A/B Testing and Optimization

Conversion optimization and A/B testing are two ways for companies to increase profits. Their promise is a simple one: generate more revenues with the same amount of traffic. In light of high acquisition costs and complex traffic sources, why not start by getting the most out of your current traffic?

Surprisingly, average conversion rates for e-commerce sites continue to hover between 1% and 3%. Why? Because conversion is a complex mechanism that depends on a number of factors. This includes things like the quality of traffic generated, user experience, offer quality, the website’s reputation, as well as what the competition is doing. E-commerce professionals will naturally aim to minimize any negative impact the interplay of the above elements might have on consumers along the buyer journey.

A variety of methods exist to help them achieve this, including A/B testing, a discipline that uses data to help you make the best decisions. A/B testing is useful to establish a broader conversion optimization strategy, but it is by no means sufficient all on its own. An A/B testing solution lets you statistically validate certain hypotheses, but alone, it cannot give you a sophisticated understanding of user behavior.

However, understanding user behavior is certainly key to understanding problems with conversion. Therefore, it’s essential to enrich A/B testing with information provided by other means. This will allow you to gain a fuller understanding of your users, and crucially, help you come up with hypotheses to test. There are many sources of information you can use to gain this fuller picture:

• Web analytics data. Although this data does not explain user behavior, it may bring conversion problems to the fore (e.g. identifying shopping cart abandonment). It can also help you decide which pages to test first.
• Ergonomics evaluation. These analyses make it possible to inexpensively understand how a user experiences your website.
• User test. Though limited by sample size constraints, user testing can provide a myriad of information not otherwise available using quantitative methods.
• Heatmap and session recording. These methods offer visibility on the way that users interact with elements on a page or between pages.
• Client feedback. Companies collect large amounts of feedback from their clients (e.g. opinions listed on the site, questions for customer service). Their analysis can be completed by customer satisfaction surveys or live chats.