Imagine this: You log into your favorite retailer’s website, spend some time browsing and adding some stuff to your cart, then realize dinner is burning so you close the tab and rush to the kitchen. You come back to your laptop only to find out you’ve been logged out for “security reasons,” so you log back in again, complete the one-time password request authentication (again) — only to find your cart is now empty.

At this point, how frustrated are you? 

Recognizing returning users and personalizing content for them is key to avoiding customer frustration and churn, and providing that experience starts the very moment someone lands on your site. Yet, it’s one of the biggest challenges companies face, regardless of what industry they operate in, especially as more consumers are embracing anonymous browsing. In 2023, 46% of Americans reported they used private browsing.  

In this article, we’ll dive into how companies can recognize returning users and provide personalized experience for even anonymous visitors, all without compromising security. 

Balancing the returning user experience with security

Avoiding customer frustration by providing a seamless returning user experience (RUX) is key to customer retention and growth for businesses that operate online, and that starts with improving the user sign-in process. At the same time, they also need to ensure there are the right security measures in place to comply with regulations and protect customer accounts from account takeover attacks, credential stuffing, and other fraudulent activity. 

For a long time, step-up authentication methods like multi-factor authentication (MFA) was the solution — until it wasn’t. Consumers like easy user login processes. When implemented incorrectly, MFA is the exact opposite and can create unnecessary friction for returning customers, leading to frustration and a decline in customer retention rates. In the U.S., nearly one-third of consumers don’t enable MFA because they find it annoying. It’s hard to blame them when the most commonly used MFA challenge takes an average of 15 seconds to complete.  

Compounding those challenges, privacy has become a top of mind for many consumers around the world, and online traffic is becoming increasingly anonymous due to privacy concerns tied to third-party cookies, and the use of VPNs, private relays, and incognito mode. 

As a result, companies are missing out on the ability to confidently identify returning anonymous users to fight fraud while providing personalized experiences that help increase conversion rates — and the ability to remember previous sessions can help those rates. A McKinsey report found that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized transactions, and 76% get frustrated when companies fail to deliver. 

How Fingerprint can help retain customers and increase conversions

To address these challenges, leading companies like Ramp, Plaid, and e-commerce companies are implementing frictionless authentication and personalization solutions like Fingerprint’s device intelligence platform. 

Instead of relying on third-party cookies (which can be deleted) or IP addresses (which can be hidden behind a VPN), Fingerprint collects over 100 browser, device, and network signals to confidently and reliably identify all devices visiting your site. 

Using these signals, Fingerprint assigns each device that visits a website a unique visitor ID that persists over months or even years, and enables companies to quickly recognize trusted users to improve login success rates, reduce or eliminate MFA requirements, and personalize experiences — resulting in less customer frustration and churn, and increasing conversions.   

Want to learn more about how Fingerprint enables businesses to deliver seamless logins and personalized experiences, even for anonymous traffic? Get in touch with us today.