How Zalora’s Product Page Optimization Increased Checkout Rate By 12%
About Zalora
Founded in 2012 by Rocket Internet, Zalora is the fastest growing online fashion retailer in Asia. Competing in the 600+ million people APAC online fashion market worth approximately US$63.5 billion, Zalora aims to become the region’s leading online fashion destination.
VWO got in touch with Liang Jian Tan and Wai Teng Yong, who were then part of the regional onsite marketing team at Zalora. The purpose was to learn all about a successful checkout optimization test they ran by using the VWO platform, with the help of the VWO Services team.
Goals
Based on their research, which we will discuss later in this success story, Zalora’s aim here was to increase the number of checkouts by optimizing the product page to highlight its rewarding features such as free returns and free delivery. Changes were made across all product pages of both their English and Chinese websites.
As a firm that has always taken pride in being data-driven, Zalora was convinced of the need to optimize its conversion funnel.
“We’ve always been very data-driven. Zalora began about four years ago and we have been A/B testing using VWO for three years. As an early stage company, we are heavily focused on new customer acquisition, and using data to optimize the site experience is super important for us.”
Liang Jian Tan
Associate Director, Regional Marketing Analytics
Observations
In the giant APAC online fashion market, competitive pricing with assured quality, accessibility, and ease of transaction are what determines the fate of any company. Zalora’s customer service team contended that the customers were not aware of their free returns policy due to poor visibility of the feature on the website.
Tests run
In general, the Zalora Experience Revolution Loop (ZERL) framework drives the process of onsite optimization at Zalora. Here is how it works:
- The first step of optimization is research, which results in the formulation of hypotheses for testing, followed by prioritization of test ideas.
- Testing is started, leading to the analysis of results.
- The team then loops in the Product Management team to make final changes to the page(s).
Based on the feedback from Zalora’s customer service, the team at Zalora came up with ideas that could increase the visibility of their free returns policy. VWO Services team was responsible for understanding Zalora’s needs and helping them set up the optimization campaign. They were also responsible for implementing the ideas generated by ZERL.
[Control] This is what the original product page for Zalora looked like:
Notice how the rewarding delivery details are hidden under the See more section in the original page.
- [Variation 1] Shift the “Free” keyword from the right to the left-most position: Wai Teng Yong and Liang Jian Tan wanted to bring uniformity in Zalora’s call to action buttons. They suggested that for variation 1, “Delivery above $150” should be changed to “Free Delivery above $150” and “30 Days Return” be changed to “Free 30 Days Return.” Zalora also wanted to test the CTA “Yes” on their product pages.
- [Variation 2] Add “& Free Returns” copy next to the price tag: Zalora wanted to explore whether adding “Free returns” right after the price would affect conversions across certain products that had the element “30-day return” shown on the page.
To implement changes corresponding to the first variation, the VWO consultant created a campaign to be run on all of Zalora’s product pages across its website. The changes in the text were made by using VWO Visual Editor. This is what variation 1 looked like:
For the second variation, the VWO consultant created a draft campaign by adding the code to the “Add JavaScript/CSS operation.” The campaign was run across all of its product pages. This is what variation 2 looked like:
After listening to the team at Zalora and understanding their needs, VWO Services developed a campaign by using VWO’s Code Editor. The implementation of the test was quite complex, as changes were not to be applied on all product pages. For example, there were certain products on which “30-day return” was not applicable, changes were not applicable on certain products that were on sale, and so on. This required the services team to create a complex coding structure to check all such deliverables, go through each product category, and then apply changes. On many such pages, the disclaimer copy read “Item is non-refundable and non-returnable,” as shown below:
The VWO consultant ran a campaign with the control and 2 variations on all the product pages. Visual as well as textual changes were made and tested across multiple browsers and screen resolutions to make sure that the variations ran as smoothly as the control.
“Working with VWO Professional Services was a very smooth process. After we provided the test hypothesis and desired setup, they had the test ready to run in just one day. We found their technical expertise especially valuable- this enabled us to expedite the setup process and saved us many hours that would have been spent trying to resolve technical challenges. Additionally, the quick response time and reliable customer service provided is commendable. We are glad to have VWO as a partner, thank you VWO!”
Wai Teng Yong
Regional Marketing Analyst
Result: Variation 1 emerged as the winner, improving checkouts by 12.3%. Wai Teng Yong attributed the success of this variation to 2 factors:
- Following the natural reading order, visitors tend to process content from left to right. Putting the most important information on the left helped customers note these crucial contents first.
- Bringing too much attention to the price can be an early deterrent for potential buyers.
Conclusion
Since its inception, Zalora has been A/B testing by using VWO to acquire new customers, optimize site experience, and so on. VWO Services with their quick response and technical expertise provided added incentive for them to continue using VWO.
A/B test elements of your checkout page and convert prospects into paying customers with VWO. Take a free trial today!
“The platform has been great so far. The UI is pretty intuitive. Recent features like OPS, VBA will be very useful for us once we are fully ready for it. I’m looking forward to using it. The customer support team is very responsive and quick, most of our problems get solved after a few email exchanges with them. So far the experience has been great!”
Liang Jian Tan
Associate Director, Regional Marketing Analytics
Location
Singapore
Industry
Retail
Impact
12% increase in Checkout rate