2. What is A/B Testing?
∗A/B testing (sometimes called split testing) is
comparing two versions of a web page to see which
one performs better. You compare two web pages
by showing the two variants (let's call them A and B)
to similar visitors at the same time. The one that
gives a better conversion rate wins!
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
4. What Can You Test?
∗Almost anything on your website that affects visitor behavior
can be A/B tested. Some elements that you can easily test are:
1. Headlines
2. Sub headlines
3. Paragraph Text
4. Testimonials
5. Call to Action text
6. Call to Action Button
7. Links
8. Images
9. Content near the fold
10. Social proof
11. Media mentions
12. Awards and badges
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
5. Areas To A/B Test For E-Commerce Websites:
∗Why A/B testing is so important for e-commerce
websites is because their conversion goal is not
some indirect metric such as leads or downloads but
a direct sale.
∗They can measure impact of the changes they do
directly in terms of revenue. If tweaking some
element on website increases average order value or
revenue per visitor, it gives a direct push to
company’s bottom-line
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
6. Testing Area #1: Call-to-Action Buttons
∗The buy now button (or call-to-action button as it is
often called) is perhaps the most important element
that an e-commerce website should be testing.
There are various reasons why your existing buy now
button may not be working well.
∗Button color and size: Larger and brighter generally
works better. See this case study where red colored
link increased conversions by 53%
∗Button placement: TaylorGifts increased clicks on
the button by 10% simply by bringing add-to-cart
button and pricing closer
∗Button text: RIPT Apparel, an online clothing store,
increased sales by 6.3% simply by changing text on
their buttons to convey limited time offers
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
7. Testing Area #2: Pricing, Discounts or Shipping Strategies
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
8. ∗ Various pricing strategies can be tested to motivate the
prospective window-shopper to complete a successful sale.
Even though testing pricing is hard and risky, there are
ways to do it right. If you setup your price test correctly, you can
gain a lot of insight into your visitor behavior.
∗ For example, you can test ideas such as:
∗ Ending prices with .95, .97 or .99: there are various primers on
psychological testing that you can read and accordingly test on
your website.
∗ Design of pricing box: the way you show pricing can have a lot
of impact. Is it to the left of product image or is it to the right? Is
it closer to add-to-cart button? Do you have money back
guarantee written next to your pricing?
∗
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
9. You can also test your discount or shipping strategies.
∗For example, SmileyCookie, an online cookie store, found out
that their customer don’t care as much about free shipping or
discounts, as they care about next-day shipping. In fact, just by
changing the policy that they display on al pages, they
managed to increase sales by 41%.
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
10. ∗ Testing Area #3: Product Display & Search Results
∗ Which products to show on homepage? In a
particular category, do you show bestsellers or do
you show newest products? Which product
categories to show in the menu? These are some of
the questions that you can answer via A/B testing.
∗ Visitors respond to different products differently
and as a marketer it is incredibly hard to guess
which mix of products will produce maximum
revenue. If you think you know it all and your e-
commerce website has right product mix, read this
case study on Mobal, who increased total sales by
27% just by adding a new product to the mix.
∗ Similarly, you can test the
default order of search results or number of search
results to show. You can even test whether product
recommendations increases revenue (by making
them purchase more) or decreases revenue (by
confusing them with too many choices).
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
11. Testing Area #4: Product Display & Search Results
∗Visitors are so close to making the purchase, yet they
sometimes abandon their shopping on the checkout page.
∗It is like going to a supermarket, adding products and then
dragging the cart towards the payment counter before
simply running away towards the exit gate deciding not to
purchase the stuff.
∗Various ideas that e-commerce websites can use to A/B
test on checkout page are:
∗Including or excluding a trust seal/badge. Slideshop added
a trust badge and increased sales by 15%, while ICouponBlog
removed a trust badge and increased conversions. This
shows there is no definite answer and you must A/B test.
∗Removing unnecessary input fields and providing
overview of order. That’s exactly what ReplaceDirect tested
on their checkout page and they successfully decreased
cart abandonments by 25%
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
12. 10 A/B Testing Tools for Small Businesses:
∗Google Analytics Content Experiments
∗Optimizely
∗Unbounce
∗Visual Website Optimizer
∗Genetify
∗Convert
∗Vanity
∗Vertster
∗A/Bingo
∗Five Second Test
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
13. ∗ Conclusion:
∗ If you want your E-commerce website to reach its full
potential you should try A/B testing to enhance its
design and overall usability. The potential for
improvement is vast, and testing these elements will
provide clues as to how your customers perceive your
brand. The result may have a dramatic impact on your
bottom line, so get into the habit of testing regularly.
A/B TESTING IN E-COMMERCE
