What are High Consideration Products and how to sell more with AI

In the fast-moving world of e-commerce, retailers are constantly seeking innovative ways to drive sales. One challenge that many face is selling high consideration products effectively. These items often require a more nuanced approach to marketing and sales, as consumers need more information before making a purchase. 

This blog post will define high consideration products and explore how leveraging AI can drive a better customer experience, enabling personalization and conversational shopping.

What are High Consideration Products?

High consideration products, also known as high involvement purchases, are items or services that require significant thought, research, and comparison before making a purchase decision. These products are often more expensive (but not always!), include complex features, or require long-term commitments. 

Customers typically need more information before buying a high consideration product compared to other products such as fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). 

Examples of High Consideration Products

Let’s look at a few examples of high consideration categories: 

• Electronics: Purchasing electronics like smartphones, computers, or appliances involves diving deep into research and reviews, understanding specifications, and comparing performance.
• Sports & Outdoor Equipment: When buying sporting gear such as bicycles or camping equipment, customers must examine compatibility and technical details to ensure products fit their needs.
• Skincare & Beauty: Before splurging on skincare, customers want to know if a product will work for their specific skin type and ensure products are safe to use.
• Furniture: Ever bought a couch that didn’t fit through the door? Buying furniture involves considering not just size, but also quality, style, comfort, and durability.
  
  

The Challenge with Selling High Consideration Products

Selling high consideration products comes with its own set of challenges. Customers typically require more time to make a decision. They need a vast amount of information and likely have many questions they need answered. 

They may visit your website, leave to do more research, come back, and repeat this process multiple times. This can be a frustrating experience for customers and a challenge for retailers trying to keep consumers engaged.

How AI Can Help You Sell More High Consideration Products

There are very practical ways to leverage AI in your online store to help you sell more high consideration products such as: 

• Predictive Product Pages: Product pages are often cluttered with overwhelming amounts of information. Retailers can leverage AI to anticipate customer questions, synthesizing information from both internal and external sources, and presenting it in a clear, concise manner.
• Conversational AI: Implementing an AI-powered conversational experience (similar to ChatGPT) can allow customers to get instant answers to their product questions. This technology guides customers through the decision-making process and addresses concerns in real-time, offering a smarter, more intuitive interaction.
• Personalized Recommendations: By understanding customer needs, retailers can leverage AI to offer personalized product recommendations that help consumers find the best options based on their preferences and needs. Tailored suggestions make the decision-making process easier and more efficient.

By focusing on these strategies, retailers can better navigate the complexities of selling high consideration products, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and driving more sales.

Conclusion

High consideration products require a more specialized approach to selling. Especially in an online world where options are endless and attention spans are short, retailers should consider how they can present information in an efficient manner to their customers. 

alby is an AI-powered shopping assistant built to answer customers' product questions. Leveraging information from your catalog and documentation, alby synthesizes product details and provides answers through a conversational shopping experience. By answering customer questions instantly, retailers can drive more conversions while reducing support costs.

Read more about how alby helped outdoors retailer, evo, sell more high consideration products by offering instant answers to customer's complex product questions.