#WebClinic

Accordion-Style Checkouts Tested:How one company uncovered 26% more conversions by putting its checkout process to the test

#WebClinic

We’re sharing on Twitter!#WebClinic

#WebClinic

Today’s Team

@jonpowell31

Jon PowellSenior Manager Research and StrategyMECLABS

Market research practitioner with 6+ years of hands-on discovery gained through managing hundreds of A/B and multivariate tests for ecommerce, healthcare, financial, and education Research Partners.

#WebClinic

Checkout Optimization StudiedShopping cart or

subscription

When compared, shopping carts are rated as a top priority for optimization.

#WebClinic

Checkout Optimization StudiedShopping cart or

subscription process

Shopping cart optimization ALSO appears to be rated as most difficult, typically due to implementation costs or constraints.

The conclusion often is to seek technology that can optimize the user experience. But does this really help?

#WebClinic

The Accordion-Style Checkout

Once a user clicks continue, step 2 expands and step 1 contracts

As the user progresses, they see only summary of what they completed and the next immediate step

#WebClinic

Today’s Focus

To understand how accordion-style checkouts perform as an optimization tactic through a series of three

major experiments.

#WebClinic

Experiment #1

#WebClinic

Experiment #1: Background

Background: National news publication selling subscriptions

Goal: To increase home delivery subscription rate

Research Question: Which treatment will generate the highest home delivery subscription rate?

Test Design: A/B variable cluster test

Experiment ID: TP1666Record Location: MECLABS Research LibraryResearch Partner: [Protected]

#WebClinic

Experiment #1: Checkout A• In Checkout A, all necessary steps are presented in a stacked, linear style between multiple pages

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

#WebClinic

Experiment #1: Checkout BPage 1

• In Checkout B, all necessary steps are presented on a single page in an accordion style, expanding and contracting upon individual step completion

• Credibility and satisfaction indicators are also added on Delivery and Billing steps to help mitigate anxiety

#WebClinic

Experiment #1: Side-by-Side

Page 1 Page 2

Page 3

Page 1

Version A Version B

#WebClinic

Experiment #1: Results

Conv. Rate % Rel. Change Stat. Conf.

Version A 3.81% --

Version B 2.70% -29.1%

Relative Decrease in Conversion Rate Version B’s content decreased the rate of conversion by 29.1%

29%

! What You Need to Understand: By changing the presentation of required information input, the result was 29% less completed conversions compared to Version A.

99%

#WebClinic

Accordion Checkouts Tested

To This

Protocol ID: TP1737

From This

No DifferenceWith Statistical SignificanceX

#WebClinic

Accordion Checkouts TestedTo This

Protocol ID: TP1491

From This

No DifferenceWith Statistical SignificanceX

#WebClinic

Accordion Checkouts TestedTo This

Protocol ID: TP1599

From This

No DifferenceWith Statistical SignificanceX

#WebClinic

Accordion Carts Tested

Why did the accordion-style checkout implementation fail to pay for itself?

#WebClinic

Experiment #2

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Background

Background: National news publication selling subscriptions

Goal: To increase home delivery subscription rate

Research Question: Which treatment will generate the highest home delivery subscription rate?

Test Design: A/B variable cluster test

Experiment ID: TP1740Record Location: MECLABS Research LibraryResearch Partner: [Protected]

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Checkout Page A

• Checkout Page A retains all of the standard checkout presentation factors from the previous test

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Checkout Page B• Checkout page B makes a different set of

adjustments:

• Copy and image tweaks to re-emphasize the value proposition previously stated

• Savings are re-emphasized, lines around information are removed, and header fonts increased

• Call-to-action re-aligned, re-colored, re-written emphasizing the next step of the process

• Similar to experiment 1, credibility and satisfaction indicators are added

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Side-by-SideVersion A Version B

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Results

Conv. Rate % Rel. Change Stat. Conf.

Version A 1.89% --

Version B (small changes) 2.34% 23.6%

Relative Increase in Conversion Rate Version B’s content decreased the rate of conversion by 29.1%

24%

! What You Need to Understand: By making small changes in the way the page communicated, our analysts were able to produce a 26.3% relative increase in completed conversions.

99%

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Results

Why did small changes in the way the page communicated produce a significant yield?

#WebClinic

Experiment #2: Why Version B Won

• The copy and image changes provide a reminder of value to weigh directly against the immediate cost they are processing.

• Box removal and font changes allow the page to minimize mental stops in the mind that might stimulate over-thinking.

• The call-to-action is written to propel micro-yes momentum to a page they believe will help them make a fully-informed, final decision.

#WebClinic

Like This…

To This

Protocol ID: TP1368

From This

12%Increase in Revenue

#WebClinic

And This…

To This

Protocol ID: TP1070

From This

11.6%Increase in Revenue

#WebClinic

Experiment #3

#WebClinic

Experiment #3: Background

Background: National news publication selling subscriptions

Goal: To increase home delivery subscription rate

Research Question: Which treatment will generate the highest home delivery subscription rate?

Test Design: A/B variable cluster test

Experiment ID: TP1789Record Location: MECLABS Research LibraryResearch Partner: [Protected]

#WebClinic

Experiment #3: Checkout A• Checkout A retains all of the standard checkout presentation factors from the previous winning control process

Page 1 Page 2

#WebClinic

Experiment #3: Checkout B• Checkout B simply splits each section of content from the winning control into its own page and adds a step-

indicator graphic

Page 2Page 1 Page 3 Page 4

#WebClinic

Experiment #3: Side-by-Side

Version B

Page 2Page 1 Page 3 Page 4

Version A

Page 2Page 1

#WebClinic

Experiment #3: Results

Conv. Rate % Rel. Change Stat. Conf.

Version A (2 pages) 6.72% --

Version B (4 pages) 7.68% 14.3%

with Statistical SignificanceVersion B’s checkout did not perform statistically better compared to Version A

No Difference

! What You Need to Understand: Splitting the cart into additional pages would not guarantee a return on the time and cost required for a full implementation.

54%

X

#WebClinic

Accordion Checkouts Tested

1. The goal is not to impress the customer; the goal is to enable the customer.

2. A significant “improvement” in your checkout process doesn’t guarantee a significant improvement in the mind of the visitor.

3. An investment in cart technology should yield a new flexibility that enables the marketer to better appeal to a customer’s thought sequence.

FKey Learnings

#WebClinic

Live OptimizationShopping Carts

#WebClinic

#WebClinic

Live Optimization

Primary Audience: Sunglass wearersPrimary Objective: B2C product sales

GO Gooden’s Optical

http://bit.ly/15OwzqX

#WebClinic

Live Optimization

Primary Audience: Safety enforcement departmentsPrimary Objective: B2B sales

Emedco

http://bit.ly/188vqKE

#WebClinic

Live Optimization

Primary Audience: Online consumer shoppersPrimary Objective: B2C product sales

FactoryOutletStore.com

http://bit.ly/1ezPZke

#WebClinic

Live Optimization

Primary Audience: Users interested in learning a new languagePrimary Objective: Product sales

Rosetta Stone

http://bit.ly/1fCs0yx

#WebClinic

Live Optimization

Primary Audience: GolfersPrimary Objective: B2C product sales

Align-a-shot

http://bit.ly/17SAnYa