What is cross-device tracking?

Consumers now use multiple devices to access the Web. Successful ecommerce store owners communicate with buyers in multiple channels and track these interactions.

What is cross-device tracking?

Cross-device tracking is the ability to serve specific, relevant and targeted advertisements to a particular customer segment. Ecommerce store owners have a small window of time to interact with prospective customers. Cross-device tracking helps identify which channels are most successful in helping convert browsers into buyers.

How does cross-device tracking work?

There are two techniques that can be utilized to track a single user's movement across different devices:

• A/B test or use models to identify a connection between different data points and use that as a single profile
• Isolate and link browser information from different data collection sources, such as cookies and a shopper's unique identifier

User cookies are what ecommerce stores pull from each browser depending on what device they're using. Cookies and unique identifiers are what online retailers use to track and serve targeted information to potential clients. Unique identifiers typically consist of a user's login credentials, which will vary on a case-by-case basis. Some ecommerce stores require a personal email or password, for instance, while others use a single-sign-on service. An SSO allows users to log in to a particular store with a third-party application, such as Facebook or Google.

Why does cross-device tracking matter?

Cross-channel measurement helps ecommerce stores optimize their customer advertising. The more effective an ad campaign is, the better chance the online business has of adding to its bottom-line

"Cross-device tracking is the ability to serve specific, relevant and targeted advertisements."

revenue. Cross-device tracking also saves companies money in the long run. Advertising optimization on a per-device basis sheds light onto which messages are working in each given channel. Targeted advertising leads to higher conversion rates.

How does cross-device tracking benefit ecommerce businesses?

Here are three primary advantages of cross-device tracking:

• Improved audience engagement with more targeted messages
• Reduction of lost and wasted impressions with optimized advertising
• More organized client profiles with customer segmentation based on individual channels

Another main benefit of cross-channel tracking is that it eliminates the pressure of trying to reach customers on different devices with the same message. Users interact differently with brands depending on the device they're using. Ecommerce businesses utilizing cross-device measurement do the same with their customers by sending more relevant offers and ads in these channels.