A/B Testing Your Ecommerce Store

By now, you’re probably familiar with the benefits of A/B testing your ecommerce store. Put something out there, see how people respond to it, then run a variation of it to see if consumers react more favorably.

If
they do, keep it. If they don’t, try something else until you find the thing
that works the absolute best. While this methodology works for pretty much
everything, certain aspects of your site lend themselves more readily to the
process.

Here
are some of them.

Calls to Action

You
can test many different variables here. These include color, placement, size,
copy, nature of the offer, time limits and the value of the product in
question. The good news is there are a number of best practices to
follow in this regard, so your baseline has the potential to be quite strong
right out of the gate. Within that, you can run tests to see if your audience
responds more enthusiastically to certain trigger words such as ‘free”. Some
tests have shown using the phrase “Buy Now” leads shoppers to believe they’ll
be charged the moment they click the button, which tends to dissuade engagement.

Product Descriptions

While
it’s universally agreed product descriptions should focus more on benefits than
features, there are a number of variations with which you can experiment. Try
different writing styles. Use bullet points and infographics. Experiment with value
propositions in headlines to see if they’ll pull more effectively. Page length
can make a difference too. Here, you’re likely to find shorter pages do better
in mobile, while desktop users want more information. A/B testing can help you
find an optimal length, so you can avoid the need to produce separate versions
for each platform.

Images

Here again, even though there are universally recognized best practices, you do have room within them to fine tune. A/B testing can help you accomplish this. This is particularly true when your business lends itself freely to visual representation, such as if you sell cosmetics from home using a platform like Shopify.

Logic
says people will respond better when they see other people using the product.
But detail shots of the products are needed too. Try alternating the placement of those images to determine which strategy appeals to your customers more.

Also,
regarding cosmetics, keep in mind; people have a wide variety of skin tones.
Focusing on one ethnicity to the exclusion of all others could also hamper
sales. The only way to know for sure is to test.

Color Schemes

Ideally, you conducted some market analysis before you established your site to determine the nature of your ideal customer. This is key because colors hold varying appeal for different people.

Now,
with that said, there is an entire range of shades and combinations within each
color family you can deploy to best effect. You might also find different
colors work better for different purposes, such as using a green call to action
button as opposed to a red one.

Forms

Yes, there is a standard array of information you must collect to charge the customer for the purchase and ensure it arrives at their doorstep. Beyond that though, how much information do you really need? This is why every primer you’ll find on producing ecommerce forms recommends keeping them as short as possible.

However,
you can experiment with optional fields to see if they will get you more information,
so you can better personalize the customer’s experience. You should also
explain why you need certain data and to what use you will put it.

But will you get a better response if that copy is hidden until a user hovers over a field, or if it’s already visible? As you can see, there are a number of areas where A/B testing your ecommerce store will prove beneficial. Fortunately, there are many tools available to make conducting them easier. Implementing the results will have a positive effort.