- Goals:
- Increase conversion rates for HandicappedPets’ flagship product—Walkin’ Wheels dog wheelchairs
- Solution:
- Craft copy that tells a story and creates a personal connection between the shopper and the site
- Maintain the shopper’s focus by making UX adjustments
- Use our understanding of consumer psychology to address the shopper’s negativity bias and status quo bias
- Results:
- Significant increase in conversion rates for shoppers on the target page
- Significant increase in revenue generated on this page
At Frictionless Commerce, there’s nothing we love more than working with a client who makes a positive difference in the world. As manufacturers of dog (and other small pet) wheelchairs since 2001, HandicappedPets perfectly embodies that type of client.
Their products have great importance as they allow families to improve the lives of their disabled pets and avoid euthanasia. As they say on their site, they “believe that our aging, disabled, and injured pets are family and deserve to live happy healthy lives.”
Backstory
When reviewing HandicappedPets’ analytics, we saw something that raised our eyebrows. The behavior flow revealed that shoppers were often navigating from the homepage to the dog wheelchairs category page. From the dog wheelchairs category page, they would navigate to the “rear dog wheelchair” page, then back to the category page, then back to the “rear dog wheelchair” page.
This was an immediate signal to us that the category page was a point of friction for the shopper. This, compounded by the fact that this page receives the highest traffic volumes each month, let us know that the category page was a top priority.
Our Hypothesis
We believed we could produce at least a 10% lift in conversion rates if we: 1) crafted a story for the company and product to separate them from the competition, 2) restructured the page so that the most important details were mentioned first, and 3) moved the FAQ section higher on the page to answer shoppers’ questions much earlier.
Test Concept
To test our hypothesis, we crafted two concepts. To orient yourself, first take a look at the control page that we worked on:
Variation 1
First, we moved all the content on the page down to make room for a new section.
Here’s the section we added:
You’ll notice at the bottom of this section we also added a button that says “Why buy from us?”
This is a simple question that almost 0% of businesses answer on their sites. But when answered correctly, it can be the difference between an on-the-fence shopper abandoning the site or making an order.
This is what we show shoppers who click on “Why buy from us?”:
Lastly, we structured the content below the fold in what we believed was a more logical way to tell the shopper about HandicappedPets’ dog wheelchairs:
- We’ve placed the “Veterinarian Approved” section first to confirm to the shopper that this product will meet their dog’s needs.
- We’ve placed the FAQ section at the top of the page to address the shopper’s questions and concerns as early as possible.
- We’ve placed the shipping section last, as that is the least important piece of information for the shopper when they are first learning about a product.
Variation 2
Variation 2 is the same as Variation 1 apart from one difference: instead of showing the full page by default, we hid all the below the fold content behind a call to action. See below:
When the shopper clicks on “SEE PRODUCTS & DETAILS”, they will then see all the content we showed you in Variation 1.
What was our goal here? We wanted to do two things: 1) We wanted to ensure that all users saw the new copy we added, and 2) We wanted to reduce the shopper’s cognitive load by allowing the shopper to focus on our copy first, then select when they were ready to see the products and details.
Results
Our primary conversion goal—the one we’d use to determine a test winner—was to see a 10% lift in completed orders at 95% confidence. Due to the traffic on this page, we had to run the test a bit longer than usual—approximately 6 weeks.
The results were even better than we had anticipated. After running the test for 6 weeks, both variations significantly outperformed the control’s baseline metrics.
The conversion rate for the control was 4.67%. Variation 1 saw a 22.65% lift for a conversion rate of 5.72%.
Variation 2, however, saw a 38.86% lift for a conversion rate of 6.48% at 98% confidence.
Furthermore, Variation 2 resulted in a 49.87% increase in revenue per visitor at 95% confidence.
The results of our click tracking goals confirmed our intuition for Variation 2—that more people would engage with the original copy and “Why buy from us?” button we added if we hid the below the fold content by default
In Variation 1, 2.53% of shoppers clicked on the “Why buy from us?” button. In Variation 2, however, the number was 5.94% (2.35x higher).
Why Our Concept Won
Our concept narrowed the focus of the shopper and strategically inserted "good friction" (friction that slows the shopper down so that they see our content) to encourage the shopper to read our message. Our message contains information that allows the shopper to see the value in the company and connect with it on a more personal level: they can see the origin story and the faces of those behind the business.
These are details that are typically located in low-visibility areas of a site (the About Us/Our Story page, usually found in the page footer). By bringing them to the shopper instead of relying on them to find it themselves, we've increased conversions.
- Goals:
- Address the issue of shoppers not knowing what makes Connecting Threads special and, as a result, increase conversion rates across all product pages
- Solution:
- Craft a call to action and lightbox window message that tells a story, provides social proof, and provides assurance to make the shopper comfortable with their potential purchase
- Results:
- Increase in conversion rates across all product pages
- Increase in revenue across all product pages
Connecting Threads is one of the top online quilting stores in the world. What makes them even more special is that their foundation is a team of actual quilters. Why does this matter? Well, here’s a question for you: would you rather buy a car from someone who has a license or from someone who’s never driven in their life?
We’re willing to bet you’d prefer the first option because you would feel a greater sense of assurance.
Backstory
More often than not, a site’s “About Us” or “Our Story” content is a big conversion booster. For Connecting Threads, we saw that users who visited their About Us page had a conversion rate 186% higher than the site’s average conversion rate. Although it may surprise you, that number is actually lower than it is for many sites. But this number still tells us that shoppers who learn about the company convert better.
Our goal then became to figure out how we can reach as many new visitors as possible with information about Connecting Threads—information about what makes Connecting Threads the best choice for quilting supplies.
We concluded that targeting every product page would be the best way to reach the most shoppers (who have at least a bit of purchase intent).
Our Hypothesis
We believed that we could drive at least a $10,000 lift in sales within 4 weeks across all product pages if we: 1) created a compelling call to action near the ‘Add to Cart’ button, and 2) created a lightbox window that appears after clicking the call to action and provides the shopper with information about who Connecting Threads is. Shoppers want to know who they’re buying from and why they shouldn’t buy elsewhere.
Test Concept
To test our hypothesis, we created two concepts with the goal of testing 2 call to action designs and 2 different messages. To orient yourself, first take a look at the control page that we worked on:
Variation 1
For both Variation 1 and Variation 2, we added a call to action just below the product price and above the ‘Add to Cart’ button. This call to action is strategically placed: shopper’s eyes naturally move to the product price when on a product page, so we placed our call to action close by.
This is the call to action for Variation 1:
Once clicked, shoppers were shown this lightbox window:
Variation 2
For Variation 2, we tested a more subtle call to action design (i.e. no gradient effect). See below:
As for the copy, we wanted to lead in with social proof to create more trust in the shopper. Once the call to action was clicked, shoppers were shown the following lightbox window:
Results
The testing tool we use is Visual Website Optimizer, which allows us to set up click tracking goals. For this A/B test (or A/B/C test, rather), we targeted mobile and desktop traffic and we set up 1 click tracking goal: clicks on the calls to action for Variation 1 and Variation 2.
Our primary goal for this test was reaching at least a 5% lift in revenue on one variation with at least 95% confidence. Due to Connecting Threads’ high traffic and transaction rate, we were able to see results within a 4-week test period (which is ideal).
After 4 weeks, we were able to reach and exceed our primary goal of a 5% lift in revenue on Variation 2. Variation 2 resulted in a 6.90% lift in revenue across all product pages at 97% confidence:
Additionally, Variation 2 had 3.29% lift in conversion rates at 91% confidence:
But the potential for Variation 2 was much higher than what we saw. Why? Despite outperforming both the control/baseline and Variation 1, Variation 2’s call to action performed 2.2x worse than Variation 1’s call to action:
In other words, with Variation 1’s call to action design, Variation 2 would have likely seen even better results due to 2.2x as many people seeing its lightbox window messaging.
Why Our Concept Won
Our concept provided additional points of assurance in a strategic location to provide shoppers with the confidence to move forward with adding a product to their cart. Our messaging has been placed by the product price in an attempt to show the shoppers the value of buying from Connecting Threads vs the competition.
In our lightbox window messaging, we talk about how big the Connecting Threads community is, how long they've been in business, and how many customers they've served to provide multiple points of assurance. More importantly, we've allowed the shopper to connect with the site on a much more personal level by mentioning that Connecting Threads is composed of quilters who have shared the shopper's experiences.
- Goals:
- Increase revenue by at least 5.85% on the cart page
- Solution:
- Craft original copy that informs the shopper about what makes True Leaf Market special in the industry to instill trust in the shopper and the confidence to complete their order
- Results:
- Increase in completed orders and revenue generated on the cart page
True Leaf Market is one of the top online stores for seeds. They’ve worked diligently over the past couple decades to streamline the seed shipping process, and their customers are always surprised to see how quickly their seeds arrive. True Leaf Market’s focus on making life easier for their customers was something we felt needed to be included on their cart page.
Backstory
The cart page is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s the page that has the highest purchase intent (before the checkout pages). On the other hand, it’s a page that we’re always battling with to lower the drop off rate.
This was the same battle we walked into with True Leaf Market. How could we encourage more shoppers to click ‘Checkout’ while on the cart page and complete their order? Was there something missing from the pitch True Leaf Market made on the rest of the site that could give shoppers the confidence to move forward on the cart page?
Our Hypothesis
True Leaf Market is unique in their industry. They’re able to ship seeds, even in large quantities, much quicker than other online seed stores. And they haven’t had to sacrifice quality to do so.
We felt that this information needed to be understood by everyone on the cart page. Our hypothesis was that if we could educate the shopper on True Leaf Market just one more time before the checkout pages, we could drive more shoppers to click ‘Checkout’ and complete their orders.
Test Concept
To test our hypothesis, we created a concept that included two sections of original copy. We also made some other minor changes throughout the page, but our primary focus was this copy. Likewise, that will be our primary focus for this case study.
Variation 1
For our test variation, we first added original copy and a team photo under the “Shopping Cart” page heading:
We then removed the following icons from the Control:
And replaced those icons with original copy:
For mobile users, we hid this second section of copy behind a call to action:
Results
For this A/B test, we targeted mobile and desktop traffic. As with all our A/B tests, we used Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) to split our traffic and track our data.
Our primary goal for this test was reaching at least a 5.85% lift in revenue with at least 95% confidence.
After 6 weeks, we were able to reach and exceed our primary goal of a 5.85% lift in revenue. Variation 1 resulted in a 6.72% lift in revenue on the cart page with 95% confidence:
Why Our Concept Won
Our concept increased the visibility of multiple points of assurance that were located elsewhere on the site in low-visibility areas (the Return/Refund Policy, Our Story, and Shipping pages — all typically found in a page footer). We strategically placed these points of assurance on the cart page because, believe it or not (although the data speaks for itself), details such as how long the company has been in business, how many customers they've served, how quickly they ship, and guarantees can provide shoppers with the confidence needed to make a purchase.
- Goals:
- Improve the shopper’s experience on the category pages and drive more traffic into the product pages
- Solution:
- Modify the category page layout and remove unnecessary content
- Increase the visibility of the Filter button
- Inform shoppers about where Oliver Cabell’s products are made
- Results:
- Increase in traffic to product pages
- 12.5% lift in revenue by category page traffic
Oliver Cabell is a premium shoe brand that has taken a direct-to-consumer approach. As a result, they’re able to provide high-quality sneakers, boots, and more at a much lower cost than other brands you may be familiar with.
Backstory
When it comes to category pages, there’s a constant struggle to help shoppers find the product they’re looking for and drive more traffic to the product pages (and from there to checkout). For Oliver Cabell, we noticed a few ways in which we could help mobile shoppers find the product they were looking for more quickly and streamline their journey to the checkout page. First, the Filter button was not very noticeable. Second, a large header image took up a lot of space (especially for mobile), preventing users from being able to immediately see the products. Lastly, the product images were larger than necessary. These are the issues we used to formulate our hypothesis.
Our Hypothesis
After noticing those potential issues above, we believed we could drive more traffic to the product pages, then checkout page, if we did the following: 1) removed the header image and increased the visibility of the Filter button, 2) modified the product layout so that shoppers could see more products at once (within reason).
Test Concept
For this test, we ran 3 variations. All 3 variations were the same apart from these differences: 1) Variations 1 and 3 contained different copy than Variation 2, and 2) Variation 3 used a two-column product layout whereas Variations 1 and 2 kept a single-column product layout.
Variation 3 was our winner, so we’ll focus on that concept below.
Variation 3
To help orient you, here is what the control looked like before our changes:
In Variation 3, we made 4 major changes:
- We removed the header image.
- We updated the Filter button so that it was more visible and more descriptive.
- We changed the product layout to a two-column layout.
- We added a fixed tab at the bottom of the screen that, on click, let’s shoppers know where Oliver Cabell’s shoes are made. The goal here is to provide a point of assurance for the shopper.
Here is our concept:
When the tab at the bottom of the screen is clicked, shoppers see this lightbox window:
Results
For this test, as with all our A/B tests, we used Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) to split our traffic and track our data.
Our primary goal for this test was to drive more traffic to the product pages. After running the test for 3 weeks, we were able to achieve that goal.
Variation 3 resulted in a 14.86% lift in traffic visiting the product pages at 100% confidence (additionally, there was a 5.49% increase in traffic to the checkout page):
Our concept also resulted in a 12.5% lift in revenue from category page traffic.
Why Our Concept Won
Our concept did a number of things that either improved the shopper’s experience or provided the shopper with assurance: 1) the concept increased the visibility of Oliver Cabell’s easy-to-use filter that helps shoppers narrow their search, 2) the concept allows the shopper to see more products at once without overwhelming them, and 3) the concept explains to the shopper that Oliver Cabell’s products are actually Italian made and that the company provides full transparency on their materials and pricing.
- Goals:
- Increase traffic to the checkout page by educating shoppers on the company’s business model and competitive pricing
- Solution:
- Add a call to action in a high-visibility area on the product pages that educates shoppers on the company’s business model and competitive pricing
- Results:
- A 21.77% and 12.46% increase in traffic to the checkout page for mobile and desktop users, respectively
- 11.06% lift in revenue by product page traffic
Oliver Cabell is a premium shoe brand that has taken a direct-to-consumer approach. As a result, they’re able to provide high-quality sneakers, boots, and more at a much lower cost than other brands you may be familiar with.
Backstory
At Frictionless Commerce, we love working with companies that have unique stories to tell. That is certainly the case with Oliver Cabell as well.
Here’s what we’ve seen on most sites in the world: they don’t share their special stories with as many users as possible.
That’s money left on the table because shoppers — because people — respond to stories.
For Oliver Cabell, we wanted to find a way to share their unique story with as many shoppers as possible in order to help them see the value in buying sneakers here instead of elsewhere. Given our past experience, we knew this could have a positive impact on conversions.
Our Hypothesis
We believed that if we could share Oliver Cabell’s story on all product pages in a visible, but not distracting way, then we could see a lift in traffic visiting the checkout page and a lift in revenue.
Test Concept
For this test, we ran two variations: Variation 1 on desktop traffic and Variation 2 on mobile traffic. We had previously launched a version of this test where all traffic saw both variations, but we saw early on that desktop traffic responded well to one variation while mobile traffic responded well to the other variation. After that realization, we relaunched the test showing one variation to each device category.
To help orient you, here is what the control looked like before our changes:
Variation 1
For desktop users, we hid the “Traditional Retail” section and replaced it with our “WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?” call to action:
On click, we showed this lightbox window:
In this lightbox window, we’re showing shoppers why Oliver Cabell was founded and how their prices compare to the competition.
Variation 2
For mobile users, we placed our call to action below the “Traditional Retail” section:
On click, we showed this lightbox window:
This variation is a bit more visual and slightly less copy-heavy for mobile users, who are confined to a smaller screen.
Results
For this test, as with all our A/B tests, we used Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) to split our traffic and track our data.
Our primary goal for this test was to drive more traffic to the checkout page. For both variations, we achieved this goal.
After 3 weeks of testing, Variation 1 (desktop users) resulted in a 12.46% lift in traffic to the checkout page:
Variation 2 (mobile users) resulted in a 21.77% lift in traffic to the checkout page:
Additionally, these two variations resulted in an 11.06% lift in revenue from product page traffic.
Why Our Concept Won
Our concept increased the visibility of Oliver Cabell’s unique story. As we said earlier, stories resonate well with shoppers (and people in general). Shoppers want to know what separates you from the competition. By telling them on the product pages, we’ve provided shoppers with a point of assurance that gives them the confidence to place an order.