Case Study: How UpSpring Baby Improved Conversions by 28%

Case Study: How UpSpring Baby Improved Conversions by 28%

Edit: At client’s request, we’ve removed some exact figures below and white labeled part of the case study in order for data to remain confidential. 

I am very excited to finally share a new case study of a client success. Upspring Baby, a leading internet provider of women’s pregnancy (and post-pregnancy) products, was able to increase online sales by over 28% by leveraging our team here at Uplift, as well as best practices in conversion rate optimization.

In this case study, I’ll provide a step by step guide showing exactly how we assessed the site and determined what areas to test. You can then take these methods and apply them towards your own site optimizations.

How we did it

Our first step was taking Upspring through our optimization process, which always begins with a review of the site structure, as well as a Google Analytics audit. In this case, we found that Upspring had a very compelling value proposition – their products truly help parents during pregnancy, and also help with weight loss post-pregnancy, both are which are extremely strong offers. To add to this, the site gave a strong Free Shipping on All US Orders offer. Overall, Upspring had a very compelling reason to purchase.

Here was the original homepage:

After an initial review of the analytics, as well as a “gut” check review based on past experiments, here’s what our team noticed:

• Bounce Rate: Bounce rate was extremely high on mobile devices and on desktop. This made us feel that the homepage was a prime spot for AB Testing. If we could reduce bounce rate down by 10-20% and get more people down the funnel, we knew that we could improve sales.
• Checkout and Shopping Cart: Checkout abandonment and shopping cart abandonment were actually ok based on general metrics. We decided that further down funnel tests wouldn’t be as high impact and moved on.
• Sliders and No USP: Based on previous tests, we had learned that sliders on e-commerce homepages typically hurt conversion rate. Also, the site was lacking a clear headline stating the unique selling point.
• Clutter: There were several calls to action competing on the homepage for attention. This was a main priority. Again, past tests had shown us that removing CTAs and focusing on top selling products typically improved sales.

Tackling the Design

When thinking about the new homepage, our main thoughts were:

• Audience: Who were we targeting? Moms! In addition, we were also targeting “babies” to an extent, as the pregnancy products would make life easier.
• Products: Instead of offering a selection of inventory, we wanted instead to focus on the top selling 3 products. Our gut here was that offering fewer options would put less “strain” on the decision making process, making it easier for prospective buyers to move down funnel.
• Unique Selling Point: After spending some time thinking through the sales process, we felt that “making life easier” was the main benefit. We thought of other variations (such as “Healthier children and happier moms”), but felt that we could start here.
• Design: At the risk of a stereotype, we felt that changing the green design to a pink would not only help with contrast, but also better resonate with the target audience.

The New Variation

With those factors in mind, here’s the new variation that our team designed:

 

You’ll notice that we incorporated all of the items above. In particular, the headline makes the USP clear, and focusing on fewer products with a direct “add to cart” CTA makes it much easier for people to proceed down funnel.

But I know what you want to see … the data!

Below are the live results from VWO:

Revenue per visitor was up by much more, but we’ve protected this information for the client.

Now I’m sure some stickler is going to point out – we only hit 91% confidence on conversions over a two week period for this test. Is that enough?

Because we were measuring revenue per visitor in addition to conversion, and hit a lift at 96% confidence, we decided we had enough data to “call it” a winner. While we’d like to hit 95% confidence every time over a four week period, sometimes you have to move quickly.

In this case, our initial goal was to improve conversions by over 20%. Because revenue improved more than conversions, we felt confident that we had achieved at least this 20% goal. (Measurement of how much lift is achieved through an AB test is a whole other issue for another article).

Next Steps

After this test was completed, the team at Upspring decided to complete a few quick AB tests of their own on the final site color and headline. Their updated homepage today contains some elements of what we designed, though it looks like they’ve added back in the slider and headline since.

How to Apply to Your Site

Before you rush out and copy these exact designs on your website, I recommend that you first start – like we did – with an analytics audit. You can’t make any good decisions without good data. In our case, identifying that the bounce rate was high was our first step.

Also, be sure to think through what really makes your product unique, and how you can remove “clutter” from your sales process. How can you get to the point and just focus on what is driving value?

Look forward to hearing your comments below!