Ecommerce user journeys contain many phases where retailers can inluence outcomes, corresponding to phases within the purchase decision cycle. The PIEPP purchase decision cycle model is great at helping to explain the complexities of human decision-making when we buy things.

PIEPP stands for:

Problem recognition - Identifying a need, whether “real” or not.

Information search - The more complicated the object, or the higher its ticket price, the more the information is needed to make a purchase.

Evaluation of criteria - Assessing whether the product meets your needs - a conscious and unconscious process.

Purchase decision - Are there any barriers to stop

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - Natural /Organic Search

What is it?

This online marketing technique optimises websites to adhere to the relevancy algorithm criteria of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN). The aim is to get your web pages to appear in the top positions on the search engine results pages (SERPs) for search queries. This mechanism is designed to drive targeted and qualified traffic to your website using relevant content that is attractive and useful to the consumer…

Creating an online marketing strategy uses much the same planning process one would employ in the off-line world; namely examining and adjusting product, price, place and promotion to meet consumer demands. The difference online is how the environment and mechanisms at play affect the way we choose to approach the four P’s. There are certain areas where a sea-change is present between the online and off-line worlds and others where the changes are hardly significant at all. In this article we will seek to explore the various elements that affect the online marketing mix and influence the planning and execution