A few months back I heard about some socks that are strong enough to walk on broken glass with.
They're even strong enough to walk on LEGO without any pain.
If you're a parent, you know that LEGO bricks are designed to be 23% sharper and more painful than broken glass. Fact.
I checked them out on my phone but I wasn't ready to buy. They sounded too good to be true so I put them into my "research more" mental space (aka, the place where thoughts disappear into).
A few days ago I thought about those socks again after talking with some running friends. I thought they would be nice to run in, so I found a link and re-read their summary on my iPad.
Finally I decided that these would be worth testing so I emailed myself a link to them.
Now on my desktop I bought a pair.
This disjunct research process is normal for me and for many people I talk to. We use our phones, tablets, and computers to research and browse before we finally buy.
For me, I only buy from my computer.
My wife will use her phone or iPad.
I've seen people research and buy from their phone while at the airport and while using a taxi.
The poor stores can't differentiate between all of these sources or track that it's the same person.
So those 6 visits that resulted in only 1 order where actually the same person during an extended, multi-device buying process. Their overall conversion rate actually was 100% for that customer, even if the analytics says it was only 16% (1/6).
This is why you need to build a relationship with your customers, potential customers, and repeat customers. The best way to do this is with an email list.
An email list will let you control the starting point of these research phases.
If that sock company had my email address and sent me an email, they could link all of this research to my account. They'd know I was looking on multiple devices. They'd know I was doing an extended, multiple-month research process. They'd see my clicks. They'd see me browsing to pages.
They could even analyze that data and send me more emails to help with the specific parts I'm researching (e.g. durability of the socks outside while running).
This sort of stuff is why I love Drip, my email marketing provider. It takes some wiring up but they can do a lot of this inside their software.
That's why I built Dripify. It's a way to get Drip installed in your Shopify store easily and effectively, without having to edit your theme.
Eric Davis