Ecommerce guide: How To Perform A/B Testing For A Successful Business

When it comes to eCommerce, customer experience is everything. According to Statista, 44% of businesses worldwide perceive customer experience as their primary competitive differentiator.

An eCommerce store is only successful when it creates a quality user experience through constant innovation and testing out what attracts your customers the most. For this, you should have tangible insights into what your target audience actually is. And that is achieved by A/B testing.

What is A/B testing?

An A/B test is a process of showing two variants of an element on a site, displaying it to two different segments of the audience, and measuring the conversion rates of each. It is used to determine which variant is more effective in achieving the desired outcome.

A/B testing is an important tool for improving the performance of your marketing campaigns and answering important business questions like what helps in generating more revenue from the traffic you already have and how to tweak your current eCommerce website to improve conversions.

Steps to perform A/B test?

Define the overall goal of the A/B test

Chose which metric to monitor so you know what to analyze for success or failure. It can be done by analyzing which area of your site you would most like to improve.

Record your site’s current performance

Before you make any changes to your site, record your site’s existing metrics. Noting these metrics beforehand will give you a clear idea of how effective the winning variable was.

Identify which items you want to test

Choose a variable to test that will help you achieve your chosen goal. Some of the most used variables in eCommerce A/B tests include:

• Headline
• Body copy
• CTAs
• Forms
• Site design
• Navigation
• SEO tactics (meta description, keyword density etc)

Set up two test variations:

Document the specific differences you will test and repeat the same variable across all pages for each variation. This will ensure that customers’ experience remains the same throughout the site.

Segment your audience

Plug all of your information into your A/B testing software and set the test to run. Most software evenly and randomly divides your test audience into A and B groups.

Test both versions A and B concurrently 

Run variable A for a certain amount of time and switch to variable B for the same amount of time.

Analyze the results

Most testing tools clearly spell out which variation was the more successful of the two. Analysis of more granular data was provided to get a clearer picture.

Pay attention to statistical data

Testing platforms automatically account for the variance using statistical calculations. When looking at statistical significance, the output is typical:

A percentage that represents how solid the finding is.

A range of conversion rates is known as a ‘confidence interval’. It represents the range of conversion rates in a repeated sampling of your site visitors.

Decide what actions to take

If you’ve got a clear winner, update your site to reflect the improved experience and enjoy the added dollars on your site. 

How to perform A/B testing:

Option 1: Use the right A/B testing tools

There is a number of specific tools required to do A/B testing.

We’ve compiled various tools, free and paid, that can help you test the different features of your online store:

Free tools

• Google Optimize 
•  Genetify
•  Vanity
•   A/Bingo

Free tools

• Optimizely
• VWO
• Unbounce
• Convertize
• ClickThroo
• Zoho Pagesense

Option 2: Use a CRO agency for A/B testing

Many CRO( conversion rate optimization) services perform A/B testing for you. But be warned because many agencies add this to their laundry list of services and have little or no knowledge about it.

Do your research and ask the right questions before committing to any CRO agency.

Make sure the agency doesn't offer it as an add-on service but focuses exclusively on it.

Have a look at the case studies of their previous success,

CRO and A/B tests should be data-driven not insight, preference, or intuition based.

Identify if they focus on short-term or long-term. Make sure the agency you want to go for does not take shortcuts but focuses on a long-term robust plan.

Option 3: Let BeUniqueness help you

BeUniqueness DFY 7 Figure in a box system allows you to cut the trial and error process, it saves you valuable time looking for a suitable agency. 

We set up the groundwork, define goals for you and perform A/B testing to ensure your store’s success.  It allows you to make data-driven decisions on your eCommerce site that de-risk your chance by constantly analyzing their performance before they go live.