Types of Shoppers: Classification Paper - Essay Example

These customers have a great impact upon a company’s merchandizing and buying decisions. Loyal customers can be made to feel happy by asking their opinions and telling them that they mean a lot to the company. No matter how much a company does for the loyal customers, it is never even close to enough because the happier a loyal customer, the more people the company will be introduced and recommended to. Discount customers Discount customers are frequent shoppers. The decisions made by the discount shoppers are influenced by the markdown sizes of the vendors.

Discount customers are the biggest contributors to the cash flow of a company. However, there is a certain level of risk associated with the discount customers. They can incur a company a lot of money because of their tendency to return the items. Impulse customers As the name indicates, impulse customers are the eleventh hour buyers. They come to shops, not because they need a certain thing. Buying is not included in their To Do list, though they may buy anything that tempts them sufficiently.

Companies have a special liking for the impulse customers. Impulse customers are the easiest to be convinced into buying the product. They are extremely likely to respond to the recommendations of the shopkeepers in a favorable manner. Most shops display their products for the impulse customers because of their huge tendency to provide the company with great customer knowledge and insight. Need-Based customers These customers know what they need. They come to the shop to buy a particular item.

Since they are very clear about what they require, they often bring only the amount of money which would be needed to purchase the particular item or items. Need-based customers search for the needed item in a shop and buy it if they find it there. In case they can’t locate the item in a certain shop, they go over to the next one until the item is found. It is difficult to satisfy the need-based customers for the first time, though they can be made loyal customers with a little care and quality of customer service.

Encounter with a need-based customer may not be very enjoyable for a salesperson, though they are the fundamental source of a company’s long-term growth. Because of their lack of affiliation with a particular company, they are the easiest to be lost if given a bad service once. The best way to build a long term relationship with a need-based customers, it is advisable to engage the top salespeople with them. Wandering customers They don’t know what they need. They are not driven to the shop by their need.

Instead, they just want to roam about the market place, do window shopping, see different kinds of things to broaden their imagination, gain experience and a sense of community. Wandering customers are least wanted by any company. They are good for nothing. They come to the shops, crowd the place and hardly ever buy anything. The company can not do much to minimize the number of wanderers in the shop as long as the location of the shop is not changed. However, wandering customers are a potential source of advertisement for a company.

They may not contribute to the cash flows at all, but whatever they experience, they spread it around. Their ability to affect a company’s image this way obliges the company to be patient towards them and assist them in every manner they require. The five types of customers