Biometric research, session recordings, heatmaps, and customer surveys indicated that users were having difficulty finding the right product on this eCommerce website. Category pages led into sub-category pages that led into PLPs that eventually led to the PDPs.
Analytics data showed that the sub-category page had a high exit rate. Another problem we found on the page was that it was cluttered with promotional material and too many CTAs, all of which distracted and confused the visitor.
Hypothesis and Psychological Technique Applied
We decided to introduce Cognitive Ease into the customer journey on the website by reducing the Extrinsic Cognitive Load being placed on the visitor.
After much discussion, we decided to remove the sub-category page altogether and send visitors straight from the category page to the PLP. We believed this would improve the search experience and help the visitor find the product that is right for them.
Experiment
We removed the sub-category page step from the customer journey.
Control 1
Control 2
Variation
Results
From the observed data, we were able to see that the Variation showed a high probability of being better than the Control.
Learnings
Optimisation is about removing obstacles from customer journey, even if it means removing a whole page type. When customers are on their research scent trail, you need to help them find what they want as quickly as possible. On this occasion, removing the sub-category page did this.
Download our CRO Experimentation Handbook
Want to read about our other experiments? The Experimentation Handbook is a collection of case studies of some of our best optimisation experiments, with details of the research, design variations, and consumer psychology principles used.
How experimentation helped Hotter Shoes delight their customers
Learn how Endless Gain and Kibo Personalization (previously Monetate) helped Hotter.com create enjoyable customer experiences and increase user conversion rates through experimentation.
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