Since the beginning of internet, many ways have been found in order to incite net users to buy online. But recently, a new method has appeared: retargeting.

Retargeting (also called behavioral retargeting, or behavioral remarketing) describes a method of online advertising; based on user’s previous actions on internet.
There are a lot of advertisements on the internet, often related to our interests. In the same way, retargeting does not display to you random products; it is actually following what you are interested in, or what you might want. Then, if you visit a commercial website without buying a product but if you spend some time on a specific page, this product will be displayed to you later on, on a different website.
To compare this commercial method with real life, it is somehow like if you will go to a shop, look at a product but not buying it and the shop assistant would run after you when you are in a different place. Retargeting works very well, and many undertakings have this kind of agreement with advertisement agencies. Then, in order to know if you have visited a website, those are following their users with cookies, or with so called “tracking pixels”. Then, those data are shared with some other companies, in order to display to you some other items later on. It can also be implemented, for instance by displaying accessories related to the product you were looking for.
Then, here is she specificity of behavioral retargeting; it involved that you have showed an interest in the product at first. It is used by a lot of famous websites, such as PriceMinister or Amazon.
According to perfectaudiance.com, visitors are 3 to 5 times more likely to click on an advertisement if retargeting is used. Then, retargeting works as a “reminder” for potential customers, and will incite them to buy from one website, rather than another one.
Retargeting is then a very good tool for companies in order to increase their sales, but it has to be used in a smart way, in order to avoid offering an item which the user will not buy, or bought already somewhere else. Moreover, this advertising method is once again challenging internet user’s right to privacy.
 Adrien Laurent
 
Credit image: https://www.adroll.com/retargeting