The Invisible FunnelIndependent research on how agents research, compare and choose on behalf of customers

Mechanisms

Silent elimination

The brand was not selected and no readable page from its own site entered the decision. Where the site refused the request, the company saw a blocked request, not a customer; otherwise it saw nothing, and the customer’s agent never saw the company.

13 of 207 journeys in the record.

no memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by dyson.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionAmazon decision — customer with no relevant memory
  2. 2Evidence7 searches, 7 pages: walmart.com, target.com, bestbuy.com, dyson.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionRan out of page reads before decidingNo decision: the action budget ran out after 7 page reads, before a readable Amazon page.
run-b16806a1Open decision trace →
with memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by walmart.com, dyson.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionAmazon decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • delivered total (item + tax + shipping) at or under the customer's budget, without joining…
    • return window of at least 30 days from delivery with no restocking fee stated
    • delivery within 3 days of ordering
    • human phone or chat support for order problems (preference)
    Remembers: “In March 2026 a marketplace order arrived damaged and the third-party seller refused the return; the platform took three”
  2. 2Evidence6 searches, 8 pages: target.com, walmart.com, dyson.com
  3. 3BeliefCould not establish: total price usd; return window days; delivery days
  4. 4DecisionNamed, not researched before the budget ran outNONENo candidate could be confirmed, from the retailer's own pages, to meet all three required facts (delivered total ≤$450 with no paid membership, a ≥30-day no-restocking-f…
run-99ba90a2Open decision trace →
no memoryno readable brand-owned pageobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionAmazon decision — customer with no relevant memory
    • delivered total ≤ $450 including tax and shipping, without joining a paid membership
    • return window ≥ 30 days from delivery with no stated restocking fee
    • delivery within 3 days of ordering
    • human phone/chat support available for order problems (preference)
  2. 2Evidence10 searches, 12 pages: target.com, bestbuy.com, walmart.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionNever entered the comparisonNONENo candidate could be confirmed, from a readable source, to meet all three required facts (delivered total ≤$450, ≥30-day no-restocking-fee return, delivery ≤3 days) with…
run-a9b8f8b5Open decision trace →
with memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by dyson.com, walmart.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionAmazon decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • delivered total (item + tax + shipping) at most $450 without joining any paid membership
    • return window of at least 30 days from delivery with no restocking fee, stated plainly
    • delivery within 3 days of ordering
    • human phone or chat support for order problems (preference)
    Remembers: “In March 2026 a marketplace order arrived damaged and the third-party seller refused the return; the platform took three”
  2. 2Evidence12 searches, 10 pages: dyson.com, bestbuy.com, target.com, walmart.com +1
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionNever entered the comparisonNONENo retailer could be confirmed, from a readable/brand-sourced or consistently-reported fact set, to satisfy all four requirements at once. Target's own help page (read di…
run-a5426fdfOpen decision trace →
no memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by walmart.com, dyson.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionAmazon decision — customer with no relevant memory
    • delivered total (item + tax + shipping) at most 450 USD without joining a paid membership
    • returnable for at least 30 days from delivery with no stated restocking fee
    • delivered within 3 days of ordering
    • human phone or chat support available for order problems (preference)
  2. 2Evidence10 searches, 13 pages: target.com, bestbuy.com, help.target.com, walmart.com +1
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionNever entered the comparisonNONEThe strongest candidate found on the retailers' own pages was the Dyson V8 Origin Cordless Stick Vacuum at Target.com: $439.99, no paid membership required, and a clearly…
run-5b469babOpen decision trace →
with memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by dyson.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionAmazon decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • delivered total (item + tax + shipping) at most $450 without joining a paid membership
    • return window of at least 30 days from delivery with no stated restocking fee
    • delivery within 3 days of ordering
    • availability of human phone or chat support for order problems (preference)
    Remembers: “In March 2026 a marketplace order arrived damaged and the third-party seller refused the return; the platform took three”
  2. 2Evidence10 searches, 13 pages: dyson.com, target.com, walmart.com, bestbuy.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionNever entered the comparisonNONENone of the four investigated offers could be confirmed, from sources I could actually read this session, to satisfy all three required facts (delivered total ≤$450 with …
run-e3b9954aOpen decision trace →
no memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by walmart.com, crateandbarrel.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionTemu decision — customer with no relevant memory
  2. 2Evidence11 searches, 13 pages: amazon.com, wayfair.com, walmart.com, target.com +4
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionRan out of page reads before decidingNo decision: the action budget ran out after 13 page reads, before a readable Temu page.
run-1e2b56d8Open decision trace →
no memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by walmart.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionTemu decision — customer with no relevant memory
  2. 2Evidence17 searches, 6 pages: walmart.com, target.com, amazon.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionRan out of page reads before decidingNo decision: the action budget ran out after 6 page reads, before a readable Temu page.
run-316ea097Open decision trace →
with memoryno readable brand-owned pagerefused by walmart.comobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionTemu decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • set of five matching containers with lids
    • each container 1-2 litres (glass or BPA-free plastic)
    • delivered total at most the customer's budget ceiling
    • delivery within 8 days, as stated on retailer's own pages
    Remembers: “A 2025 order from a discount marketplace arrived after 26 days, and the refund for a wrong item took six weeks and three”
  2. 2Evidence16 searches, 8 pages: amazon.com, walmart.com, target.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionNever entered the comparisonNONEAfter 24 page/search actions, no offer could be confirmed against all required facts using the retailer's own pages. Walmart.com and Amazon.com blocked every direct page …
run-f79d1c2fOpen decision trace →
with memoryno readable brand-owned pageobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionTemu decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • delivered total for the set of five ≤ $45 USD, as stated by the retailer
    • delivery within 8 days of ordering, as promised on the retailer's own pages
    • return window of at least 30 days, as stated by the retailer
    • refund paid within 10 days of return receipt, as stated by the retailer (preference)
    Remembers: “A 2025 order from a discount marketplace arrived after 26 days, and the refund for a wrong item took six weeks and three”
  2. 2Evidence13 searches, 11 pages: walmart.com, target.com, help.target.com, amazon.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionNever entered the comparisonNONEThe best physical match found was the NutriChef 5-Piece Superior Glass Food Storage Containers Set sold via Target.com's Target Plus marketplace: all five containers are …
run-6732da0cOpen decision trace →