Marketers can spend hours debating which tagline is best or which image is most persuasive. But A/B testing can put these discussions to rest. More importantly, A/B testing allows marketing teams to proactively learn more about their customers, their website, and their products in ways that wouldn’t be possible without it. But to successfully incorporate A/B testing into your marketing strategy, it’s important to understand the principles behind the practice.
Read on to learn more about A/B testing, including examples of tests you can run in your own ecommerce store.
What are A/B tests?
A/B testing , also called split testing, vietnam email list is the practice of presenting different versions of a web page, ad, or email to an audience to see which performs better. This is the most common testing method for online stores .
In a proper A/B test, the two (or more) versions are shown to randomly selected members of the target audience over the same period of time, the thunderstorm season has begun as opposed to a before/after test, where the versions are shown one after the other. Similarly, in an A/B test, only one variable is tested, even if there are multiple versions. For example, testing three different button texts would be an A/B test. Testing multiple variables, such as button texts and banner images, would be considered a multivariate test.
A/B testing requires code to show the different versions to different users at the same time. For advertising A/B testing, colombia business directory Meta and Google do this automatically. Likewise, some email platforms like Klaviyo have built-in A/B testing functionality. Website A/B testing requires custom or third-party code, such as Google Optimize.
Benefits of A/B Testing
All digital marketing efforts generate data. Advertising campaigns provide data on click rates, websites on conversion rates, and so on. The main benefit of A/B testing is to collect the data you need to make specific decisions.
A/B testing always starts with a specific hypothesis. For example, “I think our signup form will convert better if we offer a 10% discount.” The data allows the company to draw a conclusion about the hypothesis. This not only helps answer the immediate hypothesis, but also provides more information about the company as a whole. In this example, it helps understand how price sensitive the customer base is.
Although A/B testing is primarily a marketing activity, the insights gained can be used to inform a variety of other business decisions, including UX, product development , branding , and sales.
7 A/B Testing Examples for E-Commerce Companies
There are many types of A/B testing that an online store can conduct. Below are some of the most common and effective types of testing.
header text
This refers to the headline at the top of a page, typically a landing page. Since this is the first and largest piece of text a visitor sees, it’s a great way to test your page’s most valuable first impression.
For example, Gymshark could test different versions of the line “Power. Made to fail in.”
subject line
In email marketing, your subject line is your most important tool. It influences the open rate of an email, and if your audience doesn’t open your email, the rest of the email has no impact. It’s a great way to test what catches the attention of your existing audience and improve email performance.
For example, DUER could test a different variation of the email subject line “Introducing: The Premium Dura Soft Midweight Tee.”
advertising tagline
Advertising platforms allow for quick and easy A/B testing of many different copy variations. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle – insights into advertising taglines help inform future taglines and future versions to be tested.
For example, in this ad, BN3TH could test either the main copy (“Numb crotch? No thanks.”) or the headline (“Ride Longer & Comfier, Save 25%.
call-to-action text
Call-to-action text can be tested on a website, in an ad, or in an email. Good calls to action help your audience complete the sentence “I want to…”, so testing your CTA can help you understand the intent of users on your page.
For example, this exit intent popup form from Vahdam could test different text on the button to see what gets more form submissions.
product image type
Testing your product image type can help you understand the factors that influence your product’s conversions. Some products are more practical and benefit from simple images that highlight features, while others are more lifestyle-oriented and benefit from showing products in usage context first.
For example, Blender Bottle could experiment with a landing page that shows a lifestyle photo, such as a person in professional attire leaving the gym and heading to the office, before showing the simple bottle imagery with the features.
prices and discounts
Pricing can be difficult to test from a technical and customer perspective. Most website A/B testing tools don’t offer the ability to test pricing. And these tests risk upsetting customers who buy the product at the higher tested price and then find out that someone else got it cheaper. However, Shopify apps like Intelligems allow for price testing.
Alternatively, testing discount codes can be an effective way to gain similar insights. For example, a brand could run two marketing campaigns targeting the same audience, with the same ads but a different discount offer, such as 25% or €25 off. You could see which campaign performs better based on click rate and conversion rate .
element removal
An A/B test can produce results by leaving out elements. If a website has many different options for shopping or navigation, marketers will sometimes test hiding an option and observe the impact on conversion.
For example, LOLA could test the effect on purchase conversion rates by removing links to their blog, The Spot, from the navigation:
