High Consideration Products: How to Build Trust and Convert (2026)

High-consideration purchases create several “moment of truth” zones in ecommerce—points where visitors decide whether or not to spend money in your store.

They might bounce early in the journey because they can’t find the details they need to make a confident decision—specifications, comparisons, warranties, or proof that the product is worth the investment. They might add an item to their cart but stall when uncertainty creeps in: Is this the right model? Is the quality worth the price? Are there hidden fees? Will it fit their needs long-term?. 

They might reach the checkout with their credit card ready, only to pause because shipping timelines, return policies, or total costs feel unclear or risky. Unlike low-consideration shoppers, they aren’t swayed by perks like free shipping alone—they need reassurance that the decision itself is sound.

With so much going on inside a customer’s mind during these moments, it’s essential to optimize the user experience at each stage to stand any chance of improving your conversion rate. This guide shows how to do it for both B2B and B2C high-consideration purchases—particularly for products with high stakes that your customers may not easily buy into. 

What is a high-consideration product?

A high-consideration product is an item with a longer-than-average purchase-decision time span. Most often, the product has a higher financial commitment and a greater perceived risk compared to lower consideration items. 

How high consideration differs from low consideration

Expensive purchases—perhaps an item with a long lifespan, like an office chair—require more thought. 

Prospects have multiple sales objections you need to handle before they convert into a paying customer, and the stakes are higher. They are driven by a combination of:

• Price: Do they have $699 to splash on a new piece of furniture right now? When a purchase involves a significant one-time cost or a major recurring commitment, the information burden skyrockets.
• Perceived risk: The more a purchase costs, the higher the risk of regret if the choice proves wrong. They are also thinking, “Can I get a better deal elsewhere?”
• Complexity: Buyers analyze specs and technical information, and compare options. If your website is confusing, you’re adding friction to an already difficult process. Large-scale 2024 usability testing from Baymard Institute uncovered over 1,000 medium-to-severe product-finding UX issues across major retailers, which is why an intuitive ecommerce experience moves buyers along.
• Organizational coordination: In the B2B context, the decision’s weight is shared by an entire team. Buyers have to align with a buying group before committing to a high-consideration product. 

Low-consideration purchases, like a $4.99 umbrella, don’t require the customer to place a lot of pressure on making the right decision to buy. They have the money and, if it’s raining outside, the immediate need for an umbrella. The decision is made in a matter of minutes.

Signs your product is high consideration

You can usually feel when your product is high consideration by the friction it creates in your sales process. If your pipeline is full of opportunities that go cold, it’s a classic sign. 

Forrester's 2024 data shows that 86% of B2B purchases stall during the process, which makes sense because B2B products are generally high consideration. 

Other signs your product is high consideration include buyers:

• Conducting thorough research through search engines and LinkedIn
• Looking for white papers and reports before buying
• Relying on reviews, expert opinions, testimonials, and case studies to validate their choice 
• Frequently asking questions about pricing, warranties, terms and conditions, and support option. 
• Seeking demos or trials to see the product in action

How consideration differs between B2B and DTC

2026 buyer behavior snapshot

Omnichannel and self-service are the names of the game in 2026. B2B purchasers use a wide mix of channels throughout their entire journey, and they expect a seamless experience as they move between research, demos, and checkout.

Buying trends are being shaped by changes in how revenue is generated:

• In 2024, ecommerce became the top revenue channel for B2B sellers who offer it, accounting for over one-third of all revenue.
• Buyer comfort with remote and self-serve processes jumped significantly, even for complex orders over $500,000.
• There's a strong appetite for rep-free purchasing, with 61% of B2B buyers preferring it.
• The digital-first preference extends to service, where customer service leaders expect self-service and live chat to surpass traditional channels by 2027.

The B2B buyer process

High involvement products tend to be more commonplace in business-to-business sales cycles, since the decision-making process naturally involves more people—up to 13, according to one report. 

Finance, procurement, and supply chain teams each have their own opinions and requirements for a product. You need to identify which resources the individual needs in order to escalate the purchase in their chain of command. But you’re not just selling to this one individual—each stakeholder needs to be heard before you get the green flag that enables the purchaser to buy. You’ll likely spend time offering team-wide product demonstrations, negotiating terms, and signing contracts.

B2B is also dominated by software and services, which often retail at a higher price than physical products. It’s not uncommon for enterprise B2B software and service providers to demand thousands per month, some with additional implementation costs or early termination fees that quickly stack up. 

Most businesses determine whether a new product or service is a success by calculating the return on investment (ROI). The higher the initial investment is, the more money they need to earn back to generate a positive ROI, which is why buyers of most high-consideration products need to be almost certain they can recoup this investment before committing to a purchase.

The B2C buyer process

Brands that sell to the end consumer still have customers that linger in the consideration stage, even though the buying decision largely comes down to one person: the shopper. 

High consideration purchase journeys for business-to-consumer products typically revolve around expensive items. Price-conscious customers need to overcome the mental block of losing money in exchange for a product. 

That said, a product doesn’t have to be expensive for prospective buyers to linger in the consideration stage of the B2C funnel. Potential customers who are concerned about a product’s value for money, personal satisfaction, or the emotional fulfillment they’ll receive can get stuck at this stage, which is why supporting documentation like reviews or buyers’ guides are commonplace in DTC ecommerce marketing.

Tactics to move high-consideration buyers in DTC

Offer low-commitment alternatives

There’s a lot of anxiety a customer needs to overcome before buying a high-consideration product. The simplest way to overcome this is to reduce the commitment required by your customers. It’s easier to make a choice when you have less to lose.

Smaller commitment alternatives that turn a high-commitment item into a low-consideration purchase include:

• A free trial 
• Smaller sizes or versions of a product 
• Low deposits
• Money-back guarantees
• Generous warranties
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL) deals 

Take the Leesa mattress—a high-consideration product that retails for upward of $600. Not only is the price a barrier, but mattress longevity also weighs heavily on the decision. Depending on the type—latex, memory foam, innerspring, or hybrid—most mattresses are expected to last anywhere from about 5 to 15 years. Customers want to feel confident that the one they choose will hold over the long term.

Leesa helps customers overcome these obstacles and build trust with a lifetime warranty and a 120-night trial. It helps on-the-fence shoppers buy products with confidence, knowing there’s a backup plan if they make the wrong choice.

Build a branded community

It’s easier to nudge a customer across the final hurdle if you offer visually engaging, highly interactive experiences that keep them interested throughout the conversion funnel. It’s a way of giving them “skin in the game”: when people feel personally connected, they’re more likely to follow through. In the context of ecommerce, that means buying your product.

Chubbies Shorts’ backstory, for example, is rooted in the founders’ personal experience. They felt alienated by traditional retailers because they didn’t relate to the shirtless men wearing their clothes. So, they launched Chubbies in 2011 to help similar people find an alternative. 

Coincidentally, this was also when social media took off. Chubbies set a mission to help their customers live in the moment—even encouraging them to get the “5 p.m. on Friday” feeling every day of the week in a pair of Chubbies shorts. 

This backstory isn’t limited to the “About Us” page of the brand’s DTC storefront; it’s the foundation for the community they built. Chubbies’ TikTok and Instagram profiles are packed with user-generated content (UGC) contributed by customers doing fun activities while wearing their clothing. They also invite loyal fans to share their input, even if that includes suggestions for areas for improvement. 

“We would love for our customers to be telling the story, and honestly, if we’re missing the mark, we want them to tell that story,” says cofounder and chief marketing officer Tom Montgomery. “We want to learn about that and change the product because for us, that’s the evolution.”

Play on loss aversion ethically

Loss aversion is a psychological concept that shows people feel the pain of losing something more strongly than the pleasure of gaining something of equal value. 

Most often, the “loss” in a purchase decision is financial—especially if you’re selling an expensive high consideration product to a prospective customer who doesn’t have the disposable income to buy it without a second thought. They need to overcome the mental block of losing that sum in exchange for the product.

While you can’t prevent this internal monologue, you can play on the loss aversion bias by telling potential buyers what they’d lose by not buying your product. In the case of a $499 home gym equipment set, losses that a customer might avoid by purchasing could be: 

• 30 minutes driving to the gym every day 
• A $75 monthly gym membership fee
• Poor health from skipping their workout at the gym because they don’t have time to go during the week 

Crossrope puts this into practice for their smart jump rope. Retailing for $199—much higher than a standard jump rope you’d find in any dollar store—Crossrope shows the losses someone would experience if they chose an alternative: they couldn’t tone multiple areas of their body, train anywhere, or try a variety of movements. The fact that Crossrope is cheaper than these alternatives is the cherry on top. 

Sell the bigger picture

Not all B2C purchase decisions are logical. Expensive products still sell because the brand sells a vision—the emotional fulfillment or the social status buyers want to feel they’ll achieve once they own the product. 

Streetwear brands are notorious for this marketing strategy. Logos of brands like Represent, Supreme, and A Bathing Ape have become social symbols. Customers buy because they want to fit in with the crowd and show their trendy aesthetic to the people around them—not necessarily because of the product quality (although that’s a factor, too).

You don’t have to be a streetwear connoisseur to implement this tactic. Luxury stationery retailer Milligram uses it to sell their $44.99 special edition ballpoint pen. 

The product description doesn’t just focus on the technical aspects. It sells the atmosphere the pen evokes: “The delicate tones of autumn pink evoke the changing colours of the leaves at the turn of the seasons, lending this pen a wistful feel that feels almost poetic.” 

Perfect microcopy

Microcopy describes an incredibly powerful tool. If copy consists of words that people will read to persuade them to think or do something, microcopy consists of words that most people won’t read—but that still influence them in a major way.

Take this example from Impact Dog Crates. Right above their cart icon, tucked away in the corner, there’s a “Talk to a Crate Expert” button. If the customer is already browsing the product, there’s no reason to make this button huge—it’ll encourage them to click away. But if the shopper is hesitant and on the verge of clicking to close the window, they’ll see this link in the top right corner. And maybe, just maybe, they might ask an expert.

In contrast, consider Filter by Molly Mae. They highlight free delivery, Trustpilot reviews, and rewards in this consideration zone.

This type of messaging, while not necessarily useful at this specific stage in the customer journey, can nudge them to add to their cart to meet the requirements for free next-day shipping—bumping up your average order value (AOV) as a side effect. 

Limit options or offer suggestions 

Most products don’t vary too greatly. Visitors typically choose among different colors or patterns. At most, they might alter the design or customize certain modules.

Naturally, some products are a bit more complicated. Technology is not as straightforward as clothes, for example. But what if you saw something like this when comparing different cameras on a retailer’s website? 

At a glance, this comparison table screams instant analysis paralysis. While certain options are clear, there are other ones that aren’t as apparent. For example, what’s the viewing angle I would need for my use case? Do I need a body heat recording trigger? Is the Wi-Fi worth it—and is it reliable?

Anyone interested in this likely wants to buy. It’s best to encourage them at this stage using elements like:

• Default options for specific use cases (e.g., “Great for the office” or “Recommended for travel”)
• A best-value suggestion, or one for high-intensity recon, etc.
• Checkboxes or red and green accents to show the losses someone incurs when choosing a lower-value product 

That’s not to say that comparison charts should be removed from your DTC storefront. Of course, they can be useful—it’s helpful for the more expert shopper. However, if even a portion of your shoppers aren’t experts, you’re going to scare them off when you could have encouraged them to add to cart in that consideration zone.

Perfect your product pages 

For a high-consideration shopper, the product page is where they weigh the price against the benefits, and look for any reason to hesitate. 

Yet many brands fumble at this final hurdle. Multi-year research from the Baymard Institutefound that only 49% of ecommerce sites have a “decent” or “good” product-page user experience. When a customer is about to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars, decent isn't enough—your page has to be clear and trustworthy.

Here are key elements a high-performing product page includes:

• A summary box above the fold: A major conversion zone, the summary box should contain the essentials at a glance—price, core benefits, key specs, the main call to action (CTA), and trust signals like a review summary and a clear link to the returns policy.
• Total transparency on delivery and returns: Baymard’s research shows 64% of users look for shipping costs on the product page before adding to cart. Display estimated delivery dates and shipping costs near the “Add to Cart” button. A simple note like “Free 120-day returns” next to the price can eliminate a major point of friction.
• At-a-glance comparison aids: If you offer multiple tiers or models, you risk analysis paralysis. Prevent this with a compact comparison module or “best for” suggestions on the page.
• Structured specs and Q&A’s: Combine the summary box with a scannable specifications sheet. Baymard notes that misread or missing specs are a common reason for cart abandonment. For complex products, add a brief Q&A or FAQ block to resolve final doubts without forcing the user to leave the page.

Take a look at the Lulu and Georgia product page for their Fabienne Sofa—a $4,498 decision. Right away, you see the essentials, like the price, photos, and options for color and fabric. That's a good start, and the star rating for reviews helps build initial trust.

The page unfolds as you scroll to present shoppers with more logical details like:

• Size and leg finish options
• A note about the product being made to order
• Expected shipping time (4 to 6 weeks)
• Accordion tabs for Details, Dimensions, and Shipping + Returns.

Lulu and Georgia’s page is clean and easy to navigate, and allows shoppers to go as deep as they need to make an informed decision. 

Tactics to move high-consideration buyers in B2B

The techniques we’ve discussed so far apply to both B2C and B2B sales, but business buyers have an additional layer of scrutiny due to the number of stakeholders involved in the buying process. Here are four extra tactics to move high-consideration B2B buyers down the conversion funnel. 

Offer self-serve ecommerce functionality

Traditional B2B buying experiences were long and convoluted, filled with friction that often forced buyers to contact your inbound sales team. Evolution in the ecommerce technology space means this no longer needs to be the case. In fact, 72% of B2B buyers expect a DTC-style customer experience from the retailers they’re buying from. 

Offer self-service throughout as much of the buying process as possible, including a password-protected online storefront that displays transparent pricing and self-guided demos. Your goal is to provide detailed, high-value information that empowers customers to do more on their own, without the need to contact your customer service team.

Shopify supports this via B2B features like:

• Personalized price lists: Offer bulk discounts on larger orders to reduce cost per unit and help B2B customers overcome price-related concerns.
• Company accounts: Invite stakeholders to interact with your password-protected B2B storefront through a company account. This is especially important if you’re selling wholesale products to retailers with multiple stores or warehouses, each with its own buying or procurement manager.
• Vaulted cards: Give existing customers the confidence to repurchase by eliminating friction in the process with vaulted credit cards that enable fast reorders. 
• Smart search and filtering: Customers who use your internal site search often convert at a higher rate because they know what they want and have clearer intent. Maybe they’ve already done research and just need a place to buy. Perhaps they’re in a rush and need to buy quickly.

Reference neutral opinions from third-party endorsers

Authentic customer reviews are critical. They can tip the scales in favor of a product (or break the deal). Contrary to what you might think, a couple of poor reviews can increase conversions by making positive reviews appear more credible.

To support this behavior, make sure that your reviews are placed where they are easy to find in the consideration zones on the product page of your B2B ecommerce storefront. That includes:

• Next to product pricing information
• Beneath product descriptions 
• In the cart or checkout page

The type of people you’re collecting these reviews from matters, too. Lean on the credibility of actual users or industry experts by incorporating their perspectives and opinions. The more neutral this type of social proof is, the better.

👉 Browse the top product review apps on the Shopify App Store. 

Offer flexible B2B payment options

Payment terms are one of the greatest differences between B2B and B2C ecommerce, especially in the context of wholesale. Businesses acquire inventory at a lower cost from a retailer and expect to pay for it once they’ve resold it. 

Even if you’re not selling to wholesalers through your B2B storefront, payment-related issues can still cause buyers to linger in the consideration stage. They’re either unsure whether the business can afford it, whether it’s a priority right now, or how it affects cash flow. 

Experiment with flexible payment options for B2B buyers to mitigate this problem, such as:

• B2B payment terms (e.g., Net 30)
• Lease-to-own schemes
• Low deposits 

You could also offer self-serve ROI calculators that help buyers determine how much revenue they’ll need to make before the high-consideration product pays for itself.

Showing that your $1,999 monthly subscription for enterprise software has a three-month ROI (versus a competitor’s seven-month average) gives buyers a concrete justification for the purchase and a clear timeline for stakeholder approval. 

Offer human and digital guidance 

As ecommerce moves upmarket, the answer isn’t to force everyone onto a sales call. It’s to pair your seamless digital experience with proactive, optional human guidance at the exact moments buyers feel most uncertain.

Some key areas to offer human support include:

• On the product page: Place a visible “human help” link right near the price and CTA. It should be specific, such as “Chat with a product specialist” or “Book a 15-minute consult.”
• In the cart and checkout: A simple, reassuring link, like “Questions about setup or lead times? Talk to us.” can be the difference between an abandoned cart and a satisfied purchase.
• On the order status page: The sale isn't over when the payment clears. Mitigate purchase regret right away with links to “Schedule your onboarding session” or “Start an easy exchange.”

Brands on Shopify can build a rep-optional safety net into their store. They can use Shopify Inbox to power the “Chat with a Specialist” button on the product page, answering pre-sale questions in real time. 

Using the Checkout Editor, you can add a small help block in the checkout to catch last-minute hesitation. For sellers on Shopify B2B, you can even display specific payment terms to a buyer and include a direct “Contact your rep” button, blending self-serve efficiency with a high-touch human relationship.

Be proactive with customer support

B2B ecommerce is moving toward self-serve, but that doesn’t mean you should wait for buyers to reach out when they’re in desperate need of urgent assistance. Customer support should be proactive, delivering personalized messages before a buyer feels the need to reach out (or abandons the purchase).

Proactive B2B customer support reduces buyer’s remorse and helps prevent returns. 

Say your sales analytics show that the average B2B sales cycle lasts three months, for example. Throughout that time frame, you could schedule email campaigns that build urgency as the buyer nears a final decision. This might start with introductory offers or one-pagers to showcase your offerings, leading up to time-sensitive discounts and detailed case studies from other brands similar to theirs.

Quick checklist: High consideration landing page essentials

Stuck on what to do now? Here’s a checklist of the elements to include at each stage of the buying process.

What to show above the fold

• A summary box: Include the headline benefit, key variant, price, and primary CTA.
• Delivery dates and shipping costs: Display a specific estimated delivery date and the cost.
• Trust cues: Add your review summary and a clear link to your returns/warranty policy.
• A path to human help: Include a “Book a consult” or “Chat with an expert” link.

What to place near pricing/CTAs

• Returns and warranty shorthand: Use a simple, linked phrase, such as “Free 30-day returns” or “5-year warranty.”
• Social proof summary: If not in the summary box, place your star rating and review count here.
• A secondary CTA: For complex or B2B products, add a “Request a quote” or “Talk to a specialist” button.

What to include post-CTA 

• Clear delivery dates: In the cart, reiterate the specific date.
• Security and policy reminders: Reinforce trust during payment with security seals and payment logos.
• Proactive help access: Add a “Need help?” or live chat link directly in the cart and checkout.
• Post-purchase confidence: On the thank-you and order-status pages, add links to track delivery, start an exchange, or schedule onboarding.

Help customers feel confident buying high-consideration products

Even though the fundamentals of these consideration zones are simple and straightforward, many of the best retailers overlook the little details that can meaningfully improve their websites.

If you want to get serious about it, conduct an ecommerce CRO audit to pinpoint areas of friction within the customer experience you currently offer to B2B or B2C customers. A shortlist of bottlenecks that push customers away is the best starting point when optimizing the sales process for high-consideration products with limited resources.