Passing by the Broadway you are caught by the rich aroma and smell of freshly baked cookies, you look and spot a little bakery. Its window is full of delicious cookies, donuts and pastries. They look tantalizingly perfect and as you peep inside the shop, you find a cheering smile to greet you.

You find someone from the other side of the counter saying, “Would like a Choco Chip or a Choco Muffin?” “We’re having an offer today”, she adds, “buy a pack and get a pack in free.” And that’s where you realize that the saleswoman has convinced you to look into a few more products and service you to buy something. Isn’t that amazing, you were window shopping a minute earlier, and now you are a buyer.

Converting passersby in a brick and mortar store is near to perfection and expert’s salesman are no match for it. Whereas shoppers today, love browsing the web and mobile. However, their state of mind is not very different from those conventional window shoppers. Today, the websites and mobile apps act like digital stores, but with no salesman. So who will be your selling point if you run a cookies shop online? You definitely want all your window shoppers turn into real buyers. Although you don’t have a way to lure your customers with the smell of freshly baked cookies. Then, how will you increase your store engagement?

Here are 5 innovative ways that can teach you about how to turn your window shoppers into real buyers. Read on.

A. Encourage Your Shoppers to Take a Small Action

A passive person always stays in passive unless someone pokes him or her to take an action. Think of a stone lying on the grass will it move you unless you push it? When you apply a thrust it starts to roll. That is what happens with window shoppers, you need to give them a little push to get them rolling closer to be a buyer.

You need to make that push happen by encouraging buyers to take a small step. We call it foot-in-the-door syndrome. It means that once a person places their foot on the door, he is likely to push it wider. So you need to place a call to action that will invite the window shoppers to do something. Why not tell them to visit your blog or sign up for a newsletter on various offers or watch a product video.

You collect a brownie when a window shopper subscribes or sign in. With your window shopper takes an action, it will help you to stay in touch with them, engage with them and maintain contacts and keep your business in the forefront when they are ready to purchase.

B. Must Greet Every Shopper Properly

Set the proper tone and mood to collect good feeling from your prospects (even window shoppers). That is worse when you enter a shop and no one meets with proper greetings; since the salesperson knows that you are just another window shopper. However, you might have bought, but the salesperson ignored you, as you were not potential to him.

So when you launch your ecommerce site, never forget to greet visitors with your web copy. Make them feel warm even if they just there to browse. Try to make a good impression with words and generate positive feelings that shoppers will remember. Do not put that silly “Welcome” in your web copy, it sounds fake. Instead, design your website to help shoppers find things they are looking for.

C. Freebies or Free Samples are a Good Option

Food industry likes to hand out free samples, even some groceries give out food sampling so that you can get a free meal as you wander up and down. You have a chance to taste free and there is no risk. You might like what you taste and might buy a box because the little nibble proved that you would definitely enjoy the big package.

You can use the free sample principle online. As you know that your window shoppers will take a small store, so why not encourage them to download a free offer on a 30 days trial or may be a money back guarantee. If you are confident they will like what you sell, then it is absolutely risk-free.

D. If You Cannot Sell, Share Advice

Window shoppers are often collecting information before they make a purchase. They may not buy from your shop today, but can definitely stack the odds in your favor for a future purchase.

Say you walk into a shoe shop, the sales clerk will not ask if you want shoes, he will ask the particular model you are looking for. He is actually trying to figure out your needs so that he can bring you the exact pair. The faster he is, the better he can serve and more likely you will be satisfied with his services.

So help people who come to your site or app for information. Know what their needs are and direct them to what they are looking for. Answer few potential questions and before they in appear in shoppers mind. Advice them, and share the information they look for.>

E. Let the Shoppers Go, But They Should Never Forget You

You must not forget to treat your window shoppers well because they could be your future buyers. Even if it takes them a year to return, the key is to make sure that they leave their window shopping moment with a positive experience.

Welcome shopper, guide them, help them with information, and when they are about to leave make sure they go with a smile. Stay in touch, if you can, might be through a newsletter or a blog and generate a feeling in their mind that you do not dismiss them completely. This will make your window shoppers think favorably about your online store, as you care for them, their interests and want them to be happy people, if not customers.

So, What’s Your Take?

Well, I don’t think window shoppers are bad, they are a little indifferent. They love to study the market before purchasing or they might be a big time fan of my brand, whatever they might be, they can surely be my customers in future. So if I treat them well today, he or she might turn up the next day to fill the cart with some big time ROI, that I might not have expected. So master the tactics to turn every window shopper to a real buyer.