a/b test of product detail page is live!
Hi everyone.
Friday I blogged about the results of our seller survey and mentioned that I wanted to get you all more buyers. I also mentioned that some site changes were afoot. And now we’ve arrived. With last night’s website update we now are running what’s called an ‘a/b test’ on our product detail page.
What’s an a/b test you ask? Basically you put up two different versions of a single web page and collect data about which one performs better. We picked the product detail page as it’s the one with the ‘add to cart’ button so it’s pretty important. This is where shoppers often make a buying decision. And this page gets lots and lots of traffic (over 65% of new visits) as people land on this page directly from Google. For this test the ‘a’ version is the old version that you’ve been looking at for months. The ‘b’ version is a new version. We think the ‘b’ version will result in more buys, but why guess when you can rely on real data from real customers?
In the test half of our users who arrive on a product detail page directly from Google will see the ‘a’ version and half will see the ‘b’ version. Since you won’t see both I added some screen shots below. First is the ‘a’ version (also known as the control in the experiment) - this is the version you know well. I drew some lassos around the areas we wanted to change.
Below are our objectives:
- Improve the ‘Welcome to Bonanzle’ at the top in an effort to establish trust.
- Redesign the button set as there is a clear ‘call to action’ – all buttons should not be equal.
- Make the ‘about the seller’ information more intuitive to people who haven’t purchased before.
Below is the ‘b’ or new version. The odd green buttons with no labels are really just us covering up the username so you can ignore those. Following is a list of what specifically we changed to try to achieve our earlier stated objectives:
- The top area now has logos and Bonanzle quotes from brands consumers know. I’m betting CNN and Business Week are more popular than GeoTrust. Bonanzle isn’t a known brand like Amazon or Zappos (yet!) so we have to work hard to earn our customers trust.
- The buttons were redesigned so ‘add to cart’ is super easy to see.
- The # of reviews and feedback % should be easier to understand for newbies. We didn’t change anything about how reviews are scored, just how they are presented on the page.
- We made a sad empty shopping cart for fun. The cart wants you to shop. Don’t you want the cart to be happy?
That’s the extent of the changes. We didn’t want to change the world, just make some specific changes to some key areas. Over the next week (and potentially beyond) we’ll watch the performance of this page and see which one converts more shoppers to buyers. If we do that everyone wins! And Bill has to buy Blake and me a round of Seattle micro-brews.
We’ll be doing lots of a/b testing like this in the future. Above all our goal is to get more people buying and we’ll be relying on data many times to do that.
I’ll let you know how the new page performs!
Alex
<< Back
Recent Posts
Most Popular
Share
37 responses to a/b test of product detail page is live!
Glad to here about this…but was looking forward to that screen shot !
Trying to make them a bit larger… ; )
Looks great Alex
You gave that page some life! Bring on the buyers
Looks like a definite improvement! Thanks Alex!
Thanks so much for the update-More Buyers would be absolutely fabulous!
I’m crossing my fingers the new version performs better!
can’t really read the changes as shown on the screen shot. Would really appreciate work being done on the shipping calculators
I am excited and want the b version! Sounds like a great step. How long do you have to test it????
Woo Hoo
Thanks!
Thanks I like it!
Looking good
Looks great ! I like the second one better.
Wonderful improvement!
However, may I suggest you put GeoTrust back? That’s a huge trust item for folks landing on an unfamiliar site.
Anyone can put a CNN logo on their site. Do the BW and CNN logos have links folks can follow to see if they’re real articles? I’ve checked out such logos on other website, and even went to CNN and searched for the company, and didn’t find them at all in many instances. It’s as if the company lied about having CNN write about them. Even BBB logos have been ‘forged’.
And I think the sad shopping cart should get sent to drama.
jmho
It looks great! But why are we sending people to Amazon? If there is a product review there, the product is probably there for purchase also.
I think it looks great!
Yep! The CNN and BW logos are linked to Bonanzle stories. We wouldn’t just put them up there if there wasn’t a story that mentioned us. ; )
I like the changes! But haven’t seen it displayed in my brows’n today & I have experimental features check’d in my preferences too!
I was attempting to see the new page by coming from Google search with all of my cookies cleared. So far I have only seen the old welcome page, but I do have an observation. The welcome page only displays for the first page a new user views on Bonanzle. If the prospective buyer goes back to Google without buying and then clicks on another Bonanzle item, the welcome page has vanished. I can only see the welcome page again if I clear my cookies each time I view a Bonanzle page. I think the welcome page should display for new Bonanzle buyers coming in via Google search for all Bonanzle item pages viewed within a single browsing session until they are converted for a sale. I hope I explained what I mean so that you can understand.
Love it!!!!
Thanks thebqs. Did you log in? Then you probably got the old version.
Looks good…
I did not log in. I was trying to see what someone who has never been to Bonanzle would see. Normally, I do not see the welcome page, for obvious reasons.
I was not logged in and cleared all of my cookies.
I just tried again and finally saw the new page. Yay! I think the CNN and Business Week logos are more effective than the GeoTrust and TRUSTe logos. I have never used either of those trust sites, and they mean absolutely nothing to me. On the other hand, I am very familiar with CNN and Business Week, and seeing those mentioned would be more likely to convert me if I had never seen Bonanzle before.
The blurbs underneath the CNN and Business Week logos are particularly effective. I like it.
Well written blog, let’s hope it works, eh! I’ll always buy a round of beers in exchange for improved conversion.
I can’t see the screenshots well enough to voice an opinion but I do hope it helps with sales.
oh the new changes sure look great and since we have the topdogs on the job soon we we’ll be saying e*ay who?
I too like the new changes on B, love the addition of CNN and Business week Oh Yes the Happy Cart too
Yes we all want our customers to be happy and use the happy cart
I will be curious as you are what the results will be How long are you going to test the A/B Versions????
The changes look great! Can’t wait to see the results are.
I’m betting we’ll want to give the test at least a few days if not the full week.
I never used or cared about the GeoTrust, but as a buyer CNN and Business Week would make me perk up and check the site out.
Thanks. Will be looking forward to seeing the results. I hope it works!
I was testing some other things early this morn and saw the changed page. I was really excited that the button size was increased and the item-dragging-to-cart was more clear. I didn’t notice the change in profile representation, but from what I can see of the thumbnail it seems like a good idea to mimic established market practices. Good stuff!
I am going to say … CHUCK the CNN out the door ….
PLEASE …. Geo Trust is far more professional…
Besides, in todays political climate, CNN leaves a bad taste in some of our mouths …
It can come across as an endorsement of CNN – and could cause those people to simply move on.
aww renagade prefers fox. lol
well I just wish us all the best.
Actually I watch all the news channels … Fox, CNN, NBC etc. I like hearing all angles of a story.
I would not reccommend putting Fox News on header either …
Some others find Fox distasteful.
Maybe one with Fox on one side and CNN on the other
Fair and balanced … LOL
Hi
is CNN and Business Week paying for the sponsoring of these mention in some of the listings?
Just curious as to how it works.
Thanks
Well pictures are too small to really tell much but my main concern is: “remember the eBay” – it WAS (past tense – can’t pay me to go their now) a really good selling site (years ago) but then they started making all kinds of changes and walking all over the seller by telling the seller how to run their business, what they could charge and much more. I sure hope that doesn’t start happening here at Bonanzle. I’ve had good luck here and I like the site. I have a link to Bonanzle in all my emails and I advertise it on my web page so I just hope that Bonanzle doesn’t get a big head and start telling the seller what they can charge, payment methods, shipping stuff and so forth.
I would suggest keeping the GeoTrust as well as the CNN et al. The commercial sites show that this is a legitimate site, but the GeoTrust implies it’s also secure. I think both aspects are important.
I don’t see the Buy It Now in the 2nd version. Most of the people who find my items through Google do the Buy it Now even though I have OBO on many items. They may hesitate if they have to add to cart first. Just a thought. Looks good.
Login to see more comments