Online shopping has taken off in a big way, now making up a solid chunk of retail across Australia. Add to that the shifting expectations of consumers, shaped by inflation and a sharper eye on value. And businesses are operating on a whole new playing field. To keep up (and stay ahead), you need more than just instincts. You need a deeper grasp of how customers behave. That’s where customer behavior analysis comes to help you.
With the right tools and approach, you can start uncovering what drives your audience—what they click on, what turns them off, when they’re likely to drop off, and what keeps them coming back.
At Nexalab, we’ve seen Aussie businesses turn things around just by tuning into these behavioural signals. And with Octobits, our product, we’ve made it easier to make sense of the data that matters. So if you’re ready to personalise your offers, or simply connect better with your audience, you’re in the right place. Let’s dig in.
What is Customer Behavior Analysis?
Customer behavior analysis is all about properly looking at how your customers interact with your brand across various touchpoints. every click, every purchase, every call. It uses both quantitative data (the what, when, and how much) and qualitative data (the why) to uncover patterns in how your customers think, feel, and act.
You might hear similar terms like user behavior analysis (often focused on website or app clicks) or consumer behavior analysis (looking at bigger market trends), but they all circle back to understanding people’s actions, feelings, and thoughts toward your business.
When done right, customer behaviour analysis delivers some ripper benefits for businesses:
- Understanding motivations, preferences, and buying triggers
- Creating personalised experiences that boost conversions
- Identifying at-risk customers early and improving retention
- Fine-tuning marketing strategies with evidence, not guesses
- Making product development more aligned with customer needs
- Improving customer analytics and lifetime value
- Gaining a competitive edge in tough markets.
Types of Customer Behaviour
Not all customer behavior is created equal. Customer behaviour isn’t one-size-fits-all. It shifts based on what you’re selling, the situation, and even economic conditions. So, knowing different patterns helps businesses tailor their approach.
Here are some key patterns we often look at:
- Buying Habits: This covers how often people buy, how much they spend, when they prefer to shop, and how they react to specials.
- Product/Service Use: Especially for software or apps. How are people using your product? Which features are popular? How long do they stick around in a session? Where do they get stuck or give up?
- Engagement Behaviour: This looks at all the ways customers interact with you beyond buying. Do they read your blog or watch your videos? Open your emails? Interact on social media? How often do they contact support? These interactions paint a picture of their relationship with your brand.
- Customer Journey Stages: Different behaviours pop up depending on where someone is in their relationship with you. From becoming aware of your brand through to becoming a loyal advocate who recommends you to mates.
Sometimes, thinking about how much thought goes into a purchase helps too. Most customer behaviour falls into one of these types (based on Henry Assael’s model):
- Complex Buying: High involvement, significant brand differences
- Dissonance-Reducing: High involvement, few brand differences
- Habitual Buying: Low involvement, few differences
- Variety-Seeking: Low involvement but different brands matter
For illustrations, is it a big decision needing heaps of research (like a car – complex buying)? Or something they grab without thinking (like milk – habitual buying)? Maybe they like trying different brands just for fun (like snacks – variety-seeking)? Knowing these types of customer behavior helps you anticipate what info they need and when.
How to Conduct Customer Behaviour Analysis
Doing customer behavior analysis properly is more like a cycle. You gather info, make sense of it, try things out, and refine. At Nexalab, we use this kind of approach.
Collect Data from Multiple Sources
First up, you need the raw ingredients: customer behavior data. The trick is to gather it from various spots to get the full picture. You need both the numbers (quantitative data – the what, when, where) and the stories (qualitative data – the why). For the quantitative side, look to:
- Website Analytics
- CRM Systems
- Transaction Records
- Product Usage Data
- Ad Platform Data
On the flip side, for the qualitative side that explains the ‘why’:
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Customer Interviews
- Social Media Listening
- Support Logs
- On-Site Feedback Tools
Segment Your Customers Based on Behaviour
The next step is customer analytics 101; your customers based on what they do. Remember, trying to treat everyone the same did not work at all. Instead of treating everyone the same, you can develop strategies for distinct groups with different needs. Effective ways to segment include:
- RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary)
- Engagement Levels (active vs dormant)
- Feature Usage (power users vs light users)
- Customer Journey Stage (onboarding, loyal, at-risk of leaving)
- Benefits Sought (price, quality, speed, support).
These segments become even more powerful when combined with demographics or psychographics. If you’re looking to act on these insights, try to read some simple strategies to hold onto your best customers. Especially when you’ve identified who’s likely to churn and who’s worth doubling down on.
Identify Patterns and Trends
Look through your segmented data for patterns. What are the common paths people take before buying (or leaving)? Where do they get stuck? Does using a certain feature mean they stick around longer (retention)? How do different segments behave differently? Are there busy times or seasons?
This is where user behavior analysis tools shine, especially with lots of data. They can spot subtle connections and even help predict future behavior, like who might leave. The goal is to truly identify customer behavior triggers and pain points.
Use Visualisation Tools to Uncover Insights
Visualization tools transform complex customer behavior data into charts, graphs, and dashboards making patterns immediately apparent. Clear visual data doesn’t just inform internal teams. It plays a big role in shaping a smoother customer experience, too. Common visualizations include customer journey maps, conversion funnel charts, cohort analysis graphs, and comprehensive dashboards that bring everything together.
Many analytics platforms and CRMs offer built-in visualization capabilities. However, specialized dashboard tools can be particularly effective at consolidating information from different sources.
Tools for Customer Behaviour Analysis
There are several tools out there to make sure you do not have all those best practices above with a spreadsheet. Here are some:
- CRMs (Customer Relationship Management): Your central hub for customer info. The options are HubSpot and Salesforce.
- Behavioral Analytics Platforms: For tracking website/app actions in detail. The options are Google Analytics and Hotjar.
- Data Dashboards & Visualization: For bringing it all together. The option is Octobits. Because Octobits excel at unifying customer analytics from various platforms into intuitive dashboards.
Your Next Steps
In the current economy, knowing your customers is what separates growing businesses from those standing still. With customer behavior analysis, you’re not guessing. You’re learning directly from how your audience moves, clicks, and buys. And Octobits is our way of helping businesses like yours cut through the noise. If you’re ready to make smarter decisions, personalise your marketing, and improve retention, we can be your place to starts.
