In the competitive world of online retail, e-commerce conversion rate optimization is essential for survival—not just for pure digital entities but also for brands with physical storefronts. Typically, global e-commerce sites experience conversion rates ranging from 1-3%, contributing to only 22% of businesses feeling satisfied with their lead generation and online sales efforts. Whether you’re charting a successful course or seeking ways to boost your sales, there’s always room for improvement. Studying successful practices in e-commerce conversion rate optimization can provide actionable insights. In this post, we will delve into the top 10 conversion rate optimization case studies tailored for e-commerce platforms, offering practical tips to significantly enhance your returns.
First, let’s define what e-commerce conversion rate optimization truly involves.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Simply put, Conversion Rate Optimization refers to the process of increasing the percentage of traffic or visitors to your website who take the desired action.
For example, if 100 people visited your website and 1 person made a purchase, then your conversion rate would be 1%.
These actions can vary depending on your goals, but typically include:
- Creating an account
- Signing up as an email subscriber
- Downloading your free (or gated) resources
- Adding products to the cart
- Making a purchase
The more often your visitors complete a desired action, the better it is. However, this sounds simpler than it actually is; to get your ideal buyers to take the right actions at the right time, you have to optimize your entire conversion funnel.
This can be done through various strategies such as creating a better mobile user experience, providing detailed product information, shortening your checkout process, offering free shipping, etc., and A/B testing all aspects of your e-commerce store.
Here are 10 amazing conversion rate optimization case studies for e-commerce:
1.Walmart – Increased Conversions by 20%
Mobile optimization is no longer a choice for e-commerce retailers – it is a necessity since 52.2% of all site traffic from around the world is generated through phones.
This is why the retail giant, Walmart Canada, observed a 20% increase in conversions after it made the shopping and browsing experience faster and more responsive for mobile customers.
Specifically, its mobile orders increased by 98%!
2.Edible Arrangements – 8% Surge in Same Day Sales
Edible Arrangements, an online store that sells chocolate dipped fruit, bouquets and more, managed to increase its same-day sales by 8% – by only changing the location and size of the offer.
This is a prime example of how focused e-commerce conversion rate optimization can yield significant results without introducing new products.
The lesson here is that you don’t need a new product; look for products and services that don’t sell well and increase their visibility.
For example, the store already had a same-day delivery option but not many customers opted for it as the offer wasn’t very visible. To educate its audience, Edible Arrangements created a large banner with the offer and positioned it prominently on the homepage.
3.Jabra – Increased Sales by Over 76%
Jabra, a headphone and speaker business, conducted a survey and discovered that most of their visitors left without purchasing due to concerns about the comfort and fit of the products.
The company reworked its homepage banner to address these concerns and highlight how its products have superior staying power. Additionally, it also added a review section and published quotes from trusted sources like Techradar on product pages to increase trust.
As a result, the brand managed to increase its sales by 76.92%.
Through these changes, Jabra successfully implemented e-commerce conversion rate optimization, significantly boosting their conversion rates.
Source: Jabra
4.Merchology – 40% Increase in Mobile Conversions
According to a report by Forrester Research, “By 2021, mobile devices alone will influence $1.4 trillion in local [retail] sales.”
Keeping this in view, the fashion e-commerce brand Merchology re-platformed with Shopify and optimized its site for mobile visitors.
Within a month, it experienced a 40% increase in mobile conversion rates and an overall 340% Year over Year growth in revenue per mobile device.
Merchology’s approach highlights the critical role of e-commerce conversion rate optimization in leveraging mobile traffic for substantial revenue growth.
5.Trailcam – 20% Boost in Sales
The e-commerce store Trailcam ran a number of conversion rate optimization tests as a part of its efforts to increase revenue. The business discovered that by adding a free shipping and return banner to its homepage, it could increase sales by 20%.
Through this banner, it managed to address customer queries directly and remove potential problems from the conversion funnel.
Such strategic enhancements underscore the importance of e-commerce conversion rate optimization in enhancing the customer journey and boosting sales.
Source: Trailcam
6.Company Folders – Increased Conversions By 68%
Breaking down a complicated process into an easy-to-understand and navigable system can certainly help guide visitors down the sales funnel.
Company Folders discovered this, when, as a result of rebuilding its quotation and hosting the form on a single page, it experienced 67.68% increase in total quotes.
This restructuring is a clear testament to the benefits of e-commerce conversion rate optimization, ensuring a smoother customer experience and higher conversion rates.
Source: Company Folders
7.Morphsuits – Improved Conversions By 37%
Morphsuits, a retailer of branded spandex costumes, managed to increase conversions by 37% by simply tweaking the design on its Order Review page.
Specifically, it went from a plain white design without pictures to a more visually appealing page which encouraged the lead to actually proceed with the purchase.
Source: Morphsuits
8.CrazyEgg – Boosted Conversions By 64%
CrazyEgg, a SaaS business, managed to boost conversions with a simple technique; adding an explainer video to the homepage.
It’s really not surprising since around one-third of all online activity is based around watching videos; in short, videos are the best way to communicate your brand’s unique value and attract visitors to your products and services.
Source: CrazyEgg
9.SmartWool – 17% Growth in Revenue
The e-commerce store, SmartWool, already had a well-designed store and website – what it needed was something out of the box.
The company tested two versions of the page and changed the sizes of the product images; one variation was a search grid with different size images, while the other page had a traditional, scannable layout.
Version B managed to attract and retain more visitors, thereby increasing conversions and revenue by 17.1%.
Source: CXL
10.Roller Skate Nation – 69% More Checkouts
A major problem with most e-commerce stores, especially clothing, shoes and other such products, is that people cannot try these out before buying them.
Roller Skate Nation, an online seller of roller skates and accessories, solved this problem in a simple way; it added a sizing ‘help’ section under all its products and observed a 69% increase in checkouts.
Source: Roller Skate Nation
Conclusion
Overall, the key takeaway from all these conversion rate optimization case studies is that e-commerce stores need to follow certain guidelines.
For example, you should always provide detailed information about your products/services, make the checkout process as easy as possible, display free shipping/product return offers prominently etc.
Lastly, don’t forget to A/B test your changes – even minor changes can boost your sales significantly but you won’t know what works until and unless you track, measure and analyze all aspects of your store.
Are you looking to optimize your site for conversions but are unsure of how to go about it? Don’t worry, the digital marketing experts at Noah Digital analyze your business and e-Commerce website thoroughly to identify areas for improvement – we also implement A/B tests to determine what works best for your site.
