Reach anonymous visitors by starting their profile at the first click, not the first login.
Most shoppers browse, and many even order as guests, without giving you anything to retarget. You can still sell to them: record what each visitor does under a first-party identifier, personalize the site from it within a few clicks, ask for a way back, and merge the history when they sign up or buy.
- No login needed to personalize search and recommendations
- Web push works in the browser, with no app
- Signup or order joins the earlier visits to one profile
An anonymous visitor is anyone on your site who has not logged in or given an email or phone number: a first-time visitor, or a returning customer who has not signed in yet. Email tools cannot act on them, because they wait for an address.
They are not unreachable. Each visit can be tied to the device through a first-party identifier, so what the visitor views, searches and adds to the cart builds a profile from the first page. The site can then rank products for that person after a few clicks, ask for a channel that needs no email, and fold everything into the customer record the moment they register or order. This guide covers the method; the anonymous visitors solution shows how the agent runs it.
1. Give every visitor a profile from the first page view
Identify the device, not the person. A first-party cookie holds an identifier for the browser, and every product view, search, click and cart change is stored against it in your own data. Recording the events server-side keeps them when an ad blocker or Safari's cookie limits stop a script (server-side tracking).
This is the step most stores skip. If the profile only starts at login, everything a shopper did before it is lost, and the store meets its best future customers as strangers. The anonymous visitor is the same person who may sign up next week.
2. Personalize the site before you know who they are
A few clicks are enough to tell the store something useful: a category, a size, a price range, a brand. Use it on the next page. Product recommendations can move from bestsellers to items close to what this visitor viewed, search can rank results for the person typing, and banners can follow what they are looking at.
None of this needs a name or an email. It turns the store from one shop window for everyone into a shop arranged for each visitor, and it helps the shopper find what they came for, which is what moves an anonymous visit to an order.
3. Ask for a way back that needs no email
When the visitor leaves, the profile is only worth something if you can reach them again. Web push asks for permission in the browser, with no app and no email, and a visitor who allows it can hear about the product they viewed, a price drop or an item back in stock.
Ask for an email too, but give a reason: a form that offers something useful at the moment of interest works better than a pop-up on arrival. A guest order already carries an email for the receipt; marketing messages still need the shopper's consent, so ask for it at checkout.
4. Merge everything when they identify
When the visitor registers, logs in or places an order, join every event from the anonymous profile to the customer record. If the same email or phone number appears on another device, those visits join too (identity resolution).
Now the first email they receive can be about what they actually looked at last week, not a generic welcome. Abandoned browse, abandoned cart and abandoned search can follow up on behavior from before the login, and the recommendations start from a full picture instead of an empty account.
Every state has a next step
| Visitor state | What you know | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| First visit, no login | Source and the first few clicks | Personalize recommendations, search and banners |
| Returning, same device | Earlier visits on the first-party profile | Pick up where they left off |
| Allowed web push | A channel, but no email | Follow up on browse, price drop or back in stock |
| Signed up or ordered | Email or phone, with or without consent | Merge the history; message only with consent |
Sell to visitors you cannot name
Anonymous visitors, from first page view to follow-up
Visits captured server-side, one profile per person across devices, and follow-up by web push and email, next to your email tool.
See the solution →Search, recommendations and chat for every visitor
Ranked for each visitor from this and earlier visits, logged in or not.
See the sales agent →Questions about anonymous visitors
What is an anonymous visitor in ecommerce?
Someone on your site who has not logged in or given an email or phone number. It can be a first-time visitor or a returning customer who has not signed in yet.
How can you personalize for a visitor you cannot identify?
Identify the device instead of the person. A first-party identifier ties each visit to the browser, so after a few clicks the site can rank recommendations and search results from what that visitor viewed, with no login.
How do you reach an anonymous visitor after they leave?
Ask for a channel that needs no email. Web push works in the browser without an app. Offer a reason to give an email as well, and ask for marketing consent at checkout.
What happens to the anonymous history when the visitor signs up?
It should join the customer record. When the visitor registers, logs in or orders, every earlier event merges into the same profile, so the first messages and recommendations start from what they already looked at.
Does this replace my email tool?
No. The email tool keeps the shoppers it already knows. Reaching anonymous visitors is the part before that: the profile, the personalized site and the first way back.
See which of last week's visitors you missed
One call, with your store and ad accounts open. Then 30 days free. A holdout group decides: if the agent doesn't add orders in 30 days, you don't pay.
See it on your store
You'll talk to one of us.