How to Increase Anonymous Shopper Conversions

In the world of e-commerce, knowing your customers is key to delivering the products, services, and experiences they want. But the reality is that the majority of online shoppers are anonymous—especially with the end of third-party cookies.

What does this mean exactly? Simply put, anonymous shoppers are individuals who browse a site and possibly make a purchase without logging in or creating an account. This can make it challenging for e-commerce businesses to deliver an engaging shopping experience that increases conversions. If you’re an online retailer facing this dilemma, don’t be discouraged.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at some of the obstacles e-tailers face when dealing with anonymous shoppers. We also prove some invaluable tools, tips, and recommendations to optimize these online conversions. 

Let’s start with the challenges.

Anonymous shoppers present distinct hurdles because they provide (seemingly) limited amounts of information that lead to online businesses feeling like they are unable to:

• better understand site visitors who are thinking about buying but are reluctant to complete the transaction; and
• motivate these users to take action before leaving the site.

If this is the point where you start feeling a bit helpless in your customer conversion conquests, take a breath. Chances are, you probably know more about these shoppers than you realize.

Take a look at your historical data.

Depending on the tools and technology you use for your online store, you likely have valuable information about your site's visitors. This can help you improve your conversions and make the most of opportunities to optimize your business. By looking at this data wholly, you’ll be able to obtain key takeaways that can help you predict the online behaviour of "secret shoppers". Let’s break it down a bit, so you get the full picture.

It helps you recognize shopper patterns.

Historical data gives useful information about past shopper interactions, such as browsing habits, popular products, and conversion paths. By analyzing this data, you can identify common trends across your entire customer base that lead to cart abandonment. This enables you to refine your e-commerce site to alleviate pain points, enhance the user experience, and accommodate the preferences of these mystery shoppers.

It lets you make informed, data-driven decisions.

 A larger dataset will empower you to leverage predictive analytics, which is imperative for improving customer experience. As a result, you’ll be able to develop predictive models that anticipate the behavior of anonymous shoppers and forecast their conversion potential. This gives you an opportunity to interact with targeted anonymous visitors using personalized approaches to increase conversions.

It allows you to stay ahead of the conversion game.

Data-driven optimization is a recurring process. The more data you collect, the more you can enhance your e-commerce strategies. By continuously optimizing from a large data pool, you’ll be able to remain ahead of shifting customer preferences and industry trends, and achieve consistent growth.

So, what kind of customer data can you use to convert more anonymous shoppers? Information like their browsing patterns, location, and attribution sources can all be used to deliver a personalized shopping experience. Even anonymous shoppers leave a trail behind of what region they’re in, what time zone, and what they have been checking out (or even buying) on your site. Sure, you may not be able to identify exact shoppers, but you can still use their history to offer tailored offers and product recommendations.

Furthermore, you can increase engagement through triggered campaigns based on your shopper data. These could take the form of account creation campaigns that encourage anonymous visitors to create an account by highlighting the benefits of signing up, to exit-intent pop-ups that activate when a user is about to leave your website and persuade them to reconsider by offering a compelling reason to stay, such as a limited-time discount code.

Utilize machine learning technology (like Granify!)

Having the right technology—specifically, AI and machine learning—is nothing short of a game-changer when it comes to e-commerce conversions. Platforms like Granify help e-commerce businesses improve anonymous shopper conversions by providing data-driven insights, personalization, and real-time optimization.

Some ways to do this include:

• Behavioural analysis through advanced machine-learning algorithms that examine the actions of anonymous shoppers on your website. This can include tracking mouse movements, scrolling patterns, and click behavior (to name a few).
• Intent recognition from AI algorithms detect patterns in online body language—like returning to a specific product over and over—that indicate a shopper's interest.
• Real-time personalization—a Granify favorite—dynamically adjusts the shopping experience for visitors based on their behavior and preferences. This includes displaying relevant product recommendations, incentives, and messaging that aligns with each of their specific interests.
• Cart abandonment recovery analyzes the behavior leading up to cart abandonment and then triggers personalized messages, emails, or targeted ads to entice shoppers to return and complete the order.
• Tailored support that identifies moments of reservation or doubtfulness in a shopper's online body language and utilizes AI-powered chatbots and campaigns to offer real-time assistance.  

Granify also provides the predictive analytics, data-driven decision-making, and continuous optimization we mentioned earlier. This provides a comprehensive machine-learning approach that boosts conversions, seemingly effortlessly!

Put it all together…

Combine all of these innovative conversion solutions, and you have one pretty stellar plan moving forward. That’s because AI and machine learning technology leverage vast amounts of data and advanced algorithms to deliver personalized and relevant experiences at the right moment—and never any time else.

What else can you do to ensure your anonymous conversions take on new heights?

Look for any obstacles along the buyer journey.

There are a lot of other reasons an anonymous shopper takes a left at the checkout without buying anything. And while artificial intelligence and historical data go a long way in improving your conversion rate, you’ll also have to take a closer look at what’s happening on your website.

Problem: Your e-commerce site performance is lacking.
Solution: Fix it!

Anonymous shopper or not, nobody wants to shop on a website that leaves them frustrated. Studies show that 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. If your website is loading too slowly, speed it up. If its navigation requires a compass, reduce the clutter and re-arrange content in the most user-friendly way possible (Tip: Prioritize the most important information first and always keep it above the fold.)

Include quality photos that load easily and detailed product descriptions that are both accurate and without grammatical or spelling errors. Fix broken links, update old information, and please, please, please, always include a menu and search bar to make looking for items as easy as possible. 

Bonus Tip: Almost all online shoppers—99.75% to be exact—read reviews occasionally, and 91% do regularly. Adding this type of social proof to your website, along with ratings, testimonials, and trust badges, will build credibility and make more anonymous shoppers feel confident in buying from your brand.

Problem: Your checkout process almost takes as long as the shipping.
Solution: Simplify!

Over 70% of online carts are ditched and the reasons are all pretty justifiable – extra costs, slow delivery, a lack of payment options, and complicated checkouts. Fortunately, fixing some of these issues is very doable. Start by cutting down the number of steps and fields during checkout—you can read more details here.

You’ll also want to ensure you’re offering a range of payment options, especially well-established ones like Visa and Mastercard, and digital wallet options like PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. And don’t forget Buy Now, Pay Later, which has become increasingly popular this past year. 

Problem: Your website struggles on mobile devices.
Solution: Go mobile!

Mobile friendly, that is. Most shoppers use their mobile devices to browse through stores and items. Foolproof your site by ensuring it functions optimally across all screens and devices. If you don’t have an app yet, consider investing in one—nearly 70% of internet users shop using mobile apps.

Problem: When it comes to some TLC, your shoppers feel it’s MIA.
Solution: Live chat!

Assisting unfamiliar shoppers in their shopping journey is key to building trust and fostering brand loyalty. In addition to a helpful support team, use chatbots and virtual assistants for customer service outside of regular hours. These tools can also give personalized suggestions to boost sales and increase profits.

Problem: You play the guessing game too much.
Solution: A/B test!

Implementing regular A/B testing and tracking key metrics can help you in many ways. You can use this testing to compare different variations of your website to see which ones are most effective. This can include everything from design elements to calls to action to marketing strategies. Just remember to continuously monitor and analyze the data to identify areas of improvement.

You have the power to convert.

Hopefully, after reading this, you feel more confident in converting the anonymous shoppers you didn’t think possible. If investing in a CRO strategy seems like a lot of work, remind yourself of the results it has to offer. Then, implement conversion recommendations (like Granify!) to get to know your mystery shoppers. It’s up to you to unlock the potential of your anonymous visitors, so you and your customers can reap the rewards.

Up, up, and delight!

We asked one of Granify’s talented product managers, Taylor Schaerer, what makes our machine-learning technology stand out.

Here’s what he had to say: 

“Since the beginning, Granify has always been able to take the digital body language of anonymous shoppers and use it to provide relevant, personalized messaging at the right time, for optimal conversions. Though our technology is cutting-edge, we approach everything very holistically, looking at data in its entirety to gather the most relevant information to reduce cart abandonment, improve CRO, and ultimately, delight customers.”

Curious about what we can do for your e-commerce business?
Reach out today for a free consultation!