Pyramid Diagram

Purchase Funnel Diagram

The purchase funnel is also known to be called as a “purchasing funnel”. It is simply one of the commonly used consumer focused marketing models, with the help of which it is convenient to illustrate the theoretical customer journeys towards the purchases of the services or products.

E. St. Elmo Lewis in 1898 developed a model which was known to be mapped a theoretical customer journey from the very moment when a product or a brand attracted the consumer’s attention all the way up to the point of the action or purchase itself. St. Elmo Lewis’ idea can be referred to the so-called “AIDA-model”, which is an acronym standing for “Awareness”, “Interest”, as well as “Desire” and “Action”.

There are a few stages of the mentioned process, which can be summarized and mentioned in the following order: Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action. The Awareness target the aim of the customer to be aware of the existence of a certain product or a particular service. The Interest is used for expressing an interest in a certain product group. The Desire is meant to be aspiring to a particular product or brand. And Action is the one taking the steps towards the final stage of purchasing the chosen product.

The Purchase Funnel can be also known as the “marketing funnel,” the “sales funnel”, the "conversion funnel" or the “customer funnel”. The well-known association of the funnel model created with taking the AIDA concept into consideration, was proposed for the first time in the so-called “Bond Salesmanship” article written in 1924 by William W. Townsend.

The mentioned early model was modified by different marketing consultants as well as academics in order to cater to the modern customer. Nowadays it can be referred to the purchase funnel or so-called “buying funnel” in marketing. There are very many different “business-to-consumer purchase models”, which are widely used existing in marketing today. In general, it is accepted that the modern business-to-business purchase funnel has more stages, considering the so-called “repurchase intent” as well as taking into account all the new technologies and the changes in the consumer purchasing behaviour.

The buying funnel has been validated as a model in a variety of domains, such as keyword advertising, lead generation, searching, etc. It was also modified for being able to include all the previously unconsidered metrics and steps, such as the internet impressions and the outbound sales.

The concept of the purchase funnel is widely and commonly used for guiding the promotional campaigns in marketing for targeting different stages of the customers’ journeys. It is also world-widely used as a basis for the so called “customer relationship management programmes”, or “CRM programmes”, leading the management campaigns.

A so called “conversion funnel” is also widely used, almost as much as a purchase one, being a technical term, commonly used in e-commerce operations for describing the track the consumers takes through different Internet search systems or advertisings. With help of such funnel it is simpler to navigate the e-commerce websites and so converting to a sale.

The funnel diagrams are also known as “funnel charts”, being the types of chart, often used for representing the stages in a sales process. With help of such funnel diagram it is possible to show the amount of all the potential revenue for each of the stages of the process of purchasing. The mentioned type of diagram can also be very useful for identifying the potential problems in some organization’s sales process.

A funnel diagram is known to be similar to a so called “stacked percent bar chart”, displaying the values in a way of the progressively decreasing proportions amounting up to 100% in total. The size of the area can be determined by the series value in a way of a percentage of the total value. Any funnel is expected to consist of the higher part- the base, sometimes also called the “head”. At the same time the lower part is referred to the term of a “neck”.

The funnel diagram is the one showing a process starting at 100% and ending with a lower percentage. It happens where it is noticeable in what exactly stages the fall out happens as well as at what rate. If the diagram is also combined with the research data, it becomes obvious how many items have been lost at each of the steps of the order or sales process. In this case the funnel diagram illustrates where exactly the biggest bottlenecks are on the scale of the process.

Unlike a real funnel, everything that is known to be so called "poured in" at the top does not flow all the way through to the bottom. Thus, the name is known to only be referred to the shape of the chart, confirming its illustrative purpose. An example of the order funnel diagram can be the one with the initiated orders on the very top of it going all the way down to the bottom where the orders are delivered for satisfying the customers, showing how many there are still left in the process and so the percentage of the returned and cancelled.

Example 1. Pyramid Diagram Solution in ConceptDraw STORE

To be able to create the mentioned diagram you can always use a very convenient and professional tool — the ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software. The mentioned application is the one offering a huge range of the the-made graphic elements, such as the design symbols for adding them to your drawings. Another product of CS Odessa, which can be also used for making the purchase funnel diagrams, is a ConceptDraw STORE — the application which includes the so called “solutions”, such as a Pyramid Diagrams solution in particular, for making different diagrams, including the purchase funnel ones.

Example 2. Pyramid Diagram. Purchase funnel diagram

Having the mentioned applications downloaded to your computer means having enough tools for making the great looking drawings, such as diagrams. Once you start using ConceptDraw DIAGRAM you will realise how much simpler it is in use to compare to the other applications as you will always have an opportunity to get the pre-made examples, such as those from the Pyramid Diagrams Solution, to use them as your drafts to make your own smart and professionally looking purchase funnel diagrams be editing the existing.