Enhanced Content Improves Views, Conversion, and Sales
We all know the purpose, benefits, and craft of creating enhanced content for online retail, but there’s nothing like hard data to back up the theory. Recently, one of our top clients provided us with preliminary findings on the enhanced content we’ve created for some of their product pages
Our client is a major ecommerce player. Last year, they ranked in the top ten on the Internet Retailers Top 500 list of leading North American e-tailers. Our confidentiality agreement prevents us from sharing too much about our client, but we think you’ll agree: the results are in and they’re promising.
The study is based on a small sample size of products from two of our client’s top product categories. They are indicated in the graphics below as “Product Category 1” and “Product Category 2.” Each category is further divided into SKUs containing our enhanced content and SKUs without our content.
The findings compare page visits, conversion rates, and overall units sold in January 2014 (pre- enhanced content) and January 2015 (post- enhanced content).
Big picture data indicates a remarkable overall page visit increase of 42%. Conversion rates (defined as add to cart in this study) have also risen 9%. And another remarkable number: 40% increase of units sold within the study size.
Page Visits and Conversion with Content
Almost across the board, each group has seen a rise in page visits. Product Category 2 (items without content) shows a decline of 7%. This could be based on a number of things we can’t pinpoint in a high-level study, such as business buying cycles, time of year, or other website variables unrelated to product content. Based on the increased page visits in other categories, we believe the numbers could be higher once these SKUs are backed by content.
In our client’s study, conversion is defined as an “add-to-cart” measurement, independent of actual purchases. It follows that increased page visits result in more shoppers adding products to carts. To see an average conversion rate growth of 3.55% across all categories isn’t surprising.
Product Category 1 (with content) shows a small decrease of 0.9%. It’s difficult at this early stage to pinpoint why we’re seeing a loss here. This could indicate several things, including an improved customer experience. Shoppers may be following through with their purchases rather than abandoning products in the cart. Despite the small decrease in conversion with this sub-category, overall sales and views are still up.
Stay Tuned
The findings are based on a small sample size, but the results support what we believe: good product content is integral to ecommerce success. We’re eager to see how these findings progress. Stay with us as we track the numbers over time.
