Passed on 21 May, 2025

6. Retargeting for e-commerce

In this lesson, you’ll explore what retargeting is, how it works, and get tips for running your own successful retargeting campaigns in the context of e-commerce.It may be worth taking or revisiting thePaid marketing channelsmodule if you are not familiar with paid advertising.

It may be worth taking or revisiting thePaid marketing channelsmodule if you are not familiar with paid advertising.

It may be worth taking or revisiting thePaid marketing channelsmodule if you are not familiar with paid advertising.

✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Explain what retargeting is and how it can boost sales.Identify opportunities to apply retargeting to your e-commerce site.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

Explain what retargeting is and how it can boost sales.

Identify opportunities to apply retargeting to your e-commerce site.

Retargeting ads

An e-commerce website can track shopper behaviour and respond with dynamic ads, including display ads, that can be used to bring visitors back to the shop. This is called product retargeting.

What is retargeting?

We’ve all browsed an online shop, put a product in our shopping cart and then, for whatever reason, decided not to buy it. Think of the last time you did this.Did you start seeing ads for that product you didn’t buy on other sites around the web? That’s what we call retargeting.

Did you start seeing ads for that product you didn’t buy on other sites around the web? That’s what we call retargeting.

Did you start seeing ads for that product you didn’t buy on other sites around the web? That’s what we call retargeting.

Analysing buyer behaviour

The way a shopper behaves on an e-commerce provides useful information for a business as it allows them to create specific advertisements aimed at people who have shown interest in certain products. That’s what product retargeting, or remarketing, is all about.

How does retargeting work?

Let’s say someone is shopping online for bespoke furniture. They visit your e-commerce site and choose a kitchen table. However, halfway through the checkout process, they decide to wait and see if another shop has any special offers before buying.

Identifying interests

While the person was browsing your online furniture store, you were using a product retargeting solution. This is a small bit of code that is added once and is used on the pages of your website. This code tracks which products on that page a shopper is interested in. The tracking code uses anonymous methods so no personal, private information is exchanged.

Tracking behaviours

Your website tracked a behaviour. It now knows that the shopper wanted that kitchen table and that they didn’t actually buy it. Now, you can use this information to create a retargeting ad promoting this product. It’s worth noting that this type of ad would be paid for and would need monitoring.

Incentivising a revisit

Imagine the shopper leaves your online shop and visits a news website. They’re reading an article and, off to the right of the page, your digital ad is displayed. It might even include a discount as an incentive.

Selecting a service

There are a number of product retargeting options out there. All of them will allow you to collect information and target audiences with customised ads. These could be complemented by email campaigns, social media campaigns, and other types of free digital marketing options.

Running a campaign

The retargeting service knows exactly which products your shopper was interested in, which means your advertisements can be very specific and dynamic. However, there are some guidelines for making your campaign a success.

Setting parameters

As an advertiser, you can go to your product retargeting service and set up rules and parameters. When a person browsing your site meets those parameters, the service will then start targeting them with advertisements over one or more of the internet advertising networks.

Discounting

You don’t always have to offer a discount right away. While in the earlier example, we considered price as a reason the shopper didn’t buy, in reality, there are lots of reasons people leave websites without making a purchase. If you always offer a discount, you could be selling yourself short.

Limiting exposure

It’s good to know when to stop showing these ads. It’s possible that the visitor found the same product somewhere else and bought it, or simply changed their mind and isn’t going to buy it at any price. Most retargeting solutions allow you to set limits and experiment with just how many times you’ll show the same ad to the same person, and for how long.

Analysing results

To improve retargeting campaigns, track conversion rates (purchases after ad views) and click-through rates (clicks on your ad), test ad types, refine targeting, and use analytics to make ongoing adjustments. Regularly reviewing these metrics keeps campaigns effective and engaging.

Reaping the benefits

Product retargeting can be a great way to re-engage visitors that might not have returned. Knowing how it works, how to do it, and how to improve over time can make these campaigns a great addition to your digital marketing plan.

Retargeting in practice

Spend some time completing the activity on this page. It will help you to apply retargeting to your business.

✅ ActivityLet’s check out retargeting strategies used by businesses.Check the items off as you go.Visit a popular retail chain that sells products like cosmetics, clothing, footwear, or technology.Spend some time browsing the website and add a couple of items to your basket.Over the following days, make a note of how often you see ads for the items you viewed and added to your basket, as well as any promotions the ads include.Consider how you feel about the frequency and type of ads you’re shown.Note down if you would use the same strategy if it was your business or if you would adjust it?

Activity

Let’s check out retargeting strategies used by businesses.

Visit a popular retail chain that sells products like cosmetics, clothing, footwear, or technology.

Spend some time browsing the website and add a couple of items to your basket.

Over the following days, make a note of how often you see ads for the items you viewed and added to your basket, as well as any promotions the ads include.

Consider how you feel about the frequency and type of ads you’re shown.

Note down if you would use the same strategy if it was your business or if you would adjust it?

Download PDF

Download PDF

Check your knowledge

It's time for you to check and reflect on what you've learned so far.

Question 1 of 1

Let’s help Jo track retargeting success. Jo has noticed that some of her customers leave her site without making a purchase. She’s set up some product retargeting ads, and wants to measure the performance of her campaign.What parameters should she look at to see if she’s attracting potential customers?

What parameters should she look at to see if she’s attracting potential customers?

What parameters should she look at to see if she’s attracting potential customers?

How many pages visitors check out before they leave the site

Conversion rates

Number of people clicking each ad type

Comments on her social media profile

Submit

Submit

Yes.Jo can measure how customers interact with each ad type. She can also check her campaign’s conversion rates to see how customers respond. Checking comments on her social media profile is unlikely to be as effective as the other options as it won’t show in detail how customers interact with the retargeting campaign. Finally, looking at how many pages visitors check before they leave the site won’t tell her whether those users are potential customers.

Jo can measure how customers interact with each ad type. She can also check her campaign’s conversion rates to see how customers respond. Checking comments on her social media profile is unlikely to be as effective as the other options as it won’t show in detail how customers interact with the retargeting campaign. Finally, looking at how many pages visitors check before they leave the site won’t tell her whether those users are potential customers.

Lesson complete

You now know how retargeting can be used to encourage potential customers to return to your online shop.You’ve completed the module onE-commerce. Why not tryExpanding Internationallynext?

You’ve completed the module onE-commerce. Why not tryExpanding Internationallynext?

You’ve completed the module onE-commerce. Why not tryExpanding Internationallynext?

Next Path

Reach international customers