People buy products online for various reasons.
Convenience, reasonable prices, a broader selection of products, or saving time are some of the most common reasons consumers prefer shopping in online stores instead of brick-and-mortar stores.
Additionally, 87% of consumers research products online, searching for detailed product descriptions, comparing features and prices of similar products, and reading reviews.
This statistic reveals that a modern shopper is well informed and considers social, economic, technological, and other factors before opting for one product over another.
The key question online sellers will have to answer during this year’s peak sales season is how to grab the attention of window, research, impulse, bargain, and other types of shoppers.
This article will help you understand what consumer behavior is and how understanding it can help you create high-converting product listings, increase customer satisfaction, and efficiently run Halloween or Black Friday marketing campaigns.
Key takeaways
- Consumers start shopping weeks ahead of major online sales events in Q4.
- 53% of online shoppers consider free delivery an important part of their purchasing decisions.
- Most consumers pay attention to product photos and descriptions when considering an item.
- The item’s durability, design, quality, and price are among the key parameters shoppers take into account during the purchase decision-making process.
- 95% of people read online reviews before buying a product, which indicates the impact social factors have on consumer behavior.
Essential elements of consumer behavior
Online consumer behavior encompasses shoppers’ actions when buying a product. It involves everything from how they feel, think, and make decisions to purchase an item or leave a review.
Furthermore, the analysis of consumer preferences reveals when, how, and why shoppers look for products.
Consumers repeat certain patterns throughout the year, causing traffic spikes on popular online marketplaces like eBay or Amazon and generating high demand for certain types of products.
Understanding why these patterns occur enables sellers on online marketplaces to prepare for these periods, create offers that attract buyers, and strengthen brand loyalty.
A wide range of factors influences consumer shopping behavior during the peak sales season. These factors depend on the type of shopper and vary from their individual economic circumstances to customer feedback and cultural preferences.
Some consumers are interested in getting the best value, while others are only exploring their options without the immediate intention of buying the products they add to their carts.
Consumer insights from the last couple of years suggest that shoppers start looking for discounts, promotions, and deals weeks before major sales events like Back-to-School or Halloween, expanding the window online sellers have to capitalize on sales opportunities.
Factors influencing online shopping behavior
A range of factors affect the customer’s journey from the moment they recognize that they need a certain product to the moment they receive it.
These factors affect their decisions at every step of their purchase journey, as shoppers usually consider and compare product prices, read reviews, and listen to word of mouth.
Having a deep understanding of these key drivers enables sellers to predict future consumer behavior, craft marketing strategies, and create compelling offers during the peak sales season that attract customers and increase conversion rates.
Let’s go through the essential factors that affect consumer behavior on online marketplaces during the major sales events.
Economic factors
A recent study found that 56% of shoppers say they prioritize getting the best price for the product they want to buy when deciding where to shop.
Additionally, three in ten shoppers say that they feel less financially secure in the final quarter of 2025 than they did at the beginning of the year.
These figures suggest that the purchasing decisions online shoppers make during the peak sales season will be driven by economic factors.
Hence, payment options, discounts, limited-time offers, and promotions are likely to be a dominant factor in purchasing decisions shoppers make during Halloween, Black Friday, and Christmas online sales events.
Psychological factors
Each shopper has their own perception of a product that is rooted in their experiences, needs, and beliefs.
Consequently, their purchasing decision are guided by their attitude, perception of value, and motivation.
Taking psychological factors into account is even more important for cross-border online sellers because they must also consider cultural nuances and differences in beliefs when creating offers targeted at consumers in different online markets.
Technological factors
The abundance of options shoppers have on online marketplaces leaves almost no margin of error for digital merchants.
In other words, incomplete product descriptions, low-quality images, or the lack of payment options at checkout can be the reason shoppers decide to buy the same item from another seller and abandon the cart.
Moreover, approximately 30% of the global digital population shops online from smart devices, so it is paramount for online sellers to ensure that their listings are optimized for mobile shopping before the start of the peak sales season.
Social factors
The fact that they cannot touch, try, or test the products they discover online makes shoppers more reliant on the experiences other shoppers have had with a particular item.
As a result, almost all online shoppers read reviews, check seller ratings, and search for word of mouth about the products they’re interested in on social media.
Furthermore, sellers mustn’t underestimate social media platforms’ impact on consumer behavior. Instead, they should optimize all aspects of their operations in order to solidify their reputation, amass positive reviews, and attract loyal customers.
Turning consumer buying behavior insights into sales opportunities during the peak season
Keeping a finger on the pulse of the latest consumer trends involves extensive data collection and monitoring.
Sellers must utilize analytics tools, analyze the purchase history of their best-selling products, monitor the latest social media trends, and use these valuable insights to understand why their customers make purchases they do and how their behavior changes over time.
The data-driven approach to consumer behavior gives digital merchants insight into their customers’ shopping habits and reveals the key motivators for their purchasing decisions.
Still, understanding how raw data can help sellers meet customer expectations during the peak season can be challenging. Here are a few tips to help digital merchants prepare for the busiest time of the year in the ecommerce industry.
Optimize listings for shoppers, not just the algorithms
Search engine optimization can be described as a balancing act between providing shoppers with the information they need to reach a purchasing decision and using the search algorithms to increase the product’s visibility.
Furthermore, the latest data suggests that over-optimization can be as dangerous as incomplete product listing optimization, since a growing number of online shoppers distrust the algorithm’s recommendations.
Consequently, online sellers should adopt a consumer-centric approach toward listing optimization to avoid creating generic product titles and descriptions that rank at the top of search results but fail to attract potential buyers or encourage repeat purchases.
Adjust the pricing strategy
Consumer behavior during the final quarter of 2025 is expected to be dominated by economic factors.
That’s why sellers must adjust their pricing strategy to attract their target audiences and meet their sales goals during this time.
Offering discounts, creating product bundles at a reduced price, or creating limited-time promo codes can be viable strategies to attract price-conscious customers and improve customer loyalty.
However, tweaking the pricing strategy alone may not be enough to stand out in crowded marketplaces, so sellers must explore other ways to drive shoppers into their ecommerce stores.
Tailor offers for the demographics you’re targeting
Millennial and Gen Z shoppers are expected to be among the most active during the Halloween and Cyber Five shopping spike.
However, the data suggests that 23% of Gen Zers intend to cut down on their holiday spending, indicating that targeting other age groups like Baby Boomers or Gen X, who plan to spend slightly more during this time than the year before, might be a more effective marketing strategy.
Hence, analyzing the spending habits of different age groups can help sellers identify trending products and tailor offers that target specific groups of online shoppers.
Provide exceptional support at each step of the customer journey
The seasonal sales spike is often accompanied by an increase in the return rates, larger numbers of customer complaints, and stock shortages.
Additionally, free shipping and returns play an important role in purchasing decisions of online shoppers because around 62% of people who buy products online won’t complete a purchase if the free shipping option isn’t available.
That’s why sellers must ensure that potential customers can go through each step of the buyer journey smoothly and effortlessly. This involves providing excellent customer support, creating informative product listings, and offering a seamless free returns experience.
Using consumer behavior insights to improve performance during the peak sales season
Monitoring and understanding consumer behavior patterns is vital for online sellers’ success in their domestic and international markets.
Digital merchants must adapt to these patterns in order to maximize their window of opportunity to fuel their marketing efforts, improve their sales performance, and end the year on a high note.
The data suggests that online shoppers will be more price-conscious during the key online sales events of the year, like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or the holiday season.
In addition, social proof will affect the behavior of the most active groups of online shoppers, causing them to research products thoroughly, search for online reviews, and reassess their perceived value of these items before purchasing them.
Do you need assistance with getting your eBay store ready for the crucial sales events in Q4? Book a call to find out how Webinterpret can help you improve your sales on domestic and international markets.
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on eBay.
Our AI-based solutions enable more effective selling through automated listing localization, advertising, and returns and ensure all products placed on EU markets are GPSR-compliant.
By giving your international customers a full, end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion and helps establish your business globally.
