Which of the following stages does NOT belong to the buyer's journey?

The buyer's journey typically consists of three main stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. These stages outline the process that a potential customer goes through from identifying a need to making a purchasing decision.

Awareness is the phase where the buyer recognizes a problem or need. In the Consideration stage, they actively research and evaluate different solutions to address that need. The Decision stage is where they finalize their choice and make a purchase.

Engagement, while it may relate to the overall marketing and sales strategies used by businesses to interact with customers, is not considered a formal stage within the buyer's journey framework. Instead, it represents ongoing interactions and relationship-building efforts rather than a step in the decision-making process itself.

Retention refers to activities aimed at keeping customers loyal after a purchase has been made, which is outside the scope of the buyer's journey that focuses on the initial buying decision. Thus, Engagement does not fit within the established stages of the buyer’s journey, making it the correct choice.