The world is inundated with new businesses launching each and every day. Customers now have so many options to choose from when looking for products/services. With such a high saturation in most markets, it’s easy for someone to feel lost amongst the noise when choosing to purchase something. It’s difficult to understand why they should buy from one brand over another, but, inevitably, customers will land on one. Why does this happen?

Most people will still say that price is king. Customers will naturally go for the cheaper option. But that is not (always) true. What happens if the features/benefits and prices are also identical? Well, we’ve got some answers for you. Here are a few factors that lead customers to choose one brand over another.

Quality

One of the most important factors that significantly influences customer choice is “quality”. Seeing a successful brand indicates that it delivers exceptional customer satisfaction; this is not possible without it maintaining the quality of its products and services. No customer wants a product or service that breaks a few days after purchasing. Customers have different parameters on how they evaluate the quality of the products and services, whether that be material, hardware, software, look and feel, ease of use, etc. Make sure you’re selling good products, don’t try and skimp out on the materials, or staff just because it can save you a few pennies. The effect of a poor product/service can leave an everlasting impression on your brand. We’ve found that businesses that offer after-sales/after-care service and have great customer service, tend to remain popular amongst customers.

Loyalty

Brand loyalty is the positive feeling a customer holds towards a brand, so much so they purchase the same product or service repeatedly. Regardless of the competitors’ offerings or actions or any transformation in the buying atmosphere, the customer sticks to their regular buying pattern. People stay loyal to certain brands for decades and often will act as walking talking billboards for that brand, spreading the joy of their customer experience with anyone and everyone. Brand loyalty is built by providing an all round exceptional experience for a customer. If you want to find out more about how to do this you can always give us a call.

Familiarity

A lot of customers will look past other products and services when they see something else that’s familiar to them. Customers form a certain type of familiarity with certain products that they can’t even comprehend buying from a fellow competitor. For instance: A loyal IOS user will face many difficulties switching to android phones.

Status

Some customers will remain unaffected by prices at times. When money is no issue, customers tend to choose brands that will enhance their perceived status in society. They remain unaffected by the price and other factors as their main focus remains on the popularity and status-worth of the brand. You may notice all the envy and buzz that surrounds someone who turns up with the latest edition watch, I-phone or other gadgets. Given the option, customers will turn towards brands that they believe will elevate their social standing.

Self-Image

Like humans, a brand can have an identity of its own. Your brand is how your business is perceived by others. The more customers that identify with your brand, the more loyal they become to it and the more resistant they are to any attempts made by competitors to lure them away. As customers identify with a brand, their intent to repurchase and willingness to purchase from that brand increases. For example, it is unusual to see our Director, Jacob Dilley, wearing anything other than Crew Clothing or something similar. He connects with their ethos, style and coastal fashion so pulling him over to something like Topman or Superdry will be a very hard task.

Customer buying patterns are very complicated. It’s often difficult to understand why they behave the way they do, but the above factors can hopefully shed a bit of light on customer choices in the future. To truly understand more about your buyers, it is always worth running unbranded/anonymous competitions and surveys asking different questions to really understand what makes your customers tick.