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In this post, we’ll explain why showing customers products based on what they’ve already browsed makes a real difference—and how you can set it up in your Shopify store without needing to be a tech wizard.
So, you’ve got people checking out products on your Shopify store—but they’re not always hitting that ‘Buy Now’ button, right? Totally normal. Most shoppers are just browsing, or maybe comparing.
But here’s the thing: their browsing behavior is packed with clues about what they actually want. If you could tap into that—show them products based on what they’ve already looked at—you’d be nudging them a lot closer to checkout. That’s what this post is about: making smart, subtle suggestions that feel helpful, not pushy.
Let’s get started.
Key Takeaways:
- Using customer browsing history, like recently viewed products, is a simple, privacy-friendly way to personalize the shopping experience in Shopify.
- It helps re-engage visitors, reduce decision fatigue, and gently guide them toward purchase without feeling intrusive.
- With the StoreFrog app, setting up these smart recommendations is quick, easy, and doesn’t require any technical skills.
Using browsing history is a simple yet powerful way to make shopping feel more intuitive for your customers. No personal data involved—just smart, context-aware suggestions. Here’s why it works:
1. Keeps Shoppers Engaged
Most visitors won’t buy the first time they land on your store. They browse, leave, and often forget what they saw. By showing recently viewed items, you gently re-engage them with products they already showed interest in. It’s like saying, “Hey, remember this?” without being intrusive. This subtle reminder keeps them on your site longer and encourages them to explore further, increasing the chances they’ll eventually add something to their cart.
2. Reduces Decision Fatigue
Online shoppers are often faced with too many options, which can lead to indecision and no purchase at all. Showing products they’ve already viewed helps narrow things down. It’s a soft way of guiding them back to items they’re more likely to care about, without asking them to start their search from scratch. This kind of support makes their shopping experience smoother and less overwhelming.
3. Feels Tailored, Not Creepy
Personalization can easily cross the line into being invasive, but not when it’s based on browsing activity within your own store. Recommending products a visitor recently viewed feels relevant and useful, without requiring any personal data. It’s a privacy-safe way to make the experience feel customized. The customer sees products they recognize, and you build trust without overstepping any boundaries.
4. Boosts Conversion Chances
If someone has viewed a product once, there’s a chance they were considering it. Reminding them of that item later increases the likelihood they’ll come back to it and take action. Maybe they just needed a second look, or a little time to think. By putting recently viewed products in front of them again, you’re making it easier to continue the decision-making process and encouraging them to convert.
5. Encourages Product Discovery
Sometimes, shoppers don’t remember all the items they explored—or they didn’t realize something similar existed. Recently viewed product sections help jog their memory and introduce them to related options without making them dig for it. It’s a subtle way to expand their exploration and get them interested in more of what your store offers, all while keeping it relevant to their interests.
1. Recently Viewed Items: Displays products a shopper has already looked at. It serves as a gentle reminder and helps them pick up where they left off.
2. Wishlist-Based Suggestions: Uses items saved to wishlists to recommend similar or complementary products, based on clear interest signals from the user.
3. Related to Viewed Products: Recommends products similar to the ones a user has browsed, using attributes like category, tags, or collections.
4. People Who Viewed This Also Viewed: Leverages anonymous data trends to suggest items commonly browsed by others who looked at the same product.
5. Cross-Selling Based on Browsing: Promotes items that are often bought together or work well with products the user has viewed.
6. Session-Based Recommendations: Personalizes suggestions based on a user’s current browsing session—great for first-time or guest users.
To suggest products based on browsing history, we will be using the StoreFrog product recommendations app.
With this app, you can create different types of recommendations, such as best sellers, related products, recently viewed, new arrivals, and more.
In this article, we will show you how to create recently viewed recommendations, which use visitors’ browsing history to suggest the last viewed items to them.
Step 1: Install WebToffee StoreFrog App
First things first—head over to the Shopify App Store and search for StoreFrog – Product Recommendations by WebToffee. Click “Add app” and follow the prompts to install it on your store. The setup is quick, and you don’t need any coding skills to get started.
Step 2: Create New Recommendation
Go to the Home page of the StoreFrog app from the Shopify admin page. Click the Create new recommendation button.
Step 3: Choose a Page to Show Recommendation
- Choose a page to show the recommendation.
- Then, select the Recently viewed product recommendation.
Step 4: Publish the Recommendation Widget
- Enter a title for the recommendation widget.
- Choose any display rules. For this article, let’s choose that the price of the recommended products should be greater than £50.
- You can customize the recommendation widget as per your requirements.
- After making necessary changes, click on the Create new recommendation button.
- This will add the recommendation widget to your Shopify store.
Here’s how product recommendations will appear based on what the customer has previously viewed.
Recommending products based on browsing history isn’t about fancy tech or aggressive sales tactics—it’s about making the shopping experience smoother, smarter, and more personal. By simply reminding visitors of what they’ve already shown interest in, you’re giving them a gentle push in the right direction.
And the best part? You can do all of this in Shopify without needing to touch a single line of code. With tools like the StoreFrog app, setting up a “Recently Viewed” section takes just a few minutes but can make a meaningful difference in how customers interact with your store.
Small tweaks like this can go a long way in keeping shoppers engaged and nudging them closer to checkout. So go ahead—give your store that extra edge and turn casual browsers into confident buyers.
