Help convert the ones who are just a step before buying.
When a visitor seems to be interested in an item (he spent more than average time on that page, scrolling back and forward reading, etc.), but then seemed to not buy the item and move on to something else (still on your website), you can pop up a one time offer that has a very short time limit (one minute should be more than enough.) It might say something like this: “Get XYZ for $79 instead of the usual $139 price. This offer is only good if you add it to your cart within the next 00:48 seconds.” (The time is an active countdown.) Once it’s in the cart, it should have a small text saying that the discount is only valid if they buy it during their current visit. This will help keep them from abandoning the cart and not finishing the purchase.
Discounts and incentives cost you both money and branding equity. You should only use them when it seems the visitor will not buy. You probably already use simple timed or exit intent triggers to do that, but these are crude behavioral indicators. Something smarter is needed.
First, observe enough visitors to your site and see the behavioral patterns of those who buy and those who don’t. Time their visit, but also “follow” them around. Where do they go with their mouse on the page? What do they click? Where do they hover for longer time periods, etc? All this can and is already done today, but we need to take this further – use the information to match future visitors behavior. If there are distinct patterns that can predict a purchase, you can then only show the incentives when visitors do not match these patterns. Even better, if a “non buyer” pattern also emerges, only show the incentives to visitors exhibiting such a pattern.
Sell the actual product for a high price for the product category. Give the buyer two things: a guarantee it will never be sold for a lower price; “lower quality” copies to give out freely.
For instance, a book could be priced at $100 or more, and the buyer will get either a certain number of softcover copies of the book, or an ebook (better to make these personalized with his name), that he can give away to anyone for free.
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To better match what you are “selling” with what they are “buying.”
If they stay on the page for a while (enough to indicate some interest), have a question pop up asking them what their intent is. For instance: “Hi. Let me help you find what you want quickly and easily. Please click on the one most relevant to you: 1. I want to buy this now. 2. I am not planning on buying right now but am looking for more information. 3. Other _________.”
Use the input to tailor your immediate response to fulfill their desire (and yours), and collect all answers for later analysis.