Lost My Name, an online-only children’s book retailer ran an optimisation campaign with Optimizely. This case study looks at how the retailer used A/B testing to achieve an 18.1% uplift in orders.
Case study summary
• Book retailer wanted to create same personalised experience achieved in its books for each online visitor
• Developed and ran over 50 unique and on-going A/B tests using Optimizely
• Discovered ‘short names’ messages has a strong impact on visitors
• 18.1% lift in orders for visitors arriving via Facebook ads
The challenge
In a competitive environment such as online retail, keeping customers engaged throughout their purchase journey can be a challenge. For pure-play ecommerce retailers, getting the customer journey right can mean the difference between business success or failure. And making sure the online proposition marries your business strategy with customers’ expectations is nothing short of business critical. To achieve this objectively, increasing numbers of retailers are turning to testing and personalisation to drive data-led decision-making.
Lost My Name, the dedicated online-only retailer specialising in personalised children’s books, increased its existing optimisation activity in July 2015. The aim was to create the same exceptional and personalised experience achieved in its books for each online visitor. Specifically, Lost My Name wanted to be able to harness the data that would best help move visitors through the funnel, generate higher conversion rates and inform critical decision-making.
The solution
Over 9 months, Lost My Name developed and ran over 50 unique and on-going A/B tests using Optimizely, with the aim of understanding how the customer journey could be improved on various areas of the website.
One A/B test looked at targeting customers that were considering purchasing personalised books for children whose names only had three or four letters. Previous feedback and conversion rates had suggested that these customers didn’t see the value for money when purchasing books as they thought the stories would be too short, compared to those purchasing books for children with longer names.
Lost My Name ran a test with Optimizely that involved displaying a message for those purchasing books for shorter names, explaining “short names don't mean short stories, we've added 4 additional pages to your book”. While this particular test had no impact on conversion; a deep dive analysis revealed particular promise for just three-letter names with a very successful A/B test to follow.
Tom Waterfall, Director of Conversion Rate Optimisation, Lost My Name, explains how the team needed a testing tool that was easy to use, powerful and flexible; leading them to Optimizely’s experience optimisation platform. “Having proved the initial concept behind optimisation, we wanted to adopt a more sophisticated approach. The Optimizely Testing tool was chosen because it allows us to test both simple hypotheses and design & execute more complex tests as needed. For example, I was able to set up a test that provided real, tangible results in just half an hour, whilst also working to create and run more complicated tests on multiple variants. From a technology perspective, Optimizely also allows us to integrate with many other platforms, something that was a real benefit and allowed us to seamlessly combine many of our digital technologies into one function.
“Ultimately, what it comes down to is that each customer is really important to us, and we’re passionate about delivering personalised online experiences for each and every one, no matter who they are, or how they arrived on the site. Optimizely really helps us to do that by enabling us to use real-time data to put the customer at the centre of our decision-making process.”
The results
This additional test for just three-letter names surfacing the same message resulted in a proof of the initial hypothesis and an uplift in order conversion.
Waterfall added “Despite no impact on conversion being achieved for the four-letter test, the three-letter test confirmed the initial hypothesis and resulted in 18.1% lift in orders for visitors arriving via Facebook ads. Facebook represents the largest acquisition source for Lost My Name and clearly demonstrates the value that optimisation brings to the business.”
The company has seen rapid corporate growth, one example being their employee growth of 250% over the last nine months. With this growth comes the continual need to demonstrate the value that optimisation can bring, not just to a single department, but its contribution to the future development of the business.
What started as an initial trial with Optimizely has turned into company-wide success, Tom explains, “Optimisation is critical at Lost My Name and our strategy is continuing to grow as we learn. To date, 50% of the tests we’ve run have significantly moved the needle in terms of customer conversions and improvements to the overall customer experience.
More importantly, we continue to learn from the tests that don’t have a significant impact and that has changed our business mindset. Yes, there have been sceptics along the way, but at this point everyone sees optimisation as critical to our business success and has embraced the continual learning it delivers.”
