Online window shopping is fast becoming an international sport, no doubt the Olympics may well consider adding it to their roster.
Unfortunately I think the amount of growing watches has a lot to do with the economy. An item may very well have someone's interest enough to place it on a watch list, however having the ability right now to pay for it could be another issue altogether.
There are always those that will watch something for reasons such as they may have something similar to sell, and are watching to see how you go. Maybe curious about buying one later and want to see how much you get. Maybe even looking to buy a gift for someone and putting quite a few options on their watch list.
In days gone past watchers usually meant sales, now you can make sales with a single watcher, but 7 watchers don't always equal a single bid anymore.