My entire life I have been a window shopper. I would frequently go to the mall with my mom and sister (you know, back in the late 1900’s when shopping malls were still THE place to be on the weekends) and we would look in all the store window displays at the pretty things. Seldom would we actually go into the shops and buy anything, unless, of course, we were Christmas shopping or it was a special occasion. Those exemplary school report cards and good parent-teacher conferences got us into Gap Kids every time.
Now, I will take you with me to get a glimpse of how I spend each evening just before I fall asleep. Keep in mind, I’m 36 years old, so it is not exciting and usually before 10 PM. I am a compulsive window shopper. I habitually will window shop until I fall asleep. What starts as Facebook scrolling (yes, Facebook – I also wear skinny jeans and rock a side part, you want to make something of it?) quickly leads to window shopping. But, how? I’ll tell you how: DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETING.
We’ve all been there. You mindlessly click on an ad one time thinking a product looks interesting and then that company’s ad follows you…FOREVER.
Facebook knows me in an almost uncomfortable way. It has a way of hitting me with advertisements for my favorite stores in my weakest moments. Apparently, those weak moments come between 8-10 PM. There I’ll be catching up with my elementary school BFF’s family vacation photos when before I know it, I’ve lost interest in Anna and her trip to Yellow Stone National Park because I’m off to https://riflepaperco.com/ browsing their *New Pickleball Collection*.
As far as the advertisers are concerned. Targeting me on Facebook worked. I clicked their link and was whisked away to their homepage. The Marketers working for Rifle Paper are smart. They’ve been following me wherever I go on the internet. Not only do I see their ads on Facebook each evening, but I see them all day every day. Every morning when I check the weather on my computer at work, there is an ad waiting for me. When I do my random Google searching on my lunch break, Rifle Paper ads are there trying fighting for my attention. Then, at the end of the day when I’m scrolling my favorite geriatric social media platform, Rifle Paper ads are waiting to suck me in – and you know what? It works! I almost always get drawn into their advertisements because like the famous talking dog, Dug, once said… SQUIRREL! Dug is to squirrels ad I am to advertisements featuring pretty things. I’m a helpless consumer and they know it.
Unfortunately for them, I have what Stukent taught us is LOW PURCHASE INTENT.
“Even an amazing mobile website is not likely to produce a high conversion rate from searchers who had no intention of making a purchase in the first place.”
As I mentioned at the start, I am a window shopper. I click on ads without any intent on actually buying anything. I rarely convert and make the company any money. They are paying for my ad clicks, but I am not buying anything for them to have a return on their investment. Companies are losing money on my style of consumerism I am slowly, but very surely, tanking their conversion rate. This term has been coined as E-COMMERCE WINDOW SHOPPING.
I can’t say these advertisers aren’t giving it their very best effort to get me to convert, but that hasn’t stopped me from racking up $500 shopping carts with no intent to click the “checkout” button. Most of the sites I frequent know all the tricks. They have enticing landing pages with offers to “Save 15% now – just sell us your soul…err please give us your email address!” When I add a product to the shopping cart, the add-on items are there, ready to lure me in. I get promotional emails trying to tempt me back to finally click that checkout button (more on email marketing later).
“Oh no! You left something in your cart!”
“These items won’t last forever!”
“Now on sale, JUST FOR YOU!”
These companies are doing many of the recommended tactics theorem digital outlines in their article, “8 Ways to Convert E-Commerce Window Shoppers Into Customers” found here. Here’s what Theorem Digital had to say about window shoppers:
“Window shopper” is a term that was created to describe consumers who would look into a storefront but decide to walk past without entering and making a purchase. While it was originally invented as a term for brick-and-mortar shoppers, window shoppers also exist in the digital world. Abandoned carts, which could be considered the digital equivalent to brick-and-mortar window shoppers, are when a website visitor adds items to their cart but leaves the page without completing their purchase. Abandoned carts are responsible for billions of lost revenue each year, so it’s in a brand’s best interest to minimize the amount of them.”
Abandoned carts are something I’m very familiar with. Here is a small sampling of two of the abandoned “save for alter carts” I currently have – 49 items I most likely will never go back for! I also have abandoned carts at Target, Old Navy, Natural Life, and Miz Mooz (just to name a few). YIKES.
So, what’s the moral of my tale? There are millions of people like me window shopping and abandoning shopping carts. Like Theorem Digital said, we are costing companies BILLIONS of dollars of lost revenue every single year. As a digital marketer, is it critically important to be aware of people like me and use every trick in the digital marketing handbook to convert window shoppers and then them into purchasing consumers.
Now please excuse me while I check out the new pickle ball collection at Rifle Paper!
Eagle Digital 
Awe, my son and I went window shopping today at the Bay Park Square Mall. I definitely believe that online shopping is the easiest its ever been, but nothing beats a brick and mortar business – unless of course its dual: online and in person.
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Personalized ads do sometimes feel scarily accurate! I also am a big fan of window shopping. I like to see what stores have to offer, I just prefer to keep my money in my pocket.
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