Recession proof your ecommerce website

Just as the economic forecast shows further signs of consistent decline in 2023, this week we delve into strategy 4 for ecommerce professionals looking for practical ways to recession-proof their ecommerce business.

If you missed the last 3 suggestions in the blog series ‘Recession proof your ecommerce website’, you can catch up here:

Strategy 4: Customer insights from analytics

Okay so lets take a look at strategy 4 which is about getting customer insights from analytics, but not in the way you think. Perhaps the biggest recommendation of this blog series is to not leave money on the table. Right now, there will be devices and browsers that are working well and those that are not.

Most companies review revenue at a platform level, propensified by the fact that most analytics system simply report ‘iPhone’ for the range of iPhones. However, it is likely that you will see differing conversion rates on the various iPhones, for example, an iPhone 13 and 14 are fairly even in buyer demographics, yet there may be completely different conversion levels on these two devices. Drop down a level further and this may be even more noticeable, with iPhone 13 Mini performing differently to an iPhone 13 Pro Max, and whilst you might put that down to purchase price, what about a 13 Mini vs a 14 Mini.

Few people get to this level of detail when reviewing their analytics and Digivante have noticed the following trends that tend to be true for all ecommerce sites.

iPhones tend to generate more revenue that Android, whilst they account for less traffic.
Apple Mac platforms are a small percentage of traffic but typically have a much better conversion rate than other desktop platforms.
Chrome and Edge tend to convert better than other browsers, but there is not that much difference.
iPhone Max versions tend to convert better than their other counterparts.

Yet, few companies consider this when defining the devices that they test on which means that valuable revenue is being left on the table.

Furthermore, when analysis is done on a typical ecommerce site, we have discovered time and time again that minor fixes to issues introduced during the development process, which manifest with a slightly different experience on similar devices, will dramatically increase revenue.

Let me give you an example: A travel company primarily focussed on store operations, had an eCommerce site turning over around £13m from desktop, of which £3m was coming from Apple Mac platforms. Most testers testing on a Mac would cover off Safari latest version, however this company saw 49% of its traffic from Chrome on Mac. Yet, the Chrome platform converted the best at 1.03% vs 0.74%. It was later understood that Mac was never tested, simply, Chrome worked better as that had been tested on other platforms.

Cutting a long story short, if the conversion on Safari could be increased to match Chrome (why wouldn’t it, they are both users of Macs), then the financial uplift would be £2.7m.

So, after some testing by Digivante, focussed in on the two platforms, were able to identify a range of issues that were resulting in a lower conversion rate. Once fixed, the company was able to see an increase in their conversion rates on Safari Mac. You can see this information below:

So, whilst many ecommerce leaders look at the various levels of traffic, to improve conversions, you need to go one step further and look at showcase performing platforms using ecommerce testing services – find the platforms that aren’t performing so well and fill in the gaps to maximise potential large jumps in revenue.

In a recession, finding this extra money that is on the table is vitally important because it is important to understand your customers. To that end, we will look at getting to know customers more in the next strategy. In the interim, we have a handy downloadable eBook guide which runs through the 7 tips and tricks drive improved conversions and new revenue lines from your QA team, with actionable changes you can make today.