
Case Study: Optimizing E-Commerce Conversions for Leading Appliance Spare Parts Supplier
Company Background
Since its inception in 2008, Leading Electrical Parts Supplier has been a cornerstone in the appliance spare parts industry. With a commitment to quality and value, they have served over 74,000+ domestic and commercial customers nationally, promising swift deliveries, 100% money-back guarantees, and a Price Match Guarantee. Their vast product range, covering top brands, showcases their dedication to meeting customer needs efficiently.
Initial Challenges
Despite welcoming approximately 2,500 visitors daily, Leading Electrical Parts Supplier grappled with a notably high cart abandonment rate of around 72%. This statistic was perplexing given the targeted nature of their traffic—customers visiting such a specialized site typically have a clear intent to purchase. For context, industry norms for cart abandonment rates often range between 60% to 80%, depending on the specific e-commerce vertical and market conditions. Even considering these averages, Leading Electrical Parts Supplier's rate was at the higher end, indicating significant room for improvement. Existing trust signals like money-back guarantees, price guarantees, security information, and shipping data were present but lacked prominence.
Optimization Details
Determined to address the issue, several optimizations were implemented:
- The company logo was incorporated into all email communications, reinforcing brand consistency.
- Trust signals were made more visible, especially on critical touchpoints like the landing page, cart, and checkout pages.
- Site speed was optimized (we do this every month as a support exercise) —a crucial aspect given its impact on user experience. Advanced techniques like deactivating unnecessary code from plugins and WP core on specific pages ensured peak performance. Such strategies require expertise and an in-depth understanding of site architecture.
Impressive Outcomes
The efforts bore fruit:
- A significant drop in the cart abandonment rate from 72% to 50%.
- A commendable 30% increase in revenue.
- Visitor behavior reflected positive change, with page visits per user rising from 4 to 5.
- Reviews on third-party platforms echoed this success. Customers frequently highlighted quick deliveries, accurate product descriptions, and overall satisfaction.
Feedback from Customers
The enhancements didn't go unnoticed by the customers. Reviews on various platforms began to consistently hit five stars, with comments like:
"Was as described and matched the appliance, model numbers really helpful."
"Super fast delivery, exactly what I wanted for the lowest price."
"Ordered 2 cans of air conditioner cleaner and they arrived 4 days later. I was amazed at how fast and efficient they were."
Future Plans
Building on this momentum, Leading Electrical Parts Supplier plans to dive deeper into their data. Objectives include:
- Identifying the most abandoned and frequently purchased items to refine marketing and stock strategies.
- Monitoring 'speed to cart' metrics, providing insights into how swiftly customers decide to purchase.
- Employing tools like Orange to anonymously track user clicks, offering a more granulated understanding of user behavior on the site.
- Launching a loyalty program or membership perks to reward returning customers.
- Exploring personalized product recommendations based on user behavior and past purchases.
- Expanding the product range or offering bundle deals based on popular items.
Conclusions
We are very happy with the results so far, but in consultation with our customer, we have agreed that more can be done not only in further reducing abandoned carts, but also to increased targeted traffic. To this end, we are working together on a traffic optimization program.
Finally, I have to just say a BIG thank-you to or customer and management for working with us; they are excellent people: trustworthy, smart and understanding of mis-steps along the way.
Quotes and Sources for Further Reading
From HotJar (https://www.hotjar.com/blog/cart-abandonment-stats/#cart-abandonment-rate-overview)
"Almost 70% of shoppers abandon their carts
The average cart abandonment rate is 69.99%, according to Baymard Institute. This is an average of 48 shopping cart abandonment studies, which range from 56% to 81%.
The middle point of just under a 70% cart abandonment rate means that only three out of ten customers who fill their shopping carts actually make it to checkout to complete their purchase."
From Drip (https://www.drip.com/blog/cart-abandonment-statistics)
"The Average Cart Abandonment Rate Across All Industries is 69.57 Percent
"Again, while the global average is 77.73%, breaking out the segments tells a much richer story. On phone devices cart abandonment rate shot up to 80.79%. Meanwhile sessions on desktops only had a cart abandonment rate of 73.93%, a 6.86% improvement!"