CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION VeggieTales Case Study · CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION VeggieTales Case Study 38+42+6258+Y+Y 100 50,000+ +T 38% Visitors tested for statistical significance Increase

C O N V E R S I O N O P T I M I Z AT I O N

VeggieTales Case Study

38+62+Y 42+58+Y100+T50,000+

38%

Visitors tested for statistical significance

Increase YOY in sitewide conversion rate 42%

increase YOY in sitewide revenue per visitor

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RESULTS

→ 17.4% increase in revenue per category page visitor

→ 13.9% increase in revenue per product page visitor

→ 14.3% increase in revenue per checkout page visitor

→ 36.8% increase in revenue per homepage visitor with social media changes

→ 28.1% increase in revenue per mobile visitor

SITUATION

→ VeggieTales wanted to systematically optimize the design of their entire site to enable it to perform better for visitors.

HOW WE DID IT

→ By first examining their analytics, we were able to determine where to start testing and what to test using Optimizely’s optimization testing platform.

VeggieTales

VeggieTales is a leading animated home video series among moms with

preschoolers in the United States. Since 1993, VeggieTales has sold over

70 million videos, 15 million books, and more than 7 million CDs. They

had their site designed and built by another agency, and they suspected

its design was causing their revenue and conversion rates to suffer. They

came to the Optimization Team at Blue Acorn for direction and results.

At Blue Acorn, we believe in redesigning with Intelligence. This means

learning our clients’ goals, studying their analytics, examining their

current designs, and forming Intelligent hypotheses before we begin

testing. Our initial research drove us to start with some subtle design

changes that, after reaching statistical significance through A/B testing,

now receive 100% of the traffic as permanent design changes.

Conversion Rate vs. RPV

Optimizely is the world’s leading optimization testing platform. It’s not just

that they have a better product. They also focus on a better metric. Like our

partners at Optimizely, we feel the truest metric for measuring the success

of optimization testing for an eCommerce site is Revenue Per Visitor (RPV).

Increasing our clients’ conversion rates is easy if they agree to start to sell

everything at 90% off, but that would kill their revenue, which - in terms of

purpose - is what sets an eCommerce site apart from a website, where

conversion rates typically refer to sign-up forms. Now, this is a dramatic

example, and constantly attempting to improving your conversion rate is

still a smart idea. However, eCommerce merchants should focus on RPV as

their primary Key Performance Indicator (KPI).

It’s also important to note the difference between visits and visitors.

Whereas Google Analytics - by default - determines a site’s eCommerce

conversion rate using the number of visits to transactions, Optimizely

measures RPV as the average revenue per visitor, not per visit, which we

believe to be a more accurate look at how your site is performing.

At Blue Acorn, we take a scientific approach to our services that relies on proven results to guide our decisions, which is why we are the only agency in the world to hold certified partnerships with Magento, Optimizely, and Google Analytics. Our eCommerce expertise allows our team to form hypotheses, but it is actual data that enables us to provide our clients with the best results possible.

Commitment To Data

VEGGIETALES CASE STUDY

VeggieTales

store.veggietales.com

Official Storel

VeggieTales


Official Storel Original Page

VEGGIETALES CATEGORY PAG E

VeggieTales


Official Store l

VeggieTales’ category pages had featured very large, bright, distracting banners. Customers landing on the page didn’t have general guidance on where to go, and they were getting distracted from finding products they wanted and continuing to the product page.

Variation

→ Results: Without the banner, VeggieTales’ category pages produced a 17.4% increase in RPV.

→ Statistical Confidence Level: 95.3%

→ Hypothesis: Dropping the banners would result in a higher RPV.

+17.4%

Variation

revenue per visitor

Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn’t VeggieTales DVD

store.veggietales.com/pistachio-the-little-boy-that-woodn-t-veggietales-dvd.htmlOriginal Page

VEGGIETALES PRODUCT PAG E

Using custom heat mapping tools, we confirmed that VeggieTales’ current product pages had very poor spacing, distracting attributes, and lacked organization. They weren’t awful by any means, but they weren’t optimal either.

Variation

→ Results: The product page variation produced a 13.9% increase in RPV.


Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn’t VeggieTales DVD

store.veggietales.com/pistachio-the-little-boy-that-woodn-t-veggietales-dvd.html

→ Hypothesis: Improving the spacing and increasing the prominence of the primary call-to-action will result in a higher RPV.

+13.9%revenue per visitor

Checkout

store.veggietales.com/checkout-onepage/Original Page

VEGGIETALES CHECKOUT PAG E

This is where eCommerce conversions happen. However, VeggieTales’ checkout page included all of the same header and footer elements that were found on every other page of the site. They’re good elements, but they serve as unnecessary distractions to a visitor trying to convert to a customer.

Variation

→ Results: The more streamlined checkout page variation produced a 14.3% increase in RPV.


Checkout

store.veggietales.com/checkout-onepage/

→ Hypothesis: Simplifying the checkout by removing all of the distractions in the header and footer - except those designed to act as confidence builders - will result in a higher RPV.


Veggie Tales l Official Store

store.veggietales.comOriginal Page

VEGGIETALES HOMEPAGE

The original homepage had a strong callout for free shipping, which is never a bad idea for converting visitors, but it overshadowed the site’s social icons.

However, we didn’t just want to move the social icons to the header, we wanted visitors to be aware of the immense size of the VeggieTales community, which serves as a confidence builder.

Variation

→ Results: Not only has VeggieTales gained more fans and followers, but the variation homepage produced an astounding 36.8% increase in RPV.


Veggie Tales l Official Store



→ Hypothesis: By adding social icons to the header and making visitors aware of the size of the VeggieTales community, visitors will be more likely to have social interactions within the community and consumer confidence will increase.

Original Mobile UI

VEGGIETALES MOBILE

There’s actually nothing mobile about this UI. It is simply the desktop UI viewed on a mobile device. It’s nice in that it doesn’re rely on Flash, which is still not supported on iOS, but it requires a tremendous amount of effort to navigate the site on a smartphone.

Variation

→ Results: Thanks to testing, VeggieTales now knows they can be generating a lot more revenue from their mobile visitors, as this quick, non-customized, mobile-themed UI saw a 28.1% increase in revenue per visitor.


+37.5%conversion rate

→ Hypothesis: Sending moible traffic to a mobile-themed UI will increase the mobile conversion rate and revenue per visitor.

iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s Cases and Covers l Speck Productsspeckproducts.com/iphone-case/iphone-5-cases.html




Understanding Statistical Significance

The “statistical confidence level” references in this case study allude to the statistical significance of each test, which is the

likelihood that the variation will beat the baseline. Given the average revenue per visitor data collected in this experiment,

what is the likelihood that the actual average revenue per visitor for the variation is higher than the actual average revenue

per visitor for the baseline? In other words, what is the likelihood that the observed average revenue per visitor increases are

not a fluke? Statistical significance is needed to prove this. Once a statistical significance of 95% or higher is reached, most

optimization professionals will agree that the results are not a fluke. More information on the science behind this can be

found in Optimizely’s Knowledge Base on their company website.

VeggieTales’ Newfound Success

It’s far from over. The improvements VeggieTales has experienced thus far, which have resulted in 38% sitewide increase

YOY in RPV, are just the beginning. Once the changes to the homepage variation are applied to the rest of the site, we

expect that number to grow even higher. By doing our due diligence before we began testing, Blue Acorn was able to

identify the lowest of the low-hanging fruit, in order to produce the quickest gains for our client. These initial tests were

simply the first on a roadmap of tests that we have planned. Using Optimizely dramatically cuts down on the time these

tests take to set up, which means the amount our clients are billed pales in comparison to the returns they see on such

investments. This is important because you should always be testing. Every aspect of your site that make sense to test

should be tested. Every change you make to your site should be tested. It’s what’s best for your customers, and it’s what’s

best for your business.

blueacorn.com - 635 Rutledge Ave, Suite 101 Charleston, SC 29403 - Tel 877.944.2583 x227

Blue Acorn is a premium eCommerce agency helping retailers and brands achieve revenue growth through a comprehensive, data-driven approach. It is the only agency in the world to hold certified partnerships with Magento, Optimizely, and Google Analytics. They are committed to delivering Intelligent eCommerce solutions rooted in data and driven by their best-in- class design, development, marketing, and optimization capabilities.

Blue Acorn

Optimizely is the layer on top of the web that enables businesses to deliver better experiences and drive top line improvements to their websites. Using Optimizely as a split testing tool, marketers create different versions of their web pages and can measure how changes affect performance. The results can be shocking and unlock dramatic revenue gains. The company closed a $28 million Series A financing round led by Benchmark Capital in April 2013.

Optimizely

VeggieTales is a wholly owned subsidiary of DreamWorks Animation’s division, Big Idea Entertainment, a leading studio and producer of children and family programming, characters and brands. Big Idea’s best-selling series, VeggieTales, is a one of the most recognized brands in the US among mothers of preschoolers and has enjoyed four seasons as a top-rated series on NBC Saturday mornings, Telemundo, and ION TV.

VeggieTales

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CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION VeggieTales Case Study · CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION VeggieTales Case Study 38+42+6258+Y+Y 100 50,000+ +T 38% Visitors tested for statistical significance Increase