Kids are curious and get into everything, including paint bottles, bags of chips, makeup, and occasionally your online business.
It comes as no real surprise. The majority of two-year-olds are more adept at using a phone than their parents. In addition, a lot of businesses are moving toward websites that are simple to use and make placing orders as simple as ABC.
Take note if a young visitor to your website accidentally navigates there and appears to be placing an order. There are quick fixes you can implement to make things right, giving the adults some peace of mind, preventing the child from being placed in time out, and possibly bringing in some new clients as a result.
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How To Buy Things Online As A Kid?
1. Refund The Order, No Questions Asked
Being grumpy pants right now is not appropriate. Have your parents ever called you in a panic because little Billy used the credit card to make a $150 purchase? Without raising a fuss, refund the parents. Making the parents pay the price does much more harm to the brand than simply picking up the tab.
2. Turn It Into A Joke
I’m not talking about the child here; you don’t need to cry or act out in this situation. Take advantage of this as a chance to strengthen your company’s brand by running a humorous Facebook advertisement, writing a press release, or even proposing that your business sponsor the young baseball team.
3. Send Written Apologies To Vendors/suppliers
A successful company is like a caterpillar with many legs. Make sure all the “legs” know about the blunder and let them know you’re sorry they wasted time and resources on a bogus order. Odds are in your favor that they’ll understand the situation.
4. Be Better Prepared Next Time
Think of this as a teaching moment. Bring in your developers and determine what needs to be changed on your website to prevent children from shopping as easily. They might be unable to get past a firewall or a captcha code, for example.
5. Follow Up With The Adults In The Future
Ask the parents or guardians if they still need your goods or services when you call back in a month or two. If you are running some sort of promotion or include a coupon for good measure, this will work best.
The Cons Buy Things Online As A Kid
Screen Time And Gamification Of Shopping. Joyce Marter, licensed psychotherapist and author of The Financial Mindset Fix: A Mental Fitness Program for an Abundant Life, tells Parents that there are a few potential downfalls to this type of online shopping experience geared toward young children. She specifically points out that the use of tokens makes e-commerce websites feel more like video games than like they are based on actual money. She says that a token system might seem more impersonal to kids than using actual money.
Marter also questions whether our children actually require more screen time. She argues that parents already struggle to set boundaries with regard to gaming, social media, and television.
“Kids need more opportunities to unplug from technology, and a trip with their parents to a [brick and mortar] store…would provide far more opportunities for learning, interpersonal connection, and screen-free time,” Marter says.
The Pros Buy Things Online As A Kid
Independence, Encouraging Giving And Teaching Early Financial Literacy. However, Marter acknowledges that CAMP’s Present Shop offers a unique opportunity to teach kids about money management and spending at a young age. And the sooner parents start having open, sincere, and realistic discussions about the value of money and how to balance spending and saving, the better. Plus, “giving gifts encourages thoughtfulness, planning, and also the learning experience of how to buy gifts within a set budget of tokens purchased by the parent,” Marter adds.
“Parents could even set up an opportunity where kids earn their tokens by doing chores, which would help them understand the value of work and serve as a positive reinforcement mechanism,” says Marter.
Tiffany Markofsky, CAMP’s chief communications officer and co-founder, tells Parents that what makes Because the parent sets up the shopping experience for the child to participate in, Present Shop is such a safe, controlled experience when it comes to spending.
“The parent sets the amount to be spent and decides who the child is shopping for,” she explains, noting that as part of each shopping experience purchased by the parent, the platform generates a one-time code that the child can only use for that one-time experience during checkout.
Everyone will recall the experience of making a mistaken purchase from your business. You’ll be remembered for all the right reasons if you handle it gracefully. You’ll always be associated with the group of people who despise children if you keep a stick in your butt.
Remember that those parents or maybe even the kids could become loyal customers in the future!
