Feed the (Information) Hungry
According to a study by WebSideStory, repeat visitors are up to eight times more likely to make a purchase from a site than new visitors.
Some may see that glass as far less than half-empty, since it entails a 1.55% conversion rate for brand new visitors. Not very good odds. But to these rose-colored glasses it just looks like normal life.
Do you typically trust strangers with your money? Do you purchase from the first electronics or CD vendor you chance across? Not in these research-savvy, Google search-enabled, Amazon-laden times. You get information first. You compare prices, reliability, and so on.
And when you satisfy those information-hungry customers, they come back for more. And, in these social-networking busy times, they tell their friends. Lots of them. A lot of those friends are now on MySpace, MSN Groups, and elsewhere. 45% of active web users, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, and more all the time.
Those social networking sites enjoy very high retention and repeat visits. People are trading experiences there, sure. But they’re also experiencing trade. They tell their friends about the cool new laser printer they just bought for a great price. They tell them where they got it and how happy they were with the merchant.
That results in more new business and more repeat business. Up to 23% conversion rates, in come cases. Personally, I like those odds.