The Psychology of Online Sales: The Beginner's Guide

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Selling online isn't easy: 69% of users abandon their shopping carts before checking out, according to Baymard Institute, a UK-based web usability research organization.1 That’s quite scary; what about the good news? Well, Baymard also found that many of the problems with online stores are solvable with changes to design.

How do you design to capture someone’s attention and then focus that attention where you want it? Also, once you've attracted potential clients to your website, how do you present your goods and services so that they will buy them? For that, you will need to acquire and apply knowledge in human psychology—how to design to persuade the subconscious mind, compete with competitor sites so as to grab your users’ attention, and retain your customers in order to build a long-term relationship. These may sound like a huge range of skills to take on; happily, though, this course covers every aspect you’ll need. It's based on tried and tested psychological techniques that bring together content and design so as to deliver increased sales and increased profits.

We have designed the lessons in this course to help you overcome barriers to online selling. By gaining an understanding of how your customers think, you will have the knowledge to drive sales with the confidence to know that your web design is working for you and your customers.

What you will learn

  • How decisions are made in the brain via the subconscious mind, and which part of the brain is really the web designer’s customer
  • How to create an online environment in which people feel part of a larger group, where they are grateful for your service, and show that through purchasing your products and services
  • How to know where someone's attention will be focused on your site, and how to make use of even the shortest attention span to generate sales
  • What the psychology of choice is, and how you can harness it to generate sales rather than turn customers off
  • How to use powerful wording choices for content that focuses on the client and builds their commitment to a purchase from you
  • How to tap into the subconscious drivers that steer people into buying a product or service.
  • How a coherent narrative can make it easier for your customers to engage with you and stay engaged
  • How to keep your customers coming back in an ethical manner, thus generating repeat sales
  • How to design for sharing, the next big thing in online selling

Who should take this course

This is a beginner-level course suitable for those from any walk of life who want to take an online business to the next level:

  • UX designers looking to design persuasive experiences to improve the conversion rate of e-commerce sites
  • Project managers interested in building online businesses that engage shoppers
  • Software engineers seeking to gain an understanding of psychology, sociability, and design
  • Entrepreneurs who want their online shops to take off and perform better than the competition
  • Marketers looking to improve the entire sales funnel by adopting a user-centric approach
  • Newcomers to design who are considering making a switch to UX or web design
  • Anyone who is intending to set up his/her own online business, product, or service

Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.

Learn and work with a global team of designers

When you take part in this course, you will join a global multidisciplinary team working on the course and the exercises at the same time as you. You will work together to improve your skills and understanding. Your course group will be made up of an incredibly diverse group of professionals, all of whom have the same objective—to become successful designers. It’s your chance to learn, grow, and network with your peers across the planet.

1 37 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics, Baymard Institute

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Is This Course Right for You?

  • You want to land a job in design – or get a promotion.
  • You want to learn real-world design skills that are valuable in any job and any industry.
  • You want timeless human-centered skills AI cannot replace and turn AI into your superpower.
  • You're tired of wasting time on influencers and want to learn from real experts.
  • You want actual career outcomes, like increasing your salary potential and job opportunities.
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Loved by People Around the World

View full testimonial from Yvonne Doll
Yvonne Doll
Yvonne Doll
Director of User Experience

I enjoyed the old, new, mid brain stuff and while I'm very familiar with techniques like reciprocation, having some of the micro details the...

Certificate
View full testimonial from Ajith Bava
Ajith Bava
Ajith Bava
UI UX Designer

I have implemented the things which I learned so far in this course in a small clearance sale campaign in our website. It was a simple webpa...

IxDF Course Certificate awarded to Ajith Bava for completing the "The Psychology of Online Sales: The Beginner's Guide" course

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Course Overview:

  • Each week, one lesson becomes available.
  • Study flexibly. Take as much time as you want.
  • 35h, 55m over 10 weeks (est.).

Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour, 44 mins.

  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 0.1 An Introduction to Courses from IxDF (33 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 0.2 Get Help, Career Advice, and Job Opportunities (6 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 0.3 How to Get Your Course Certificate (20 mins)
  • Community-based learning and networking. 0.4 Grow Your Global Network and Build Your Brand (12 mins)

Lesson 1: The Subconscious Mind – The Customer of Design

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 5 hours, 19 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 1.1 Welcome to Quality Web Communication: The Beginner's Guide (7 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 1.2 Making a Decision-The Thought Process (36 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 1.3 The Three Parts of Your Brain (12 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 1.4 The Old Brain (34 mins)

Lesson 2: Introducing Social Validation

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 4 hours, 39 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 2.1 The Bystander Effect Offline (7 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 2.2 Bringing the Bystander Effect Online for Help (35 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 2.3 The Power of Strangers (33 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 2.4 Reviews and Ratings (38 mins)

Lesson 3: Design to Grab Attention

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 3 hours, 10 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 3.1 The Basics (35 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 3.2 The Website (41 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 3.3 Images (37 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 3.4 Video (35 mins)

Lesson 4: Choice is Not All That it Appears

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 6 hours, 35 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 4.1 Options (12 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 4.2 Social Validation of Choice (35 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 4.3 Taking a Choice Away - Introducing Scarcity (35 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 4.4 Invoking Privileges (38 mins)

Lesson 5: It's all About Them, Gaining Commitment

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 4 hours, 17 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 5.1 The Internal Dialogue (33 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 5.2 You and Your: Don't take this Personally (38 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 5.3 Keep Them Entertained (34 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 5.4 Consistency of Self (37 mins)

Lesson 6: Build Similarity and Then Make them Afraid to Lose

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours, 52 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 6.1 We buy from people like us (9 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 6.2 Rapport and The Science of Attraction (36 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 6.3 The Power of Endorsements (34 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 6.4 Decisions, Decisions, Decisions (11 mins)

Lesson 7: Learn to Tell a Story

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 3 hours, 17 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 7.1 Everyone Loves a Story (34 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 7.2 How do you eat an Elephant (10 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 7.3 Sympathetic Bonding (34 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 7.4 Pictorial Superiority (36 mins)

Lesson 8: Integrity Matters, Long-term Relationship Building

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours, 49 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 8.1 The Sales Cycle (8 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 8.2 Acquisition vs. Retention (37 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 8.3 Reputational Capital (38 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 8.4 Increasing Sales through Reputation (37 mins)

Lesson 9: Sociability and Going Viral

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours, 56 mins.

  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 9.1 Assumption: A Recipe for Disaster (38 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 9.2 Social Evolution (35 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 9.3 Why the Internet Exists (12 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 9.4 Introducing Viral Marketing (43 mins)

Lesson 10: IxDF Course Certificate and Course Wrap-up

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 13 mins.

  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 10.1 How to Add Your IxDF Certificate to LinkedIn (7 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 10.2 Help Us Help You: Course Evaluation (4 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 10.3 Six Steps to Your Career Success (3 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 10.4 Get Your IxDF Course Certificate (2 mins)

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Swetlana M Patil
Swetlana M Patil
Student

Influencing customers subconsciously by using the "no strings attached" trick was really interesting. Will definitely use that soon!

Yvonne Doll
Yvonne Doll
Director of User Experience

I enjoyed the old, new, mid brain stuff and while I'm very familiar with techniques like reciprocation, having some of the micro details there about the types of things to give away that actually work is pretty cool.

Ajith Bava
Ajith Bava
UI UX Designer

I have implemented the things which I learned so far in this course in a small clearance sale campaign in our website. It was a simple webpage and I tweaked the design by applying the knowledge I gained so far. And the result was amazing, we had a very good turnover and the page performed so well in terms of User Experience.