Mobile Checkout Insights: Corvette Collection Boosts Conversions with Continuous Optimization [Case Study]

Corvette Collection is an authorized retailer of Corvette-branded merchandise. Officially licensed by General Motors, the site is managed by Burston Marketing, a promotional marketing company that specializes in branded programs for several automobile and lifestyle brands.

Seeking to boost conversion rates and Revenue per Visitor (RPV) on their Corvette Collection site, Burston Marketing approached their Magento system integrator, Web 2 Market. As a long-standing partner, Web 2 Market already had clients taking part in large-scale mobile checkout optimization testing with HiConversion and suggested that Corvette Collection sign up to take advantage of the same opportunity.

By doing so, the online retailer could learn from other similar merchants, run experiments on their site, and determine which eCommerce changes to implement (and which to avoid).

Identifying Problem Areas in the Mobile Checkout Funnel

As Web 2 Market on-boarded Corvette Collection, they immediately identified the problem areas in their eCommerce sales funnel. Customers were not converting from browser to shopper nor from shopper to buyer at an optimal rate. In other words, site visitors were leaving the site too early in the checkout funnel and failing to complete sales transactions.

According to data from Web 2 Market, visitors that add an item to the cart AND complete the purchase make up 25.9% of mobile shoppers and 39.2% for desktop shoppers, respectively.

☝️For Corvette Collection, mobile checkout conversions were lower than expected – note how the ‘shopper’ and ‘buyer’ stages of the funnel above fall beneath the site’s expected average (the black dotted-line).

Generally, as a benchmark, the mobile conversion rate (shopper to buyer) is around half of the desktop conversion rate. In this case, mobile conversion rate was sitting at just 42% of its desktop conversion rate.

There was definitely an opportunity to improve the conversion rate for mobile shoppers on the Corvette Collection site. Working with HiConversion’s pre-built testing library, Web 2 Market chose two experiments that delivered particularly fascinating insights: Simplified Cart Header and Zip Code AutoFill.

Boosting Mobile Checkout Revenue by Simplifying the Cart Header

By removing the links from the header on the cart page, Corvette Collection minimized distractions for buyers and made the whole mobile checkout experience more streamlined.

The experiment had a positive effect on Revenue per Visitor across all devices.

The impact was particularly strong on mobile and tablet devices which saw lifts of +23.03% and +68.94% respectively.

Since removing the distractions from the cart header speeds up the checkout process, it could be argued that it reduces the likelihood that shoppers will second guess buying decisions.

The transactions are completed faster, so shoppers avoid overthinking their purchases or taking an “I’ll think about it and buy it later” approach.

This Mobile Checkout Experiment Gave Unexpected Results

Zip Code AutoFill is one of the most popular experiments conducted by merchants optimizing with HiConversion. The experiment reduces the amount of typing required during the payment process by auto-completing address details based on the zip code entered. This creates a more enjoyable user experience and increases the chances of mobile checkout conversions and completed sales.

Zip Code AutoFill has been consistently delivering positive average results for merchants across the board. However, Corvette Collection’s experience proves the importance of testing on an individual level — what works for one merchant may not work for another.

The experiment had very little impact on the store’s performance, seeing only negligible lifts across desktop and mobile. Tablet performed well but the sample size was not large enough to draw confident conclusions.

The Takeaway for Corvette Collection: Always Be Testing

Corvette Collection’s results — and the results from other merchants conducting similar experiments — often seem too good to be true. However, there is no magic involved — the data simply doesn’t lie.

As we noted in the Zip Code AutoFill experiment, what works for one merchant may not work for another. And what works for one merchant today may not work for the same merchant tomorrow, or next week, or next year.

After all, high-performing eCommerce sites from five years ago look nothing like the high-performing eCommerce site of today. The pace of change is faster now than ever before. Demographic changes, technology changes, and shifting competitive landscapes all contribute to the shifting expectations about what an ideal eCommerce website should be.

As a result, merchants must test their sites continuously to remain competitive and relevant. Continuous testing is the key to Corvette Collection’s success.

The key takeaway from this experience is akin to the old sales adage, “Always Be Closing,” but instead, merchants today must “Always Be Testing.” Remember to test your ideas and make sure the changes you’re proposing are actually making a difference on your site.