Online retailers are constantly looking for ways to distinguish themselves. Retailers can differentiate themselves by offering compelling shopping experiences, product suggestions, and superior customer service. The data that retailers have on their customers can be used to unlock these experiences using today’s data-driven tools.
Before founding my company, I was the director of analysis for the 2008 Obama campaign. We were able, by experimenting with different elements on the campaign splash page, to raise $57,000,000 in additional campaign donations.
The principles that guided the campaign are similar to those online retailers and marketers can use to have a positive impact on their businesses.
You need first to know who your audience is. Your website visitors’ behavior will tell you what kind of message they are most likely to respond to. You’ll show different content to returning visitors than you would to new ones or mobile users versus desktop users.
It is more important than ever for companies to use data to target the right message to the right person at the right moment. The most effective way to convert consumers is to use targeted messaging.
You must also know the facts. Getting the data right is one of the biggest challenges (and error areas) businesses face. Online retailers must take precautions to ensure that the infrastructure and processes they have implemented are sound. The “novelty” effect, for example, suggests that a change’s initial impact does not mean it will last over time. Will your customers get tired of getting cyber deals every 10 seconds for a whole week?
It’s important to ask the correct questions. Online retailers are not in the business of prescribing answers but rather asking the appropriate questions. Are you trying to determine if a visitor responds better to having more or fewer product options on a web page? It would be best if you first decided what the desired answers are, and then you can choose what to measure.
A/B Testing is used for online retail to test the effectiveness of various elements. Examples include the homepage bounce rate, category-page view, product-page view, shopping cart ads, and the entire checkout process from the Thank You page through all the stages.
Asking, “What variations are we testing?” is not the best way to achieve more relevant and effective results. Consider asking, “What is the question we are trying to answer?” Look at your Web analytics first to determine which pages need the most improvement. These are the areas you should focus on first.
Here are some insights that can help retailers maximize their sales through website experiments. These tests will help them provide a better user experience to their customers.
Home Page. Although the homepage is the page that is most scrutinized, it is also the one most likely to be under-optimized. Imagine you are a customer shopping for a coat on the website of a retailer. On the homepage, you see a banner advertising a sale. As you are about to click, the experience switches to pants. You have to constantly reorient yourself, which dilutes the focus on your original goal. When consumers are distracted, likely, they won’t purchase.
Category Pages. Unfortunately, most retailers tend not to pay attention to their category pages. Fortunately, there are a few easy and effective ways to evaluate them. One simple test compares the performance of list views versus tiled views. In our experience, list views are more effective and boost sales in scenarios where consumers make complex purchases. The list format allows consumers to compare categories and scan information. It also gives retailers space to showcase the best sellers.
Product Detail Pages. Where, ultimately, does the consumer decide whether or not to buy? It is on the product detail pages that you will make your final decision. It is, therefore, one of the most crucial areas of your site.
Retailers are often looking for solutions to a specific challenge: solid brand awareness but poor conversion. It’s hard for the retailer in this situation to know what they can do to improve. In order to increase conversions, I suggest carefully examining these key conversion factors on the product detail page:
Value proposition: Is the value proposition strong or weak
Relevance: Does the content meet the needs of the audience?
Clarity: How well-defined is the copywriting and call to action, as well as the images and eye flow?
Distraction – Are you distracting the audience from your primary message by offering too many options? Upsell and cross-sell opportunities are provided too early? Design elements that overwhelm the message
Urgency: Do you give the consumer a good reason to act right now?
Calls to action at the checkout point. Make your calls to action loud and clear. Test phrases such as “add to basket” or “sign up for emails” in order to determine what you specifically want your website to achieve.
The team at 1-800-DENTIST hypothesized, for example, that by making the first step of the signup process as simple as it could be, they would reduce the drop-off rate and encourage more signups as the user progresses through the funnel. The team tested the hypothesis by determining how to simplify the first step while still collecting valuable data. The ZIP code seemed the most logical to start with since all matches of dentists depend on location. The team then moved the other two fields, insurance and dental needs, to pages further down the funnel. This ensured that they could still collect all the information. The team discovered that by reducing the length of the first step in the checkout funnel, conversions increased by 23.3%.