Consumer Tips - from Web Hosting Provider

Teen Consumers Want It Simple, Hip And Real

If you think teenagers are not important to online marketers, think again. Your web hosting provider will explain the important issues dealing with online teen consumers and how it can affect your website.

More than 80 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 frequently visit online retail stores, representing an audience of between 12 to 15 million. For example, eBay saw 6.4 million teen users in April of 2006 while Amazon saw 3.5 million and Apple saw 3 million. The first generation of users who have grown from infancy in the Internet age will surely be active online consumers now and in the coming years.

Internet sales to teenagers represent several billion dollars each year. No wonder some of the biggest and savviest corporations in the world are using every trick in the book to lure teenage shoppers to their sites. While most teens don’t have credit cards of their own, millions of them have access to their parents’ credit or debit cards.

So exactly how do you go about making your ecommerce site attractive to this lucrative market? For one thing, you need to make your site easy to use. Contrary to what many believe, just because millions of teens are constantly wired to their electronic devices doesn’t meant that they are all technical wizards or that they want to jump through complicated hoops in order to purchase merchandise. Granted, they don’t fear technology as much as many adults do, but they are impatient. If a teenager goes online and something about a site doesn’t work for them or they can’t figure it out they aren’t likely to hang in there. According to a report released by Nielson Norman Group: “They aren’t inclined to spend time overcoming technical obstacles. If something doesn’t work for them, they simply abandon it.”

Web Sites that require registration are major turnoffs.

The vast majority of teens will not take the time to fill out extra forms required for registration. They’ll just click off. (Also, many teens have been warned by their parents that they should not give out personal information online.)

Offering an online wish list is a very effective marketing tool when reaching out to teens. Posting a wish list allows them to direct other users (like parents and close friends) to gifts they want.  Teens are likely to interpret the ability to create a wish list as a sign that they are respected by that site. As we all know, inclusion is critically important to teenagers in all aspects of their lives whether online or off.

Your web host is your in-house expert on demographics. Talk to your web hosting provider about the keys to success in the teen market. They can provide resources to help you achieve your goals.

A recent article by Ron Werthimer which appeared in the New York Times provided an interesting perspective on “The Merchant Of Cool,” a television special about teenage preferences that aired on PBS.  In his opinion, some online sites are too aggressive and will resort to “not very ethical” methods to gain teen support. “The teen buyer wants what’s cool and the seller must find it, or invent it, and close the deal in the nanosecond before that rock band or beverage brand loses its volatile appeal.” 

That, according to Werthimer, can create an environment aimed at taking advantage of teens. There is a certain amount of social responsibility that must be exercised when marketing to teens. With so many young people becoming victims of internet predators and with so many spam scams on the horizon, it is critical that online marketers display unwavering integrity.

At the end of the day, the basics of business do not change whether you are marketing to teenagers or adults. The world, however, is always ways changing and so we must learn to adapt “business basics” to new generations and emerging environments.

To attract teens, keep your site hip, simple and real. They will reward you with their business, even if it’s the parents who are footing the bill.

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