Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour: Strategies for E-commerce Success
- Reading time: 8 mins 02 Sec
Have you noticed how different shopping feels these days? Increasingly, shoppers research online before making a purchase, becoming more informed and selective than ever. The pandemic accelerated this shift when people bought household items online for the first time. Understanding these factors influencing consumer behaviour has become essential for e-commerce success.
Today’s consumers bring high expectations to their online shopping experiences. Check this out: people now expect the online buying experience to match or exceed traditional in-store shopping.
Source: Wiser Notify
Even more telling, 80% of consumers prefer buying from brands that offer personalised experiences, while 66% expect companies to understand their personal needs and expectations. These patterns show how social factors, economic considerations, and cultural elements all shape online consumer behaviour.
Source: Oberlo
The e-commerce landscape keeps evolving rapidly. Mobile e-commerce revenue is projected to reach $2740 billion globally by 2026. According to Hostinger, social media commerce sales are expected to hit $8.5 trillion by 2030. Businesses that identify and adapt to these factors will position themselves for sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive digital marketplace.
What are the different consumer behaviour models in e-commerce?
Source: Intellspot
Understanding online consumer behaviour requires recognising the distinct patterns shoppers exhibit when making purchase decisions. Unlike traditional retail, e-commerce presents unique factors that influence online consumer behaviour with respect to how they interact with products and brands online.
Information-seeking behaviour:
Information-seeking behaviour represents a purposive searching consumer behaviour model where consumers actively gather and filter information about products and services before making purchase decisions.
Online shoppers engage in information seeking primarily to reduce purchase uncertainty. A study revealed that consumers’ information-seeking patterns can actually predict purchases to varying degrees depending on product category.
Information-seeking behaviour manifests through different strategies in online environments:
- Top-down strategies for categorical information structures
- Bottom-up strategies for dispersed information structures
- Mixed strategies for complex purchasing decisions
The relationship between information seeking and trust works both ways: increased trust leads to purchase intentions, though this effect weakens when customers engage in extensive information-seeking behaviour.
Impulse buying behaviour:
Impulse buying represents spontaneous, unplanned purchases driven by sudden urges rather than careful consideration. Approximately 20% of online retail sales come from such impulsive decisions. This behaviour is particularly significant in e-commerce, where visual stimuli and simplified purchasing processes eliminate traditional barriers to impulse purchases.
Personality traits significantly influence online impulsive buying behaviour. A recent study found that agreeableness, openness to experience, extroversion, and conscientiousness all drive impulsive purchasing in e-commerce environments. External factors influencing online consumer behaviour include time pressure, economic benefits, and social influence
The psychological dynamics behind impulse buying include:
- Emotional states (boredom, anxiety, excitement)
- Cognitive biases that reduce rational evaluation
- Response to personalised recommendation engines
Habitual buying behaviour:
Habitual buying behaviour involves repetitive purchasing patterns where consumers exhibit loyalty to specific brands or products through automatic decision-making. Behavioural learning theory explains that consumers learn to engage in behaviours that yield positive outcomes while avoiding those with negative outcomes.
This type of behaviour develops through continuous positive experiences with a brand or product. Carden and Wood explained that habitual behaviour in online shopping represents an instrumental learning process characterised by automatic behavioural preferences.
Highly personalised products and services strengthen this online consumer behaviour pattern, as customers develop emotional and behavioural dependence through personalised offerings.
Situational buying behaviour:
Situational buying behaviour occurs when external circumstances or specific contexts influence purchasing decisions. This behaviour is characterised by contextual influences, including time sensitivity, budget constraints, and immediate needs.
Environmental factors, social context, and cultural elements are significant factors influencing consumer behaviour. Research shows that time pressure and quantity pressure create a sense of urgency that drives spontaneous buying decisions.
Mobile commerce has emerged as a powerful trigger for situational purchases, with studies showing mobile users are more likely than desktop users to make contextual, situation-based purchases.
How the 7 O’s Framework Helps You Decode Customer Decisions?
Source: SlideModel
The 7 O’s framework gives businesses a structured way to analyse what are the factors influencing online consumer behaviour. This strategic model helps you make informed decisions by examining multiple dimensions of the buyer journey, specifically as they relate to e-commerce operations.
1. Occupants: Who is buying?
Occupants represent the demographic and psychographic profiles of your customers. Before understanding the factors influencing consumer behaviour, it’s important to know your buyers’ characteristics (age, income, values, and lifestyle) as it enables precise market segmentation. You can create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with specific audience segments based on these insights.
2. Objects: What are they buying?
Objects focus on the specific products or services customers purchase. This dimension examines not just what consumers buy but also which features and benefits drive their decisions. This understanding helps businesses refine product development and positioning strategies to match consumer needs.
3. Objectives: Why are they buying?
Objectives explore customer motivations and goals. These range from practical needs to emotional desires, often varying between different market segments. Understanding these objectives allows businesses to craft messaging that speaks directly to customer pain points and aspirations.
4. Organisations: Who influences the purchase?
Organisations include all people and factors influencing online consumer behaviour, such as their family members, friends, social media influencers, or review websites. Recognising these influence patterns helps businesses identify key touchpoints throughout the customer journey.
5. Operations: How do they buy?
Operations involve the steps customers take when making purchases. This covers everything from information gathering to payment processes. Streamlining these operations reduces friction points that might otherwise lead to cart abandonment.
6. Occasions: When do they buy?
Occasions refer to the timing and circumstances surrounding purchases. These might be seasonal events, life changes, or regular replenishment cycles. Identifying these patterns helps businesses optimise marketing efforts around peak buying periods to suit the online consumer behaviour.
7. Outlets: Where do they buy?
Outlets examine the channels customers prefer for their purchases, such as mobile apps, websites, marketplaces, or social platforms. Understanding channel preferences ensures businesses invest appropriately in the most effective sales platforms.
What trends are shaping online consumer behaviour in 2026 ?
Several powerful trends are reshaping consumer behaviour models for online businesses as we move toward 2026. These emerging patterns present both opportunities and challenges for brands seeking to connect with increasingly sophisticated digital shoppers.
The rise of mobile-first shopping:
Mobile commerce now holds a remarkable $4 trillion of the global e-commerce market share, up from just $2.4 trillion in 2021. What’s driving this shift? Shoppers increasingly prefer mobile apps over websites: mobile apps are one of the top factors influencing online consumer behaviour.
Source: Sellers Commerce
Mobile apps convert at significantly higher rates than mobile web sessions, with higher average order values. If you’re not optimising for mobile-first experiences, you’re missing out on the majority of your potential customers.
Also read: Why Every E-commerce Brand Needs a Mobile-First Strategy
Growth of social commerce and influencer marketing:
Source: Tidio
Social media platforms have evolved from communication tools into vibrant marketplaces. Nearly $1639 billion of revenue from global shoppers made purchases through social media in 2024, which is expected to rise to $2900 billion by 2026, making social commerce another determinant of online consumer behaviour.
Influencers drive purchasing decisions more than ever, as more and more internet users buy products after seeing them used by an influencer. The line between entertainment and commerce continues to blur as social platforms integrate shopping features directly into their user experiences.
Increased demand for sustainable and ethical products:
Source: ESG News
Contemporary consumers increasingly prioritise sustainability: online shoppers are willing to pay more for sustainably produced or sourced goods. They’re putting their money where their values are, accepting a 9.7% price premium on average for products meeting specific environmental criteria.
This commitment translates into tangible actions: people are buying more sustainable products to reduce environmental impact. This is one of the top social factors influencing consumer behaviour, and brands that ignore sustainability do so at their own peril.
The shift toward subscription-based models:
Source: The Business Research Company
Subscription e-commerce is projected to reach $3437 billion globally by 2029, with a CAGR of 59.1%. This consumer behaviour model works because it transforms one-time purchases into predictable revenue streams while offering customers convenience through automated deliveries.
For businesses, this creates lasting customer relationships and more predictable cash flow.
Voice search and AR-enhanced shopping experiences:
Source: Market.us
Voice AI search is changing mobile shopping by enabling hands-free interaction, allowing customers to shop while multitasking. The market opportunity is substantial: voice search is expected to reach $112.5 billion by 2032, up dramatically from $20.3 billion in 2022.
AR bridges the physical-digital gap by allowing shoppers to visualise products before purchasing. In the coming years, the AR and VR industry is expected to boom significantly. These technologies remove purchase hesitation by letting customers “try before they buy” digitally, making it one of the top factors influencing consumer behaviour.
Also read: The Rise of Voice Search 2.0: Optimising for Conversational Queries
What are the factors influencing consumer behaviour?
Consumer expectations shift faster than most businesses can keep up. As e-commerce continues to mature, brands need to be aware of the factors influencing online consumer behaviour to stay competitive and relevant in this changing landscape.
Omnichannel strategies:
Source: KeyShot
Successful e-commerce businesses embrace integrated approaches that unify customer experiences across platforms. Companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement retain approximately 89% of their customers, compared to only 33% for businesses with weak omnichannel strategies. Omnichannel shoppers make purchases more often and also spend more than in-store-only shoppers.
This strategy involves ensuring consistent messaging and product information across websites, mobile apps, social media, and physical locations. This expectation of a seamless experience where customers can start their journey on one channel and complete it on another without friction is a determining factor influencing online consumer behaviour.
Personalisation to improve relevance:
Source: Wiser Notify
Personalisation has evolved from a luxury to a necessity in e-commerce. Studies show that through personalisation, 44% of consumers may become repeat buyers, 32% of consumers may leave a positive review, 39% of consumers may tell their family and friends, and 22% of consumers may also post to their social media. This shows how online consumer behaviour is shaped by personalised shopping experiences.
The approach uses customer data to create tailored experiences across all touchpoints. This means consumers are shown relevant products, customised email campaigns, and website content based on individual user behaviour and preferences.
Also read: The Impact of AI and Personalisation on D2C Success
Social proof and user reviews as trust-builders:
Social validation remains one of the most powerful factors influencing consumer behaviour. Research reveals that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and products with reviews experience significantly more conversions than those without.
Source: Wiser Notify
With the majority of consumers reading online reviews before purchasing, integrating authentic customer feedback throughout the buying journey becomes crucial for building trust. Smart brands make reviews visible across product pages, checkout processes, and marketing materials to reduce purchase hesitation, being an influential factor driving online consumer behaviour.
Seamless checkout and flexible returns:
A frictionless purchase experience is a direct factor influencing online consumer behaviour. Approximately one in five online purchases will be returned, making a customer-friendly returns process essential. In fact, 92% of customers will buy from a retailer again if the returns process is easy.
Source: Tidio
Streamlining both checkout and returns processes reduces barriers to purchase while building long-term loyalty. This means offering the consumers multiple payment options, guest checkout capabilities, and hassle-free return policies.
Chatbots and AI offering real-time support:
AI-powered solutions are changing customer service standards along with online consumer behaviour. With most of the shoppers preferring to interact with AI shopping assistants rather than waiting for human support, intelligent automation has become a competitive advantage. These technologies can handle routine inquiries while providing personalised recommendations that increase conversion rates. This shift from human to AI help is another driving factor in online consumer behaviour.
The most effective implementations to cater to this changing consumer behaviour combine AI efficiency with human oversight, ensuring customers get quick answers while maintaining the option for personal assistance when needed.
Also read: 5 D2C e-commerce Retail Marketing Strategies to Adopt
Final thoughts: Understanding the factors influencing consumer behaviour
Online consumer behaviour in e-commerce keeps shifting as digital shopping becomes the norm. The pandemic created lasting changes that businesses can no longer ignore; shoppers now expect more personalised, seamless experiences across every touchpoint.
Consumer behaviour will keep evolving as technology advances and expectations rise. Businesses that stay alert to these shifts and build systems flexible enough to respond quickly will secure their place in tomorrow’s e-commerce landscape. The winners won’t just react to the changes in online consumer behaviour, they’ll anticipate them through careful analysis and strategic planning.
Ready to adapt your e-commerce strategy to changing consumer behaviour?
FAQs:
The main factors influencing consumer behaviour in e-commerce include personal, economic, psychological, social, and cultural elements. These encompass aspects like income, occupation, perception, family influence, and cultural values, all of which shape how consumers make purchasing decisions online.
Mobile shopping has become a dominant force in e-commerce, with mobile commerce controlling a significant portion of the global e-commerce market share. Consumers increasingly prefer mobile apps for shopping, as they offer higher conversion rates and average order values compared to mobile websites.
Sustainability has become a significant factor in consumer decision-making. Many consumers are willing to pay more for sustainably produced or sourced goods, with many actively seeking to reduce their environmental impact through their purchasing choices.
Social media platforms have evolved into vibrant marketplaces, with global shoppers making purchases through social media. Influencers play a crucial role, as internet users also buy products after seeing them used by an influencer.
To adapt to changing consumer behaviour, e-commerce brands can implement omnichannel strategies, use personalisation to improve relevance, incorporate social proof and user reviews, offer seamless checkout and flexible returns, and utilise chatbots and AI for real-time support. These approaches help create better customer experiences and increase conversion rates.
