eCommerce Site Changes: Include Conversion Rate Vs. Page Speed Analysis

Intelligently tuning eCommerceor mCommerce site speeds includes fixing problems up front - particularly the ones that can negatively impact conversion rates - and ultimately impact the most revenue that can be earned.

Blue Triangle provides compelling, actionable data that typically showsonlycertain (not all) site pages need to bemade faster in order formaximum conversions to happen.

Here are three case studies thatillustratehow Blue Triangleprovides key revenue-impacting insights that benefit online merchants:

1. Faster site speed at the expense of aesthetics
2. Speeding up on a flat part of the conversion curve
3. Slower is better; increased usability won

Scenario1:Faster site speed at the expense of aesthetics

Trendy Clothing Retailer Lost Sales By Sacrificing Aesthetics & Usability For Speed

Background: 50% of this etailer's shopperswere channeledthrough a proxy accelerator with Front End Optimization (FEO) features. The remaining50%were sentdirectlyto the merchant's eCommerce site. While the FEO proxy acceleratorcausedthe merchant's product pages to load faster, using Blue Triangle Technologies' Blue Triangle, we exposeddroppedconversions - as much as 10-15% (depending on time of day). Blue Triangle found that, while the proxy accelerator was loading product pages faster, it was doing so usinga lower-quality product image, that was quickly replacedwith a separate loading of ahigher qualityimage of the same item. In summary,Blue Triangle discovered thisetailer was incurring abandonment-related losses as a result ofsacrificing usability - and aesthetics - in exchange for speed. Based on our findings, Blue Triangle Technologieswas able to recommend effective remediation for eliminating shopper abandonment and restoring maximum conversions.

Scenario 2: Speeding up on a flat part of the conversion curve

Large Onlineand Mall-BasedRetailer Losing Sales By Speeding Up on Flat Conversions
Background: A large online retailer was averaging 6 seconds to download their online product category page. Shopper abandonment was happeningat between 2 to 3 seconds. The conversion rate was relatively flat - between 3 and8 seconds. The client's performance team sped up their online store; however, thechange impacted customers who were experiencing product page speed delays of 4 seconds or longer. Using Blue Triangle, our recommendation was to increase speeds for shoppers experiencing greater than 5 second response times -- by 0.75 seconds. The result was moving shoppers along a flat part of the Conversion Rate Vs. Page Speed curve. This resulted in a conversion rate that did not improve. Consequently, this did not cover the costs associated with the improvement. Based on our findings using Blue Triangle, we were able to recommend effective remediation for pinpointing and eliminating speed-related shopper abandonment and supporting maximum profitability.

Scenario3: Slower is better; increased usability won

New Website For Large Online and Mall-Based Beauty and Bath Retailer: A beauty and bath product sretailerwere making plans toimplementa new version of their online store. The new site includedimprovedusability and severalaesthetic enhancements. TheyunderwentA/B testing to ensure it was production-ready. Their conversion rate potential was much higher with the new site, butit performed1.5 seconds slower on-average,oncritical pages. Initially, the merchantreacted to the slower speeds by ordering the operations team to revert to the original site (indeed, the former site with lower conversion rates). In the final analysis, desirableaesthetics and a positive usability experiencecausedshoppers to bemore tolerant to slower page load times.

Summary: Key Learnings In The Speed vs Conversion Debate

• A tug-of-war exists between aesthetics, usability, shopper intelligence solutions and speed. All of these are important.
• When proposed online site changes are being mapped out, the very first thing site owners must considerare Conversion Rate Vs. Page Speed curves for each page of not onlythecurrent, but theproposed new site(s) as well. A side-by-side comparison must be made,particularlyone that depicts customers moving through each page of an eCommerce site. This is crucial insight needed to more fullyunderstand how page speeds will impactthe proposed new site - in comparison to the current one in production.
• Implementing speed-impacting site enhancements should incorporate a level of rigor, and be made in a way that does not degrade the usability or aesthetics of a site. Without it,introducing tiny or grand changes --willlikelynegatively impact a givenConversion Rate Vs. Page Speed curve of a new site.
• Performance projects muststart with an examination of a Conversion Rate Vs. Page Speed curve so thata clear understanding of the business value associated with speeding up the site can be determined.

Blue Triangle not only provides Conversion Rate Vs. Page Speed data with their relationship to theconversion funnel, but also "what-if" analysis to understand the financial impact of speeding up pages - perhaps by 1 second or more -- or speeding up traffic in the 50^th, 80^th, and 90^thpercentile to achievable goals.