Using a conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy, Shoulder and Corebiz achieved a 51% increase in e-commerce results during Black Friday 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
The numbers were the result of a medium- and long-term effort to identify friction points, fix bugs, improve key performance indicators, and enhance micro and macro conversions throughout the year, culminating in a performance significantly better than the same period in 2021.
The Scenario
As early as May 2022, a comparative analysis of the stages in the conversion funnel (user journey) revealed that, during the first quarter of the year, the online store had, on average, 13% more sessions on product pages compared to category pages. The ratio of users who reached category pages and viewed at least one PDP (product detail page) during the first quarter was 15% higher than the same period in the previous year and 59% above the yearly average.
The same study also pointed out that while the ratio of PDP sessions to category sessions increased significantly, the opposite was happening in the later stages of the journey. The volume of users reaching the checkout page was, on average, 3.3% of the volume accessing product pages during Q1 2022, which was 67.6% lower than the same period in 2021.
This bottleneck was directly impacting the conversion rate. Compared to Q1 2021, the conversion rate dropped by 4%, and the number of transactions decreased by 18%.
The CRO Team’s Solution
After identifying a potential friction point between campaign stages, several subsequent analyses were conducted, along with monthly monitoring of the funnel comparison numbers, updating the data to reflect the latest observations. The PDP became the primary focus of actions and research aimed at improving the user experience, with A/B tests, bug fixes, and the implementation of improvements identified through UX/UI studies.
In addition to efforts to improve the product page itself, research was carried out to understand how users were accessing the platform, focusing on organic and paid media traffic sources.
At the same time, the importance of paid traffic channels in bringing users to this stage was evaluated, as well as the experience encountered by users impacted by paid acquisition channels.
The PDP accounted for over one-third of all traffic to the e-commerce site. Paid media channels became the main tools for driving users to this stage. In addition to the numbers mentioned, an imbalance in channel targeting was identified, where most visitors acquired through paid traffic encountered a scenario of low availability in color and size options, directly impacting the user experience and increasing the bounce rate at this stage.
Other areas were also the subject of research for improvement and optimization, participating in A/B tests and analyses to identify improvements and bug fixes in categories, the cart, and the homepage. In total, the CRO team, in partnership with Shoulder, conducted various experiments in the company’s online store, spanning all stages of the user journey.
Results
Clear signs of improved performance began to appear in September, after multiple revisions, adjustments, and implementation of changes. The month marked the first of three consecutive months of improvement in the funnel stage relationships.
Between August and November 2022, the relationship between sessions that reached the cart stage and PDP sessions increased by 28%.
The increased fluidity between stages becomes even clearer when comparing Black Friday 2021 (November 26-28) with Black Friday 2022 (November 25-27). Even with 30.5% fewer sessions than the previous year, the company saw a 5% increase in transaction volume, resulting in a 51% increase in the conversion rate.
Looking more closely at the relationship between steps, it’s evident that the bottleneck identified in May—cart sessions compared to PDP sessions—saw a 50% increase during Black Friday 2022 compared to Black Friday 2021. This was the main driver of the improved conversion rate and increase in completed transactions in 2022.
The performance boost was also supported by better balance and optimization of micro conversions across other stages.
Improvements Beyond Black Friday
As with Black Friday, the holiday season also showed improvements compared to 2021. Analyzing the data from December 19-25, 2022, compared to December 20-26, 2021, there was a 5% drop in session volume but a 1.3% increase in transaction volume. This represents a 7% improvement in the conversion rate for the most recent period.
With the help of CRO services, the national women’s fashion giant saw more transactions on its e-commerce platform than in the previous year, despite fewer sessions during the most important year-end sales events. The result is the outcome of a medium- to long-term effort based on data, qualitative and quantitative analyses aimed at optimizing and converting the user journey.
Corebiz has expertise in CRO for e-commerce and employs advanced strategies based on best practices in UX and UI to enhance the customer experience, enabling e-commerce sites to convert more with the same number of visitors. Contact us to learn how we can support your digital commerce strategy and boost your results.
