As e-Commerce traffic and sales continue to rise, retailers are striving to win greater market share by creating a more compelling, streamlined and valuable online shopping experience. But because there are so many different components of the typical e-Commerce site, retailers must test the overall effectiveness of different tactics, such as offering free shipping thresholds and promoting compelling content on the homepage.
For bebe, a women’s contemporary fashion retailer, e-Commerce currently accounts for 15% of topline and 25% of domestic retail revenue, according to Erik Lautier, EVP and Chief Digital Officer. To drive engagement online and continue this relationship across channels, bebe focuses on personalizing the experience.
“As a brand with a broad product assortment covering several different lifestyles, and serving a diverse customer base, it’s critical that we recognize the uniqueness of our shoppers and relate to them as individuals,” Lautier said in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. Using Qubit, a web personalization and A/B testing solution, bebe has been able to rapidly test and evaluate initiatives without straining IT resources.
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In the near term, Qubit “has helped us economize on cost while increasing the speed at which we are able to drive improvements in user engagement and give our customer a more personalized experience,” Lautier explained. Bebe is implementing tests through the funnel, from the homepage to checkout to align with the typical customer journey. But “there’s no set rule here,” he added, “because needs change and opportunities arise.”
With 200 retail stores and 100 international-licensee stores, bebe implemented a series of tests to identify key incentives and engagement opportunities for shoppers worldwide. For example, the team members hypothesized that displaying the estimated delivery date would increase likelihood of conversion. After a brief testing period, bebe discovered that publishing the approximate delivery date based on location increased average revenue per customer by 2.28%.
Bebe also tried to connect with consumers worldwide by publishing a welcome banner for the top 50 markets outside of the U.S. This tactic helped increase conversions by 2.4% and international store locator page views by 1.33%.
Customers’ desire to locate bebe stores while browsing online reaffirms the retailer’s continued focus on omnichannel acquisition and loyalty.
“We are increasingly casting aside the notion of channel conflict that has sometimes prevented traditional retailers from embracing omnichannel strategies wholeheartedly,” Lautier said. “Our customer, in the aggregate, is fully omnichannel, and this means ensuring that, with some planned exceptions, we are consistent across channels in terms of our imagery and marketing cadences. It means communicating to her about the categories she has shown interest in with a frequency she is comfortable with. And above all, it means continuously learning how to reach her with a degree of relevance that pays tribute to who she is as an individual and promotes greater love for the brand.”
Want to learn more about bebe’s journey to e-Commerce excellence? Watch this video:
