The target group analysis in e-commerce

Do you know your customers? Before you answer this question too quickly, ask yourself if you really know what their needs are, what challenges they face on a daily basis and what issues affect them. Why do you need an answer to these questions? Because you can best reach your target group with customised products, content and marketing activities. With target group analysis, you have the right tool at hand.

This article is about target group analysis. We will tell you what target group analysis is, why it is so important, what advantages it has and how it works in practice.

What is the target group analysis?

The target group analysis can be assigned as a central component of the market analysis. Thus, it should be a fixed component in a company. The term encompasses all activities that are carried out in order to get to know one’s own customers in depth, to fathom their needs, to learn more about their expectations and to understand their behaviour. A target group analysis thus pursues the goal of systematically recording demands, but also lifestyles and buying motives, in order to use the data obtained for the optimisation of products, marketing and co. Target group analysis can also be used to identify trends at an early stage. Expert tip: No matter what industry you come from, carry out a target group analysis regularly. This is the only way you can react in time to changes within your target group, which are not uncommon in today’s fast-moving times.

Why is a target group analysis so important for the online shop?

The enormous competition makes it imperative that your customers are satisfied with your offer, presentation and service. Don’t forget that your competitor is waiting just a click away for your customers. If he has done his homework, he has already carried out a target group analysis.

It is a fundamental part of entrepreneurial success. It is the only way to obtain the detailed information you need to know which products and services really work and how to profile your offers in such a way that the demands of your target groups are met. A target group analysis also provides information on how you can address your prospective customers with targeted advertising measures in your marketing strategy and where the appropriate environment is for this.

With a target group analysis, you can pick up your customers exactly where they are and respond to their individual preferences without detours. If you gain knowledge about the actual needs with the target group analysis, it is much easier to gain their trust with tailored offers.

You can use the results of the target group analysis in a particularly versatile way in the various phases of the customer journey. In addition to further developing products or services, you can optimise your online shop, refine content, revise the checkout and improve the after-sales phase.

An example: you learn through the target group analysis that your target group prefers to pay by credit card. This way you can add the payment method to the shopping cart process and record fewer shopping cart abandonments.

What are the advantages of a target group analysis?

• target-oriented optimisation of products, content, online shops, etc.
• direct marketing approach
• less wastage
• high customer satisfaction
• improved communication
• Strong customer loyalty
• Easier customer acquisition
• Increased recommendation rate
• reduction of shopping cart abandonment
• increased conversion rate in every sector
• more turnover

By the way, if you want to learn more about GDPR-compliant shopping cart abandonment emails, we already have the right article ready for you.

How does a target group analysis work?

You now know how important a target group analysis is for your success in e-commerce and what advantages it has. Now let’s take a look at how a target group analysis succeeds.

Define target groups

The basis of the target group analysis is the target group definition. In this first step, you narrow down your relevant customers. Many people equate target group definition with target group analysis. However, the overall purpose of target group analysis is to collect detailed and valid data on a defined target group. To do this, you must first define the target group.

A target group is a group of people who share certain characteristics, but also wishes and goals. Therefore, the following demographic and socio-economic characteristics are relevant for the target group definition:

• Age
• Place of residence
• Gender
• Marital status
• Education
• Profession
• Income
• Language
• Interests
• Values

The more characteristics you record and answer, the finer the picture of your customers will be in the target group analysis.

Analyse purchasing behaviour

The next step in the target group analysis is to ask how, when, where and why your customers buy and which products are preferred.

This includes the following questions:

• What purchase motives move the customer?
• What influences a purchase decision?
• Who influences a purchase decision?
• Where do you reach potentially interested parties?
• When exactly does your target group predominantly buy?
• How often does a purchase of certain products take place?
• Which products are preferred?
• What situation are your customers currently in?
• How high is the influence of the price?
• What price is the target group willing to pay?
• What is the income range?
• Does sustainability play a role?
• Are your customers more concerned with traditional or modern values?
• What media preferences do your customers have?

By analysing buying behaviour, you gain a sound picture of the behavioural patterns of your target group. If you know where, when and how to reach potential new and existing customers, you can place ads on the right channel, at the right time, with the right approach. Or you can use targeted exit-intent pop-ups. The uptain® ALGORITHM makes it easy for you, as it recognises the interests of your customers and automatically plays out suitable messages at the right moment to help them place an order.

Conduct target group survey and research

Now you have collected many unanswered questions in the target group analysis. How do you answer them now? You have three possibilities: Ask your target group directly by means of a survey, conduct interviews or use online research. Ideally, you should combine all methods.

The survey

Probably the most widely used method of target group analysis is the survey. Today, there are common and free tools like SurveyMonkey to create digital surveys quickly and easily. The important thing here is to ask questions that are as specific as possible. Vague questions with a lot of leeway lead to inaccurate answers and make evaluation difficult. The advantage of surveys is that they require little effort and offer a wide range of possibilities. You can also conduct them anonymously and reach a large number of participants. This in turn creates an overall well-founded picture. Representative statements for target group analysis can only be made with 500 or more respondents.

Tip: Simply ask questions like the following: “Is it important to you that your trousers have a side pocket?” or “Do you agree with the statement that the taste of the drink is mild?”

Interviews

Compared to the survey, the interview method for target group analysis is much more time-consuming and is therefore limited to a smaller group of people. However, you usually get better quality results, even if you cannot conduct them anonymously. Due to the smaller number of respondents, the interview is ideal for deepening and supporting the information from the survey and for gaining extended knowledge.

To implement an interview, you can do this by phone or video call, for example. Just remember to create a list of questions in advance and set a time frame. It is best to record the interview – but always get permission from the interviewee.

Online research

Quick and easy, on the other hand, is data research on the internet. Since the findings obtained are of course anything but reliable, this method of target group analysis is suitable to get a first impression or to supplement your own data collection. Sources can include Statista or the Federal Statistical Office.

Important for you in e-commerce: Consult the results of Google Analytics. Here you get important insights into how your customers and prospects behave in your online shop, what they click on frequently or how long they stay on which page. You can also gain further information such as age, gender and origin from the data.

With a well-executed target group analysis, you can also determine the best time for newsletter pop-ups.

How do you use the results of a target group analysis?

Once you have answered all the questions with the data, you now know how old your customers are on average, where they come from, what interests they share, how high their income is and what their wishes are. Based on this, you can then create a so-called persona. This means a fictitious ideal customer who describes and represents your entire target group. From now on, you will have this persona in mind for all marketing measures and communications and will base all your plans on this prototype. You can use your “ideal customer” for different areas: for product development or optimisation, for revising website content, for personalising newsletters or for interaction.

A target group analysis helps you to get to know and understand your customers. Use this tool for your online shop to increase customer satisfaction in the long term, acquire new customers faster and retain existing customers.