The satisfaction of online shoppers is crucial.
Specifically, according to Statista’s survey results, 45.5% of companies throughout the world consider customer service to be a key difference in the market.
However, you can’t rely solely on gut instinct when it comes to designing a compelling user experience on your eCommerce website; you also need hard data about the preferences of your target demographic.
Now we have A/B testing.
By comparing two or more variants of your website, you might learn which one performs better with your target audience. It lets you see how different versions of your page, or specific elements within those versions, affect your visitors’ actions.
You may be familiar with some of the more elementary forms of A/B testing, such as comparing two versions of a page with little but noticeable differences, such as button colors and call-to-action wording.
In any case, A/B testing is a potent method to enhance your business’s most crucial metrics if it is executed properly.
During his time on the 2012 Obama for America campaign, Kyle Rush, now VP of Engineering at Casper and formerly Head of Optimization at Optimizely, employed A/B testing to increase donation conversions by 49%, allowing the Digital team to raise $250 million in just six months.
Rush argues that it is impossible to determine whether or not your modifications have been successful until you do tests. “There may be a connection between the two, but that doesn’t imply causation,” he says.
A/B testing’s utility extends far beyond demonstrating the immediate effects of potential modifications on conversion rates.
According to Rush, “it helps you prioritize what to do in the future. With 20 features planned for release, it can be difficult to determine which ones will actually have the greatest impact on sales. Don’t implement something that’s too similar to something that was tested and found to be problematic.”
You can make better decisions about what to release three to four years from now thanks to the information gleaned through A/B testing, he said.
If you employ testing on a regular basis, you can enhance the overall user experience and boost conversion rates.
This is your personalized A/B testing launchpad in case you’re just getting started with the technique.
What Purpose Does A/B Testing Serve?
Client-side A/B testing is more prevalent than server-side testing, yet both are important.
- To perform client-side testing, a web server sends out the same version of a page to all visitors and then uses JavaScript to make modifications locally in each visitor’s browser before displaying the final product to the visitor.
- By making adjustments to the code on the server before sending it to the browser, server-side testing allows you to see how different versions of your site perform. No changes are being made to the page in the browser.
You could, for instance, split your traffic in half between Variation A and Variation B.
The next step is to evaluate how well each page variant performs in terms of a predetermined goal (conversion), such as revenue, email subscribers, visitors, etc.
However, to have faith that the test results are reliable and not the result of chance, the sample size must be met. Multivariate testing can be misleading if this condition isn’t met, potentially causing you to make adjustments that negatively impact your site.
So what does this mean?
In order to enhance your site’s traffic, you may want to consider investing in paid advertising or search engine optimization. Once you have enough visitors, A/B testing can be implemented at any time to yield substantial results.
Reasons Why E-Commerce Sites Need A/B Testing
Here are some reasons why e-commerce sites need A/B testing:
1. Greater Content Engagement
The hardest part is coming up with ideas for A/B testing, but while you’re doing so, you’re forced to assess every component of the content you want to develop and test.
This implies that when you think about and generate variables for your A/B testing, you’re also thinking about potential improvements.
As a result, simply conducting A/B tests makes your final versions better for your customers.
2. Lower Bounce Rates
When you devote a lot of time and effort to designing pages for your website, it can be discouraging when visitors “bounce” without reviewing your content or exploring additional pages.
If this is happening to you, it’s time to investigate A/B testing optimization. Whether you’re changing typefaces, headlines, or anything else on your pages, A/B testing will help you identify a winning combination of features that keeps people on your site long enough to get value from your content, which may eventually lead to a sale.
3. Higher Conversion Rates
A/B testing is the most simple and successful technique to create content that converts more visitors into buyers. It’s relatively straightforward to determine what works and what doesn’t when you take the time to thoroughly design two versions of your campaign.
A/B testing two versions may take a little longer, but when done correctly, it will undoubtedly help you convert more leads.
4. Increased Values
A/B testing not only helps you convert more site visitors into purchasers, but it also helps you obtain higher values for your items or services. If you find a form/page design that appears to be converting, that doesn’t imply you should keep it forever.
When you’ve found a design that converts effectively for lower-priced products or services, A/B tests it again with a more polished version to boost conversions for your higher-priced things and services. Customers may be prepared to pay for more expensive solutions that offer more perceived value with a little tweaking and thorough A/B comparison testing.
5. Multi-purpose
It’s difficult to predict what your website visitors will and will not like when they arrive, which is why A/B testing is so vital. When it comes to deciding what to A/B test on your website, many people feel that the process only applies to forms, graphics, and actual text.
However, you may A/B test almost any marketing or advertising strategy, both online and offline. Sometimes the slightest change makes the most impact in determining a combination that interests readers and converts visitors.
6. Analytical Ease
One of the best aspects of A/B testing is how simple it is to assess genuine, verifiable findings. When examining data from an A/B test, determining a “winner” and a “loser” based on simple, uncomplicated measures is pretty simple (i.e., time spent on a page, conversions, etc.)
For example, consider the following: You design two business cards with different marketing strategies and supply two different phone numbers. The winning card is the number that receives the most calls. Or you design two landing pages for your eCommerce website. The one that gets the most signups wins.
7. Effective in Low Data Rate Testing
While more data is generally better for assessing outcomes, this isn’t always the case with A/B testing. Although you should not be fooled by early results and abandon the experiment too soon, you do not need millions (or even thousands) of page views to determine which versions are producing the greatest results.
In fact, even if your site is young or only generates a few conversions per day (or per week/month), you may rapidly establish which version (A or B) your visitors and customers prefer. Even if you have a modest number of page visitors, a simple check at the time on a page and bounce rate (and conversions) might help you pick a winner.
The duration of the test should be determined by a set of parameters. You can employ a split test calculator to help you decide how long your test should last.
8. Risks are Reduced
Making large modifications to your website can result in significant expenses or strategy adjustments in some situations. Before making important decisions, A/B testing can help you analyze visitor and customer behavior on your site and boost your chances of success.
In short, A/B testing allows you to target your resources for maximum effect and efficiency, which helps enhance ROI, whether it is based on short-term conversions, long-term client loyalty, or other vital metrics.
External circumstances can have an impact on the outcome of your test. When preparing your marketing and tests, remember to account for holidays, force majeure, and any other situations that may influence customer behavior.
9. Lower Cart Abandonment
Cart abandonment is a major issue for many online stores and e-commerce stores (the act of placing something in an online shopping cart and then not following through with checkout.)
According to many estimates, cart abandonment rates range from 40% to 75%. There are numerous reasons for cart abandonment, but experimenting with the timing and location of shipping prices, check-out page language, and even colors may help you find a perfect combination that reduces cart abandonment and encourages more visitors to finish the checkout process. A/B testing is the most effective technique to remove guessing in the search for the ideal combination.
10. Increased Sales
Finally, we’ve arrived at the most crucial benefit A/B testing may bring for your eCommerce website: greater revenue! Fewer bounce rates, higher customer engagement, higher customer conversion, and the other benefits outlined above all lead to improved sales volume for your business.
What Can You Put to the Test?
The goal of A/B testing is to eliminate consumer pain points. When you can minimize friction from the buying process, your chances of conversion improve dramatically.
Here are some popular A/B testing ideas for your own eCommerce website:
- Various page layouts.
- The landing page and the home page.
- Product pages, category pages, and product descriptions are all available.
- Posts to social networks.
- Examples of social proof, reviews, and comments from other people.
- Pop-ups.
- Repositioning the CTA button
- Product images and photos for a website.
- Push-based notifications.
- SEO techniques include meta descriptions and the number of times a keyword is used.
The great thing about A/B testing is that you can work through each of these areas in a methodical way, improving each one gradually and consistently to boost conversions.
Some Examples of A/B Testing
There are many different kinds of A/B tests. Here are some common A/B test situations that you might run into as part of a program to improve something.
- A/B Testing of how to get around
The goal of this test example is to see if people can find their way around a site and get to the checkout faster if the menu is at the top level instead of in a drop-down menu. You could also see if a “tag & filter” system (like the filtering tool on Amazon) or a standard navigation system makes it easier for buyers to find the right product.
- Product detail pages A/B test
You can use this test to see if the number of people who click “Add to Cart” changes if you put more information about the product higher on the page. You can also try out different titles, photos, and messages about the stock status of your products.
- A/B testing for forms
The goal of this test is to find out if potential customers are more likely to fill out a form with fewer fields and easier placeholder text. You could also see if customers are more likely to fill out the form early in the buying process or later.
- Test of the checkout process
If you want your customer to buy something, you should make the checkout process as easy as possible. This is why A/B testing is so important.
A checkout process test will help you figure out whether a simple checkout with multiple pages or a checkout with only one page will lead to more sales. You could also combine several small steps in the checkout process or use breadcrumbs to let your customers know what to do next.
When conducting A/B tests, make sure you use the appropriate software.
In order to conduct A/B testing, you will need a few different tools. There are many different ones, but the most common ones are Optimizely, VWO, and Google Optimize.
Every one of them comes equipped with a comprehensive array of A/B testing characteristics, such as the speed with which tests may be put up, the capacity to evaluate outcomes, the capacity to examine heatmaps of websites, and a great deal more.
A/B testing is, without a doubt, among the most effective and efficient strategies to assist in the expansion of an eCommerce business. You don’t have to speculate about what your consumer wants because A/B testing will tell you exactly what they want. The process of determining what will result in customer conversions no longer requires any element of guesswork, thanks to this.
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