How unique is a unique visitor?

[cunnyong_goh]

According to the following link which was done on 2008,
http://www.webmetric.org/white_paper/Unique_Visitors.pdf

How does SiteCatalyst track a visitor who uses multiple browsers
Since browsers do not share cookies, SiteCatalyst tracks a visitor as unique for each browser used.

I wonder if SiteCatalyst is able to recognize the same user when the user opens a new browser/a new window on the same computer/device.

For example, at the same time, I open the same web page on chrome and firefox, would SiteCatalyst record me as the same unique visitor or different? 
(as SiteCatalyst does use ip tracking to recognize unique visitors)

Please let me know. Thanks! 

[AkhilSharma]

Hi,

Yes we can identifies the same user by using "Cross-Device Visitor Identification" or "Visitor Stitching"

http://helpx.adobe.com/analytics/using/cross-device-visitor-identification.html

http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/15-for-15-a-stitch-in-time-saves-visitors/

and 

http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/under-the-hood-with-visits-and-visitors/

Let me know if that helps.

[cunnyong_goh]

Thanks for that information. I did not know about that. 

However, does that mean without enabling "Cross-Device Visitor Identification" or "Visitor Stitching" (which is not enabled by default), Site Catalyst treats the same user who opens multiple browsers(chrome, firefox, IE etc) on the SAME device as multiple unique visitors? 

Since this method requires login authentication from the owner's website which we do not always implement, that means this "Visitor Stitching" does not work very well for us? 

Thanks!

[Gigazelle · Accepted solution]

Visitors are identified using a client-side cookie. Since browsers dont share cookies, anyone who visits your site in different browsers are counted as different visitors. Browser tabs use the same cookie, so multiple tabs open on your site counts towards the same visit/visitor.

The best way for stitching to work is when you provide reports & analytics a solid visitorID, such as a hashed username or something similar.