As an ecommerce merchant, you’ve always got to be on the lookout for new methods and techniques that’ll help you get ahead. And while you’re aware of some of the bigger and more general ways of going about things, it’s often the collection of little changes that adds up to make the biggest difference. But how do you know exactly what changes to implement? RepricerExpress takes a look at some ways ecommerce A/B testing (the practice of changing just one thing against a control to test its efficacy) and why it’s such a fantastic way of settling on just what’ll work best for your business.
Idea 1: Try Swapping Out Your Image Carousel…For Nothing Else in Return
As a reader of our blog, you know just how much importance we’ve placed on having great images. They’re one of the easiest, fastest and flashiest ways of grabbing your buyer’s attention and by having high-quality images, you’re showing off your products in the best light possible.
But when it comes to image carousels, quantity should be tossed aside in favour of quality. Be brutal about your images and ask yourself if a carousel is really adding to the story. Unless you’ve got something like a sofa with different colours and patterns everywhere you look or something similar, you can probably do away with it. Instead, delete the carousel and clean up the space, making the product listings more streamlined.
Idea 2: See Which ‘Add to Cart’ Button Works Best
Amazon’s Buy Box is one of the best in the industry, as it allows shoppers to instantly purchase a product instead of having to jump though hoops. While you can’t outright steal their idea and product, you can use its essence to see what works best for you.
Your old ‘add to cart’ button will be your control, while the new one — the B version — is what you’ll be testing. Try playing around with colours and sizes to see what generates the most clicks, or if your old button was the one that worked best. Just remember to give yourself a good amount of time with each button so you’re not confusing novelty with efficiency.
Idea 3: Reduce the Checkout Process to One Page
We’re at a point in ecommerce right now where simplicity definitely reigns supreme. Shoppers don’t want the buying process any more cluttered or busy than it has to be, and this especially applies to the checkout process.
One interesting example that should convince all merchants is the case of the official store for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Elastic Path, the software company in charge of things behind the scenes, used A/B testing to see if one- or two-page checkout worked better. The answer revealed itself so fast — just 300 transactions — that there was no way they’d go back to a two-page checkout.
Idea 4: Use the Words ‘It’s Free’ In Your Call-to-Action
One of the biggest factors that determines shoppers’ behaviour online is the cost of something. They buy online because prices are lower due to reduced overhead, but that doesn’t mean you can sit on your laurels and call it a day.
When you add the words ‘it’s free’ to your calls-to-action, like asking buyers to sign up for a trial, newsletter or anything else, conversion rates jumped by more than a quarter.
Idea 5: Switch From Green to Red
Green means go and red means stop, so it only makes sense that by using red in select areas, you’ll be pausing your shoppers’ attention longer to focus on a key area. Most often, you’ll want to use this in places like calls-to-action or ‘add to cart’ buttons, areas where you really want to grab your buyer’s attention. By using red, a more in-your-face colour, you can get a higher conversion rate.
Idea 6: Know When the Timing is Right for A/B Testing
It’s fantastic to have all these ideas in your back pocket about ecommerce A/B testing, but it’s almost useless if you don’t pull them out at the right time. When’s that? When you’ve got enough monthly conversions and unique monthly visitors. The number we like to use for the former is 500 and 25,000 for the latter, as that gives you a nice buffer to see whether your changes are taking hold or not. Anything significantly less than that, and the results start to fall into the category of randomness.
We’ve just given you a solid list of suggestions on how to implement A/B testing, but there’s one thing that needs no experimentation when it comes to control and variant: RepricerExpress. We’re steady and produce fantastic results every time, helping you reprice your wares so you’re always the most competitive and attractive on the block. And when you sign up today for your free 15-day trial, you’ll be that much closer to seeing what the fuss is all about.
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