How to Succeed with Online Window Shopping

Ideally, you want your online store to accurately represent your brick-and-mortar locations. This is the best way to ensure your customers enjoy the same experience online, regardless of how you showcase your products. While this sounds like a tall order, it helps customers find their footing quickly so they don’t feel disenchanted with their shopping experience. Your biggest challenge lies in online window shopping, with the shopper using multiple tabs for quick comparisons between different stores.

How do you ensure yours stands out? Let’s take a look at how to use superior product information to beat the competition at the very beginning of the buyer journey.

What is window shopping and how does it differ from ‘online window shopping’?

When out and about, customers get a good feel for what your shop offers with a quick glance at your window displays. However, when window shopping online, you have very little time to make an impression and show them exactly what you are selling. Online shoppers have the unique opportunity to shop at several stores simultaneously, with multiple tabs open to make quick comparisons.

As a result, you want them to realize your shop is all they need quickly. This poses a challenge when you have a limited “window” for your displays – so why not expand it?

Benefits of window shopping online

1. No Commitment

Allowing yourself to peruse without feeling pressured into making a purchase is one of the greatest benefits of online window shopping. The online shopping experience is self-guided, in contrast to in-store shopping, where a customer may feel pressured by sales associates. For instance, a consumer may peruse fashion websites like ASOS or Zara, examining various apparel products, designs, and fads without having to speak with employees or complete any transactions. This freedom helps customers consider various products and options over time.

2. Brand Awareness

Viewed through a business lens, window shopping is essential to increasing brand awareness. Customers’ interactions with brands and products even when they aren’t ready to buy can set the stage for subsequent purchases. A buyer might, for instance, peruse a product on Amazon, read customer reviews, compare prices, and think about other options.

Even though they might not buy right away, by engaging with Amazon, they help the company learn about their preferences, and frequently, subsequent recommendations or advertisements encourage them to make a purchase. Online brands can create more effective retail strategies that prioritize long-term customer relationships with the aid of this kind of engagement.

3. Better Customer Journey

A consumer’s online window shopping experience frequently begins with this. For example, a tech enthusiast might spend weeks investigating laptops on websites such as Dell or Best Buy, reading reviews from customers, and comparing features. The consumer’s trust in the retailer is strengthened by this thorough process, which also helps them comprehend the products better. When they do decide to buy, they do so with greater assurance and satisfaction since they have done their research. By offering thorough product descriptions, captivating images, and customer service during the browsing stage, online retailers can take advantage of this and help people move down the sales funnel in the customer journey.

4. Access to Data and Analytics

Businesses can use the wealth of data that window shopping online provides to improve their marketing and sales strategies. Through advanced analytics, companies such as Shopify or Etsy can track customer browsing behaviors, including which products are frequently viewed but not purchased. This enables retailers to recognize trends, hot items, or even points of friction during the purchasing process. For instance, businesses can enhance the user experience by streamlining payment options or providing promotional discounts to customers who add items to their shopping cart but then abandon them at checkout. This data-driven strategy can greatly increase conversion rates and improve new customer acquisition.

5. Omnichannel Opportunities

Success in the contemporary retail environment depends on omnichannel tactics. Customers may effortlessly switch between the digital and physical worlds when window shopping online because it creates a bridge between them. Customers can browse products online at Target and Walmart, for example, and then choose to pick them up in-store using a service called BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In Store). This combination of online and in-store purchases increases consumer happiness by offering a variety of shopping options and improves client retention by maintaining a convenient and flexible purchasing procedure.

How to succeed in online window shopping

Beating the competition at first glance

When a customer lands on your home page, this is the first glance they have of your offering. Your job is to make your products shine amongst those other tabs. What are you displaying when they land on your site? Are you overwhelming them with too many products? Is your push for increased basket size too aggressive? Are you making it easy to click on product pages by showing them where to go?

Businesses must build an engaging and dynamic experience to keep potential clients interested throughout the online window shopping phase. For instance, Nike’s website features a virtual shopping window that lets customers personalize color schemes, view sneakers in three dimensions, and even preview how the item would appear in real life with augmented reality (AR). Customers are more likely to return for a purchase when there is an interactive component to keep them interested for longer. Before making a purchase, consumers may experience the physical results of beauty products virtually thanks to services like Sephora. These kinds of encounters improve the online shopping experience and increase the interest level of window browsing.

A product page that shines through multiple tabs

Today’s online window shoppers make finding an advantage over the competition crucial. The best way to do this is to make it easy for customers to purchase in as little as three clicks:

• Product categories: Customers have something particular in mind, and product categories provide the first click to get there.
• Product information: Perfect product descriptions with bold images and clear, searchable content titles enable customers to zero in on the products they want, read up on all the details, and make a confident decision.
• Add to cart: The third click enables them to add the item to their cart and proceed to pay.

If you can create a clear path to the finish line, you can outshine the competition and become a customer’s first choice when shopping for similar items

To draw in new clients, a strong digital marketing plan is necessary. These strategies can entice users to visit your website and look through your products, whether you’re targeting customers with social media ads or via email campaigns. Increasing brand awareness helps create trust, leading to increased customer acquisition rates and eventually, increasing sales.

Combine In-Store and Online Purchases

When designing their retail sales strategy, retailers need to know the difference between online window shopping and online shopping. While window shopping is more exploratory and does not always result in a sale, online shopping typically leads to a purchase. Companies who are aware of this distinction might concentrate on building rapport with customers who are just window shopping. F

or example, they can offer discounts based on previously viewed products, provide customized adverts, or send follow-up emails. These strategies are effectively used by a lot of online retailers, including Amazon, to keep customers interested and boost the possibility that they would make additional purchases.

Using a PIM to create the perfect online storefront

So how do you optimize your product data to create the perfect product detail page? It all begins with a PIM. Product information management software enables you to provide detailed content and enticing images that reduce clicks. You provide all the information a customer needs to make an informed decision AND overcome common objections. A PIM manages all of your assets in one place, enabling you to provide ample images, including video and 3D views, to see a product from all angles. This is how you replicate that store experience, with everything laid out familiarly. The ideal product page includes the following:

• Clear pricing, including special offer limitations and end dates
• In-depth product descriptions with downloadable specs, instructions, interactive sizing charts, etc.
• High-quality product imagery with different viewing options, zoom capability, color options, etc.
• Videos that enable customers to see the product in action
• Delivery and returns policies to build trust
• Delivery date estimator based on a customer’s location
• Stock levels to create a sense of urgency or confidence their purchase will arrive
• Sustainability credentials to promote your company’s commitment to the environment
• Different product options such as size, color, fit, etc.
• Kits and bundles you have available to provide more value
• Related products they might need with their purchase, such as batteries, specialty mounts, hookups, etc.
• Customer reviews and product ratings to help build trust

It takes the perfect landing page to beat the competition at first glance. At the end of the day, online window shopping comes down to one thing: the most attractive page will keep customers coming back. A PIM enables you to outshine the competition with better images, information, and customer experience.

Online window shopping round-up

Online window shopping offers numerous benefits for both consumers and businesses. From exploring products at their own pace to leveraging data insights for business growth, the potential is enormous. By creating an engaging and seamless online shopping experience, businesses can convert casual browsers into loyal customers, ensuring success in 2025 and beyond.