Listening to your conversion consultants, reading all the books and blogs, watching webinars and running A/B split tests will only get you so far unless you’re listening to your customers, as a recent post from Justin Palmer illustrates:
For years, customers have been telling us to show the pictures of clothing on real people, rather than mannequins. For years we ignored the advice due to the impractical task of always having models on standby when new products arrived. So instead we optimized the heck out of everything we knew how. We overhauled the design of the site. We built a new and improved shopping cart. We ran incessant split tests on our marketing emails. But we started hitting a point of diminishing returns. All those a/b tests weren’t as effective as they used to be.
Then we decided to do the obvious. We actually listened to our customers and starting photographing all products on models. And the results? Let’s just say it was the single most effective optimization project we have ever done to the website. It wasn’t technical. It didn’t take an online marketing specialist, just a bit of old-fashioned listening to the customer.
The site Justin is referring to is C28.com
This is a good reminder that the voice of the customer should be shaping your ecommerce initiatives, first and foremost.
If you need tips on tapping into the voice of the customer, we recently posted tips for developing customer surveys and creative places to ask for customer feedback.
It’s also a good reminder that people like to see products “in context” (in use), and it can have a staggering impact on conversion. I’ve written before how showing multiple images can reduce customer anxiety, and how retailers can show products in context.
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Very well said…In most of the projects that we do, we have seen that the business users are getting more aware about how to merchandise the product on their websites. Multiple photographs, 3D view, and videos are great conversion factors these days.
Another trend is to let the users upload their own content, which includes both pictures and videos (other than reviews of course). This actually gives the online consumers a feeling of looking at a ‘real’ product.
Cheers.
Amit
Great story, it’s amazing how little it takes: just listen and act on what they (your customers) are already telling you, instead of being arrogant.
In response to privacy I promote the point that Web Analytics tracking of the click-stream is democratic:
http://blog.vkistudios.com/index.cfm/2009/2/23/Web-Analytics-Tracking-Website-Visitors-is-democratic
An A/B test is an election. Disrespecting the will of the electorate in your web site design is fascist.
Brian Katz – Analytics – VKI Studios
Really great article. I am struggling with conversion right now and I know I need to make changes but I paid a lot for the design and now I have to come up with more money to re-design it.
I really wish I knew how to make changes myself.
Great points!
A customer’s insight is a valuable tool in evaluating the structure of a business!
Couldn’t agree more about listening to the customer.
I also think it’s time we all moved past using conversion rate as a fundamental metric.
(And I have been as guilty as anyone over the past 12 years of being a conversion rate fundamentalist.)
But as I’ve tried to illustrate in a recent blog post, a site with a 2% Conversion Rate can be way more profitable and persuasive than one with a 20% Conversion Rate.
http://www.breakthroughecommerce.com/library/ecommerce/confessions-of-conversion-rate-nazi/
What we need is a better more useful metric (Don’t we always? Ha.)
As I say in the post, comparing conversion rates between different sites or industry or global averages is pretty much meaningless.
Love to hear others thoughts on this.
I agree, conversion rate myopia is a problem if revenue is not being measured.