2.3 Techniques for Engaging and Enticing Customers

   Websites use many techniques to try and draw new customers to their site every day. These techniques are used to try and get new and old customers to carry on shopping with their company; being used in the physical stores, mail order catalouges and advertising campaigns. Now due to the internet, and the information the websites have from their customers means that more opportunities have opened up to make web businesses more successful when dealing with customers.
  One technique which is very popular with online businesses is to put on sales or special offers. Many high street stores work better with sales as they attract customers which are 'just passing' or window shopping, which is very unlikely on a website. The successful online sales are usually accompanied by a email campaign, however this can sometimes end up in the consumers 'junk' email, and can be blocked. The emails that tend to be looked at by customers are the ones that are more specific to the customer, and target individuals on their buying preferences. These preferences are usually through the websites own database on previous sales, or registered users or subscriber databases.
  A different technique, which is used is to send out newsletters to subscribers, which lists the latest offers and products, giving them extra information that might be of interest to the customers. This, over time, will hopefully build a loyal customer base, rather than having a trickle of customers. To the business, this technique is a cheap and effective way of getting their information to lots of potential customers at one time, while drawing in potential customers. Most of these newsletters need registration or subscriptions, which although the customer does not encure any cost, it requires them to first visit the website. This can be a easy way for businesses to gain information, as sometimes it will only be a name and email address.
  Surverys and competitions are a similar technique to newsletters, offering fresh, interactive content on the site, and are another way to gain personal information. They can sometimes be more appealing to the consumer, as they feel they are going to gain something for entering, such as vouchers.
   Some of the more powerful techniques for engaging customers and gaining their attention is to offer interactive multimedia experiences. These will usually involve a Java module, or a Flash or Shockwave plug in. Real estate and holiday village websites usually offer this service, showing videos of the homes, and offer online mortgage calculators. Clothing and footwear websites such as Nike offer the chance to customise certain shoes, adding different colours, design, and having this delivered. Car companies such as Porsche and Audi allow their customers to design their car online, to get an idea of what it will look like, and how much that will cost. These can be above and beyond what the customer expects on such websites, and can extend more than what a face-to-face sales situation.