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A curated list of AB test examples. See what works.
Experimentation leads to success. Luckily, you can accelerate your results learning from successful AB test examples.
Below, we've organized samples from top eCommerce companies by ab test type, including customer acquisition, conversion optimization, and customer retention strategies. And, they prove that applying an experiment driven process leads to constantly better, personalized customer experiences.
Let's begin!
Customer acquisition AB test examples
New channel exploration by Missguided
The best opportunities change. As channels become saturated, eCommece stores need to seek out new channels to reach lower CPC costs.
One of the more complete omni-channel strategies I've seen came from Missguided. The challenge was how to drive awareness for their core demographic of under 25 year old female shoppers.
Up to this point, Instagram was the primary channel for Missguided. Their target demographic immersed themselves in the platform.
The team at Missguided looked for similar engagement metrics and found a fantastic opportunity in the show Love Island.
What made the partnership interesting is the fact that the show already had an app where viewers were highly engaged. Missguided provided clothing on the show and viewers were able to but the items. During the partnership - sales popped 40%!
“Where we communicate will evolve because technology will evolve quicker than the people who use it.” - Kenyatte Nelson, Chief Customer Officer, Missguided
To maximize conversions, Missguided executed a number of tests. One success was limited time promotional codes that started at the show's air and ended that night at midnight.
They also experimented with shoppable instagram stories, individual posts and more.
Landing page AB test examples
Landing pages are excellent opportunities for AB tests. These pages are seen by the largest number of potential customers.
Long form vs short form copy ab test by GrooveHQ
GrooveHQ wrote an excellent write up on how they grew conversions by 100% on their blog here.
In short, GrooveHQ knew their old landing page wasn't performing well. After asking for feedback, it became clear that their messaging was unclear.
So, through a series of conversations with customers they identified what mattered - and put it in a long form landing page.
Importantly, they didn't just setup a single test. They identified five messages to use as a headline, and tweaked the new design as they received more and more data.
Creating personalized experiences for new visitors by Hydro Flask
Hydro Flask was acquired in 2016 for $210 million. Their continued success is driven, in part, by their ability to create personal experiences driven by ab tests.
In an interview conducted by Personalization Pioneer series, Robbie Williams shared how the company uses AB testing to optimize customer touch points.
“...if someone visits our site right after they made a purchase, than I want to surface support functions and track my order functions” - Robbie Williams, Director DTC Ecommerce
One success they found was implementing a full screen pop-up for first time visitors. They offer "Free Ground Shipping" in exchange for an email address.
Shipping offer threshold ab test by Hydro Flask
Free shipping has established itself as an excellent offer for both new and returning customers.
It presents a financial incentive to potential customers without diluting your brand. Further, unexpected shipping costs are the leading cause of shopping cart abandonment.
Hydro Flask has experimented with the proper threshold for their free shipping offer.
Here is their offer in 2019.
Here they are offering free shipping on any order above $60.
The offer is presented twice. First, through a personal navigation bar dynamically inserted above the primary navigation bar. Second, it is placed in the bottom border below their hero image.
A year later, the offer has charged dramatically.
Instead of the $60 hurdle, customers now only need to spend $30 to unlock free shipping.
Additionally, the placement has changed.
The message bar is now inline with their navigation. Additionally, instead of the offer being inline, they present a second offer for free ground shipping in exchange for mobile signup.
Multistep vs mega menu navigation by Hydro Flask
Navigation is a key touchpoint in your customer journey. Customers want to navigate quickly. By removing friction and ensuring clarity, eCommerce stores can greatly improve their customer's experience.
Unfortunately, navigation is quite tricky. As we will see, even a relatively small number of SKUs can present opportunities to improve.
Below is an image of Hydro Flask's navigation in 2019. Here they chose a mega bar form factor that expands whenever you click "shop" from the main navigation bar.
By 2020, the navigation bar has changed significantly.
Instead of the mega menu expanding immediately, customers are presented with a second navigation bar featuring their top level categories.
The bar is dynamic, and as you hover over any of the category names a fuller mega menu is expanded with direct links to their product catalogue.
Retention based AB testing examples
Lowering customer churn is a powerful way to drive eCommerce profits. Below are AB tests focused on retention.
Targeting "rising star" segment for repeat purchase by Missguided
Misguided is a fast fashion retailer that has seen exceptional growth.
There have been a few write ups which give insights into how the brand wins visitors and transforms them into VIP customers. As reported here, Missguided uses behavioral segmentation to identify "rising stars" based on number of site visits and purchases.
They are then offered exclusive deals to drive further purchases and move them into their VIP segment.
Next steps...
AB testing can be hard.
But, with the right personalization software, it becomes much, much easier.
We put together a quick guide to help eCommerce stores select a personalization vendor. Check it out here.
And, if you'd like to see if Barilliance is the right partner for you, request a demo here.
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