What Customers Are Really Buying: Why Purchase Experience Matters

We hadn’t planned to stay long. We were just popping into Smyth’s toy superstore with the kids, mostly to pass time before heading to a nearby café. But nearly an hour later, we were still wandering the aisles, each of us caught up in a different way. The kids moved slowly from section to section, picking up toys, testing buttons, pointing out things they’d seen on YouTube. There was a sort of unspoken rhythm to it all. They were imagining, comparing, eliminating, returning, circling back. Each choice they didn’t make was part of the process of eventually settling on the one they would.

They were spending their own pocket money, which added another layer. There was a sense of weight to the decision, not because it was high stakes, but because it was entirely theirs. When the final selections were made, we went to the counter and paid. I bought myself a colour-changing Rubik’s Cube, unable to resist the nostalgia and novelty of it. We left the store and headed to a coffee shop around the corner. Sitting outside, the kids immediately tore into their packages and began playing, full of energy and excitement. And somewhere between my first sip of coffee and their third game of “guess what this toy can do,” I turned to my husband and said: That was the thing they actually paid for.

Not just the toy. Not even mostly the toy. The choosing, the looking, the back-and-forth. The being in the environment. The joy of seeing their money turned into something real. The opening of the box. The first use. That’s what we bought. The object was just the proof of it.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot since, about how often we forget that, for product-based businesses, the product is only one part of what the customer values. The entire experience leading up to and through the moment of purchase is part of what people are buying. In many cases, it’s the part they remember most.

Designing a Positive Purchase Experience, Step by Step

The interesting thing is that it starts earlier than we think. The moment someone walks through the door, or lands on a website, or sees a display in a window, they’re already in the buying process. The smell of the shop, the tone of the lighting, the background music, whether the space feels open or crowded, whether anyone greets them… all of that begins shaping their sense of what kind of purchase this is going to be. And it’s no different for online purchases. Slow loading, messy layout, confusing categories, lifeless copy. These things chip away at trust before someone’s even had a chance to want the product.

It’s not just the beginning that matters; we need to pay attention to the middle of the journey too. People need time to browse without pressure, and they need access to the right information throughout the browsing process. Not an overload of technical data or vague promises, but useful, specific, confidence-building detail. In physical retail, this might be signage that explains how to use something, or staff who know when to offer help and when to step back. Online, it might be clear descriptions, helpful filters, sizing guides, or videos that show the product in a real-life context. 

Then comes the decision and the actual act of purchasing. These are the moments where many small businesses accidentally introduce friction without even realising it. A checkout counter that’s hard to find or a card machine that’s awkward to use. A long queue without any seating. An online cart that’s clunky. Payment screens with too many fields. Delivery costs that show up late in the process. None of these things on their own are catastrophic. But they chip away at the sense of value that the customer has. They end up reminding people they’re in a transaction rather than an experience.

And then, what comes after is just as important. The packaging. The handover. The first time they hold it or try it, or show someone else. That’s part of what they paid for as well. We all know the letdown of receiving something that felt exciting online and opening it to find it wrapped in bubble wrap and an oversized box, with nothing else to connect us to the person or business behind it. On the other hand, we remember the thoughtful details, like a note, a well-folded wrap, or (even better) a package that opens like a gift. While these things might be aesthetically pleasing, they do more than just look good; they deepen the sense that this was a meaningful exchange.

Why Small Businesses Should Focus on the Purchase Experience

For small businesses, especially, this is an area of unexpected power. You might not be able to compete on speed, on scale, or on price. But you can absolutely compete on how the experience feels. I’m not talking about adding bells and whistles. I’m talking about being intentional with what you do throughout the purchase process. About noticing what happens from the moment someone steps into your world until the moment they walk away with something in hand, and caring about that moment because it shapes how someone feels about the thing they now own, and by extension, about your business.

As small businesses, we need to realise that value is rarely just in the thing itself. It’s in the way someone comes to own it. It’s in the path they took. The memory they attach to it. The care they sensed along the way. And if we pay attention to that, we start to realise we’re not just selling a product, we’re creating an experience people will remember. One, they might want to come back to again because the way we made them feel is worth returning to.