Sure, most people looking for a good mechanic will be relational in their approach. And many looking for an expensive new television set, take a transactional approach. Gather facts, then shop to save a hundred bucks or more. So as in all categorizations, there is overlap. But these definitions hold better than any I have seen.

Who Is Buying On The Web?

There's simply no question; vast majority of web buyers are transactional. (Or behaving in this way.) The evidence is only indirect, but inarguable.

Go look for a digicam. You'll find a thumb nail which links to a larger view which includes key features of a particular model. You'll find absolutely no information that helps you evaluate benefit of a given feature. Information needed by anyone new to digicams, simply isn't available.

Such sites are only interested in transactional shoppers, people who already know what they want, and are shopping for price.

Unless you have an extensive marketing and sales background, it is unlikely you can succeed on Web targeting transactional shoppers.

Your Best Bet

Apart from categorizations, key point to be derived from above quote is that *only* relational shoppers become repeat customers. Exactly what every small business needs. Once a fellow buys digicam, he won't be back. Thus if you seek repeat business, ignore transactional types and target relational shoppers.

This means demonstrating all manner of service and support. Cover spectrum. And by all means be expert in your narrow niche. You want people to come to trust you, your knowledge, and support.

The Real Challenge

That few online shoppers are relational, goes a long way toward explaining why small businesses seeking to grow a base of repeat customers struggle so. The number of relational shoppers will increase as more of sorts of businesses and services they need become available online. However this growth won't happen quickly.

If your web-based business depends upon repeat customers, and thus relational shoppers, be patient with yourself. This will take time.

The Superman Effect – Did you know that Superman appears or is mentioned in every Seinfeld episode? It’s true, largely because Jerry kept a Superman figurine in his apartment that popped up in background numerous times during each episode. For small business marketers, Jerry’s Superman equates to your core business. With so many marketing opportunities to consider, it’s easy to lose sight of your primary business in pursuit of new revenue streams. Unfortunately, this can often leads to collapse of your business. Take a page out of Jerry’s book, and be sure to keep your core business (your “Superman”) a part of everything you do, even if it is only in background. Every opportunity and every possible marketing strategy that you consider must relate back to your core product/service offering to ensure continuity of your business. Don’t allow yourself to become so sidetracked that you end up chasing marketing opportunities that detract from your current strengths. When evaluating a new business opportunity, ask yourself “How will this new marketing or business idea impact on my core business?” before you begin a new marketing venture.

The next time you are watching a Seinfeld Rerun, be sure to look for hidden small business tips in each episode. You might find that it wasn’t a show about nothing after all.