Heuristics That Amazon Uses To Get You To Buy Their Products.

Amazon has become one of the most successful companies in the world as of the last decade along with the rise of e-commerce. This success didn’t come to Amazon based on their luck, it came to Amazon due to the countless hours dedicated to perfecting research, marketing, efficiency, products, delivery, and overall customer experience. While Amazon excels in many areas one area they have perfected is the use of heuristics on their website to effectively convince people to buy their products. Heuristics are essentially the mental shortcuts that the brain makes when making decisions in order to be more efficient. These shortcuts allow us to make quicker decisions without consciously thinking about the factors making us come to that decision. Amazon uses various types of heuristics on its website that help consumers decide to buy their products from Amazon. These heuristics make consumers feel that Amazon is the best option for buying what they need without putting much thought into the external factors that would suggest otherwise. The implementation of these heuristics has catapulted Amazon into being at the top of the e-commerce world, and many companies should try to replicate this tactic using heuristics to benefit their companies.

Some of the most prevalent heuristics used on Amazon’s website can be seen on the homepage. The heuristic that stands out the most on the homepage is the familiarity heuristic. This heuristic reminds someone how they reacted in similar circumstances and makes them make the same decision. This can be seen on the homepage because it shows many items or similar items that are based on the items recently viewed or bought. This causes the consumer to subconsciously consider if they need a new product or it can remind them that they were looking to buy it in their last Amazon session. Another heuristic that can be seen on the homepage is the affect heuristic, which makes the consumer see more benefits when in a positive environment and be more likely to follow through with the decision. This can be seen as there is normally a section that says “get yourself something nice” and it shows gifts or things that you might be interested in buying for yourself. This gets the consumer to think about themselves positively and consider buying something for themselves that they didn’t intend on buying. This can also put the consumer in a better mood even if they are not going to buy anything from that section because it gets them to think about themselves positively. As the consumer navigates through the Amazon website it is also met with more heuristics.

When a consumer searches for a product that they need they are immediately met with the anchoring heuristic. The anchoring heuristic is when a consumer makes a buying decision based on the prices of similar options. Searching in the Amazon search bar does not provide the cheapest products at the top, it provides the Amazon product or an Amazon recommended product, which is usually never the cheapest option. This is done to anchor the consumer’s mind to what the product should relatively cost, so when they are provided with a product that is similar to the price range and they buy it, they don’t think about how they could have found the product at a different store for a cheaper price because all the other similar products cost the same on Amazon. This makes the consumer assume that this is the best available price and not consider the alternatives.

When a consumer clicks on a product that they want, they are met with many different heuristics on the product description page. A very prevalent heuristic is the scarcity effect, which is when there is a sense of urgency or lack of product to make the consumer want to buy now instead of waiting and losing the opportunity. This can be seen as Amazon shows when a product is low in stock and will state that there “is only 3 left”. It also shows a countdown timer to get the product by a certain day if they order now. These features make the consumer feel more inclined to buy the product now so they don’t miss out on buying it, instead of thinking more in-depth on if they need the product. Another heuristic that is evident on the product description page is the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect is when a group of people is behaving in a certain way so the consumer feels inclined to mirror their behavior to not feel alienated from the group. This is implemented in the section that states that “customers also bought…”, this section shows the consumer products that other people bought with the product and can add all the products to the cart. This makes the consumer consider that they might need to buy the same products along with the product so that they don’t miss out on the full experience, while not considering that buying these other products will increase the overall cost. Another very important heuristic utilized on the product description page is the authority heuristic, which is when a consumer makes a buying decision based on what someone with authority suggests because they presume they are credible sources. This can be seen in the product reviews as it has an indicator on a review when it comes from someone who is a verified purchaser and has bought the product. The consumer will take this review with more consideration because they have already made the buying decision and can share their experience. These heuristics are important on this page because it is likely the last page the consumer sees before making a buying decision.

There are so many more heuristics that Amazon uses within its website, but these heuristics are the most prevalent ones that can determine a consumer’s buying behavior. They are also implemented so seamlessly that the average consumer wouldn’t recognize the mental tricks that Amazon utilizes to get them to buy its products. These heuristics are very effective by themselves but thrive when combined. Amazon has mastered the use of them and has been extremely successful in the e-commerce world because of it. Many companies should learn from these tactics to improve their websites and generate more sales for their products. These heuristics have been proven to be effective and will likely benefit any company that begins to utilize them in the right context. Not enough companies are using heuristics to their advantage so this will likely show better results to the companies that decide to implement heuristics to sell their products.