy, buy!

Don’t sellers worry that too many people will return the goods and cause losses? I talked about " status quo bias " in Lesson 8 of "5 Business 2". Once you buy something, due to your bias against the status quo and your aversion to loss, you generally won't return it easily unless there are serious quality problems.

7. Value Reconstruction

A monthly package of flowers costs 168 yuan for four bouquets, but the buyer thinks it is too expensive and is unwilling to buy. What should I do? Let’s take a look at the Taobao seller’s thoughtful copywriting : “For the cost of just a cup of coffee every week, you can have flowers delivered to your home and enjoy a good mood for the whole week.” Is it expensive to exchange a cup of coffee for a bouquet of flowers? It doesn’t seem expensive, so I’ll order one and give it a try.

Spreading the cost of a high-priced product over a weekly or even daily period will make you think “it’s not that expensive,” ignoring the total price and prompting you to buy it immediately. This is called “value reconstruction.”

8. Double the deposit

The "double the advance deposit" strategy that has been popular in the past two years is also aimed at increasing conversion rates. Paying less money at the beginning reduces the psychological burden of the purchase. When you actually buy the item, you only need to pay the remaining balance, which is the total amount minus double the deposit amount. This not only makes it more cost-effective, but also makes you feel reluctant to give up something you have already got because of "status quo bias."

9. Promotion ratio or number

In the 12th lesson of “5 Business 2” titled “ Proportional Bias ”, I talked about when promoting sales, low-priced items should be promoted with percentages, and high-priced items should be promoted with discount amounts. For example, if a unit price of 50 yuan has a discount of 10 yuan, write “direct discount of 20%”; if a unit price of 500 yuan has a discount of 20%, write “direct discount of 100 yuan”. This way, the same probability can “appear” in your mind to be larger than it actually is.

There is business logic behind everything. Cost-effectiveness, traffic-generating products, free shipping, combination discounts, discounts on purchases over a certain amount, 7-day unconditional returns and exchanges, value reconstruction, etc., these have long been the most commonly used sales tactics by sellers. In the fiercely competitive arena of Taobao, almost every “little bargain” that you secretly feel proud of getting is “carefully designed” by the seller without leaving any trace.