Electronics Shoppers Are Feeling Overwhelmed – Here’s How Brands Can Help

Two years ago, global spending on consumer electronics topped one trillion dollars as consumers rushed to upgrade their devices amidst a global pandemic and the rise to prominence of remote work culture.

Today, consumers are on the cusp of a device refresh cycle and billions of dollars are on the table for the consumer technology companies ready to capture their attention.

According to a recent Accenture survey, ‘electronics’ was the leading category for which consumers seek to maximise quality – meaning, they seek to find the best overall quality for their budget by comparing specific attributes. 85% of respondents declared valuing facts and figures when making a choice about consumer electronics, more than all the other shopping categories.

However, given the latest technological advances and a lower barrier to entry for newcomers, these same consumers are currently flooded with choice and overwhelmed when it comes to making a buying decision.

Information Overload

According to our research, despite electronics being a category for which consumers valued information and quality above all else, it was also the category that had them most confused and overwhelmed. Alarmingly, 71% of shoppers felt overwhelmed by the amount of information they had to sift through when buying consumer electronics and admitted that options ultimately all felt so similar they were unable to choose.

Among their grievances was the fact that the very information and figures they seek when choosing a product were often too difficult for them to understand. In turn, shoppers find that they must check too many sources to understand the options available to them, with conflicting advice and recommendations from different parties only adding more to their confusion.

Combined, all these factors make their shopping experience more difficult than it needs to be and leave them uncertain that they made the right choice for their need – hence why most of them wish there were more reliable ways to tell if a purchase would work for them before buying it.

Standing Out In a Crowded Market

These grievances should be an alarm bell to the consumer electronics manufacturers looking to differentiate themselves from the competition. Solving these issues could help them capture precious consumer spending at a pivotal time in the device refresh cycle while creating lasting relationships with an audience that no longer knows what to buy.

There is no doubt that online marketplaces have made it easier to buy nearly anything in but a few clicks, but consumers have made it clear the abundance of choice and information has left them overwhelmed. Consumer technology companies who want to stand out need to break the mould and create unique shopping experiences, but this starts with bringing consumers in with targeted marketing.

Instead of multiplying points of contact, consumer technology brands ought to focus on making a greater impact where and when it matters. By leveraging targeted marketing and identifying consumer needs, they can provide potential customers with information and products that match their immediate needs, therefore helping reduce the burden of research. Brands should also incentivise consumers to shop directly on their websites, where they have more control over the shopping experience.

This can take the shape of specific models or colours being available only through their website, or providing coupons when items are left ‘in cart’, to push shoppers to follow through on their purchase.

Reimagining the Shopping Experience

Leveraging the latest technologies can make a difference. For example, implementing a generative AI-powered agent that can answer question prompts can help guide customers and narrow down the best options based on their specific needs better than having them tinker with search filters. 

Generative AI can also be used to aggregate and summarise expert reviews, providing unbiased opinions on a company’s products. Major online retailers are already using these capabilities and technology brands could benefit doubly from such an approach by gaining additional insights into their products’ main selling points.

Still, other issues, such as consumers’ inability to know whether a product is right for them before buying it, require more innovative thinking. While it’s difficult to replicate efforts such as Amazon or Walmart’s AR features that allow consumers to see what products might look like in their homes, consumer electronics brands have other ways to provide consumers with a snapshot of their user experience.

Samsung, for example, has created a mobile app that allows iPhone users to experience the Galaxy operating system and its features to entice them to make the switch. Similar initiatives can be replicated across a variety of products such as smart TV’s, audio devices, smart assistants, tablets and more. Going further, consumer technology companies could also take a page from the software industry and explore hardware-as-a-service business models, where customers can rent specific products through a subscription service. Such an approach minimises the risk for shoppers while opening up a venue for recurring revenue.

Pursuing these initiatives, however, will require significant investments, as most businesses today are not equipped to deliver such services. To get started on their journey, consumer technology brands should first ask themselves the following questions:

• Is your current infrastructure modern and scalable enough to enable all your channel partners, from direct sellers and online retailers all the way down to influencers, to help you sell your products?

• Do you have the capabilities to secure and analyse the data shared with and provided by these partners so you can gain additional insights into your customers’ buying habits?

• How is artificial intelligence impacting your products and the people buying them?
  
  

This should inform how you implement AI capabilities into your products and how you sell them to your customers.

Pursuing Simplicity 

Right now, the consumer electronics industry stands at a critical crossroads, and the navigation map for leading consumers out of an overwhelming sea of choice is clear. Companies must prioritise clarity over clutter, relevance over redundancy, and innovation over inertia. 

The future belongs to the companies that can simplify the shopping experience, offer tailored solutions, and leverage technology to guide – not confuse – their customers. Those who tread these circumstances with care will not only capture market share, but earn the trust and loyalty of a customer base hungry for guidance, in a world increasingly dominated by complexity.