GLUE: why giving a little more than expected ( 1 )

At this point, we are more than used to seeing business through the prism of profitability. In part, this has been reinforced since web analytics allows us to know the return on every penny invested and the effectiveness of every marketing campaign or action. 

Therefore, what we are going to talk about in this post may seem, to a certain extent, contradictory with respect to this inertia. By applying GLUE to our eCommerce, we are generating a very satisfactory shopping experience from the moment we are providing an extra that the customer himself has not asked for.

As you can imagine, this is an acronym for something in English (that's marketing). It is the acronym of Give Little Unexpected Extras.

Imagine that you make your purchase in an eCommerce or any other business, you receive your box in the estimated time and, when you open it, you find that the cell phone you have purchased includes a free cover.

How much can that piece of silicone or plastic be worth compared to what a new smartphone? Nothing, a minimum cost. However, the message sent to the customer is: "We care about you and that is why we want to give you a gift".

Thanks to GLUE, we are generating the feeling of receiving more for their purchase than in any other place, a personal detail, something that brings them closer to our brand and that makes them loyal in the future. We are, almost without realizing, working on the main drivers and sales motivations for later. 

And also, why not say it, we are changing the chemistry of the user's brain with that unexpected reward, causing a pleasant discharge of dopamine that will produce pleasure and reinforcing the identification -almost unconscious- of our brand with that pleasure.

It is no secret that one of the things that generates the most satisfaction to the user is precisely the moment of opening the box (hence the success of unboxing). 

In a way, it is the peak of expectation, so if you want to overcome it is now when you have to give the coup de grâce.

You can add everything from complementary products (the case we mentioned) to a simple personalized handwritten note, even a candy... in the style of PC Componentes.

This cannot be applied in all cases, but it works extraordinarily well in niches such as cosmetics. It basically consists of giving users a few samples of anything (perfume, creams, make-up...) and that all of this can be bought in our store, of course.

If you do not have the possibility to add a trial product, you can always play with services (one year of free insurance, express shipping for 30 days or any other Premium"extra” you offer to your customers).

The truth is that customers greatly value the additional guarantees. They represent a commitment on the part of the manufacturer, but they are also a way of saying implicitly that they trust 100% the product they put on sale. 

Imagine the effect that meeting an extended warranty can have at the time of conversion. In many occasions it will be the push the user needs to make the purchase.

In this case, rather than going into what we give the client, we talk about when. Within the GLUE strategy it is also vital to measure the times. 

By this I mean that you give that added value either when the client arrives as a welcome gift, or when he leaves or takes some time off. It is a good way to reactivate customers with something they do not expect, but it makes us return to be among their purchase options.