30 Conversion Factors Evaluation for Scentiments.com

1. 30 Factors Analysis of
Scentiments.com
Steve Miller
June 20, 2010
MarketMotive

2. The 30 Factors
1. What’s in it for me (WIIFM)? 17. Trust and credibility
2. Unique value proposition (UVP) 18. Product selection, categorization, and
3. Buying decision search results
4. Categorization 19. Navigation/use of links
5. Usability 20. Up-sell/cross-sell
6. Look and feel 21. Calls to action
7. Search-ability 22. Point-of-action assurances
8. Layout, visual clarity, and eye tracking 23. Persuasive copywriting
9. Purchasing 24. Content
10. Tools 25. Headlines
11. Error prevention 26. Readability
12. Browser compatibility 27. Use of color and images
13. Product presentation 28. Terminology/jargon
14. Load time 29. “We we”: Customer focused language
15. AIDAS 30. Using reviews
16. Security/privacy
2

3. Factor #1: WIIFM
What In It For Me?
The Four Temperaments
Competitive
Reduce size of banner ad and add copy that appeals to
both Competitive and Spontaneous personas. Add links
to bestsellers.
Methodical
The category box will appeal to the methodical persona
who will spend the extra time scanning page.
Move this down in the left-navigation.
Spontaneous
Top Designers will appeal to Competitive and
Spontaneous visitors, move this up and place above
category box. Collapse list using a fly-out to better utilize
real estate in left-navigation.
Humanistic
Make the Facebook Fan page image & link more visible.
Currently it is below the fold. The positive testimonials on
this page will appeal to this persona type.
3

4. Factor #2: UVP
Revised headline to match unique value
proposition that is consistent with organic and
PPC search campaign wording, and consistent
with site’s mission: Discount e-commerce for
cologne, perfumes and designer fragrances for
both men and women.
Recommended Tests:
• Test different variations of the Unique Value
Proposition.
For example, test “Discount Cologne, Perfumes,
and Designer Fragrances” versus “Discount
Perfumes, Fragrances and Colognes for Men and
Women”.
• Test the UVP as both a banner and a headline.
4

5. Factor #3: Buying Decision
Recommended Tests:
• Move “We Shop the
Competition” up on Add to Cart
page for better visibility and to
reinforce buying decision inertia.
• Add POA during checkout –
make privacy policy more visible
in Step1.
• Make testimonials more visible
during checkout process.
5

6. Factor #4: Categorization
Modify Shop By Brand to be more
intuitive.
Recommended tests:
•Test changing the sub-heading on the
category pages to be consistent with
the labeling from the category
selector (or vice-versa). If the visitor
selected “A” from under “Women’s
Discount Perfume”, the sub-heading
on the landing page should read the
same.
•Change headline in the category tool
to read as “Shop By Brand”. Make
“Women’s Discount Perfume “and
“Men’s Discount Cologne” sub-
headings.
6

7. Factor #5: Usability
Improve page load times by converting
images from JPEG to PNG .
Women’s Perfume home page:
The total size of images is 143,765 bytes,
which is over 100K. Consider switch
graphic formats to achieve consistency
and smaller file sizes (from JPEG/GIF to
PNG for example). This will also help
speed up page load times when the
“Show Images” option is used on the
category pages.
Recommended Tests:
• Substitute CSS techniques for graphics
techniques to create colored borders,
backgrounds, and spacing.
(websiteoptimization.com)
• Consider renaming the “Alert Me” link
to something more intuitive. Such as
“Temporary out of Stock – Alert Me”
or if space is a concern replace the
“You save…” with “Temporary out of
stock” and keep the “Alert Me” link
labeled as it is. 7

8. Factor #6: Look and Feel
Scanning and Skimming
The approach used for Designers
at the top of the page is easy to
skim, but the long scrolling listing
for Fragrances is not as easy to
scan. Will visitors actually scroll
to the bottom of the page? (See
additional related comments in
Factor #26 for Readability).
Recommended Tests:
•Consider revising layout on
Category pages so listings for
Designers and Fragrances have
consistent layouts.
8

9. Factor #7: Search-ability
Recommended Tests:
•Change “Go” button for on-site search
to read as “Search”.
• Test reordering the browse
categories, such as the following:
By Rating
By Price
By Gender
By Brand
By Fragrance
•Test with and without images in
search results. Or provide option to
hide/view images similar to the
category pages.
9

10. Factor #8: Layout and
Visual Clarity
Heat map / eye –tracking analysis
was performed using the free
services offered through
AttentionWizard.com .
Two pages were analyzed – the
original Women’s Top Ten Perfumes
landing page (top images) and the
redesigned version (bottom images)
that was in the final stages of
development by the client (this is
page being used for the A/B testing
of the project).
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Consolidate into one landing page
(currently it is three).
• Number each entry 1- 10.
• Add obvious call to actions (Add-
to-Cart) buttons to each featured
product.
• Add new headline that clearly
identifies what the page contains.
10

11. Factor #9: Purchasing
Shopping Bag (Cart)
The site does a good job in this area by
providing multiple purchasing options
(both credit card and non-credit card
payment options).
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• The Shopping Bag pages and Step
3(Payment ) in the checkout process
should be consistent in presenting
the above purchasing options.
• Make certain the cart is labeled
consistently through the site. Test as
“Shopping Cart” versus “Shopping
Bag”.
• Same goes for the add-to-cart
button. On same pages it is labeled
as “Add-To-Cart” and in others it is
labeled “Add-to-Bag”. Test both
variations for impact on to
conversions (Add-to-Cart is most
recent added variation).
11

12. Factor #10: Tools
Consider enhancing the Brand Finder
in the left-navigation.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
•Re-label the sub-heading on the
Brand Finder to “Perfume / Fragrance
Finder” for women and “Cologne
Finder” for men.
• Provide a “Previously Viewed” option
to the Product pages.
12

13. Factor #11: Error Prevention
Recommended Changes / Tests:
Consider adding a custom 404 Error
Page or embedded messaging for
broken links and for page URL’s that
are mistyped by visitors.
See the examples for how Amazon and
Overstock.com handle this error
condition.
13

14. Factor #12: Browser
Compatibility (ch 23) IE8
Browser compatibility results from
Browsershots.org , the first is
presented to the right and the others
on the next five slides.
Six Browsers were tested (all Windows
based)
• IE8
•IE7
• FireFox 3.6
• FireFox 3.5
• Chrome 5.0
• Safari 4.0
These versions comprised ~92% of
the site traffic for the 30-day period
evaluated for this factor (May 8 – June
8, 2010).
14

15. Factor #12: Browser
Compatibility
Browser compatibility results from
Browsershots.org for Internet Explorer
7 are presented to the right.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• None recommended IE7
15

16. Factor #12: Browser
Compatibility
Browser compatibility results for from
Browsershots.org for FireFox 3.6 are
presented to the right.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• None recommended
FireFox 3.6
16

17. Factor #12: Browser
Compatibility
Browser compatibility results from
Browsershots.org for FireFox 3.5 are
presented to the right.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• None recommended
FireFox 3.5
17

18. Factor #12: Browser
Compatibility (ch 23)
Browser compatibility results from
Browsershots.org for Google Chrome
5.0 are presented to the right.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• None recommended
Chrome 5.0
18

19. Factor #12: Browser
Compatibility
Browser compatibility results
from Browsershots.org for
Windows Safari 4.0 are
presented to the right.
(Mac version was unavailable
for testing)
Recommended Changes /
Tests:
• None recommended
Safari 4.0
(Windows)
19

20. Factor #13:
Product Presentation
Consider consistency with product
presentation on landing pages. The top-
level product page for women’s perfumes
to the right has borders for the images in
Bestsellers, but not for the others.
The Bestsellers each have a call to action
(Add-to-Bag), while the others have
ratings and Bestsellers do not.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Test images with and without borders
and test adding a call to action for all
featured products on the pages. Same
with the review rating and links.
• What is the difference between
Bestsellers and Recommended for You?
Recommended for me based on what?
• Make sure call to actions are consistent
throughout product pages. On this page
the button is labeled “Add To Bag”
while on other product pages it is
labeled “Add to Cart”. Consistency adds
credibility (visitor confidence).
20

21. Factor #14:
Load time
Page speed is now a factor for Google
search rankings.
Recommended Tests:
• Test the current table layout at right
against a refreshed page with CSS
layout.
• To improve load times consider
eliminating the use of HTML tables
for product presentation and utilize
CSS .
21

22. Factor #15:
AIDAS
Stimulate desire and get visitors to
take action. These are two areas in
AIDAS that should be leveraged by the
Scentiments site.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Experiment by utilizing more images
of either men and women using
cologne or perfume on landing
pages. This will help to stimulate
“Desire” . This is especially
important on pages where calls to
action exist.
• Test image placement and size. The
image on the men’s cologne page is
good example of desire (image for
men’s cologne should emphasize her
desire to be close to him).
Women’s imagery should include
emphasize how she we will feel using
the perfume.
22

23. Factor #16:
Security/Privacy
Emphasize the security and
privacy of the customer’s
personal information that will be
collected during the initial
account creation phase.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Try moving the Privacy
Statement logo/link in the left-
hand navigation up higher on
the page so it easily appears
above the fold to all potential
and returning customers.
• Perhaps on this page the “Follow
us on Twitter” logo/link can be
moved down or eliminated to
allow for better emphasis on the
privacy and trust point of
assurances.
23

24. Factor #17:
Trust and Credibility
Make sure that during the sign-in and
account creation process that the
customer does not encounter a mixed
HTTP / HTTPS content environment.
These types of messages may create a
lack of confidence in the site, resulting in
the visitor abandoning the shopping cart,
purchase funnel.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Group the third-party assurances for
VeriSign and McAfee and the privacy
statement together on checkout pages.
Make sure these are prominently
displayed to help build trust and
credibility with new customers.
•Test moving the third-party assurance
from McAffee higher up in the left-
navigation on the checkout pages.
•Test moving the Privacy Statement link
and logo higher up in the left-navigation
on the checkout pages.
24

25. Factor #18: Product
Selection, Categorization,
Search Results.
The top product/category pages
need to the following types of
visitors:
• Those that know precisely want
they want.
• Those that know approximately
want they want.
• Those that have an interest, but
aren’t yet sure what they want.
The top-level pages for individual
alpha selections are very long ,
requiring a lot of scrolling
(Category “A” shown at right). Make certain that the
Designer links at the
Recommended Tests: top of the page have
relevancy to the
• Consider testing with sort Fragrances section
capabilities for description ( with below it. Currently
options to sort by designer, there is not an easily
description and price).
intuitive connection
• Also consider a faceted browse
similar to the Search pages to between the two.
allow users to narrow by brand,
description and price.
25

26. Factor #19:
Navigation and Links
Make sure that the active window on the home page
has very clear links to keep visitors focused on what
they should do next without depending on the top
and side global/local navigation elements.
Recommended Tests:
Add a “Shop by Category” link on the active window.
Add categories/selections on the homepage that are
consistent with the other landing pages such as the
following from the Women’s and Men’s top-level
product pages:
26

27. Factor #20:
Up-sell / Cross-sell
Test adding related recommendations
under the “Others Also Bought”
section based upon the visitors
selection (what has been added to
their cart) from the shopping cart.
Recommended Tests:
If it’s a men’s product, recommend
men’s products such as cologne, etc.
If possible recommend products from
the same brand(s) in the shopping cart
also based on gender.
Test without the up-sell and cross-sell
in the shopping cart to see how this
affects abandonment and conversions.
27

28. Factor #21:
Call-to-Action
The “5% Off Any Men’s Selection”
promo should include a call-to-action
button or clickable text that
emphasizes implied benefit of the
promotion.
Recommended Tests:
• Add call to action button within
promo on homepage.
• Add clickable text call to action in
promo on homepage.
• Try adding text on the promo landing
page (which is the Men’s Cologne
top-level product page) that ties
back to the homepage promo. The
same banner from the homepage is
repeated at the top of the landing
page.
28

29. Factor #22:
Point-of-Action Assurances
Shipping information should be
added to the Order Conformation
Page in the checkout process (Step
5 - You’re Done). It is provided in
Step 2 – Shipping, but should be
provided again in the final checkout
step as this the most likely page the
customer will print for their
records.
Recommended Tests:
• Add the top section from the
shipping- information section to
Step 4 (order processing time) to
see how this affects conversion and
checkout abandonment.
29

30. Factor #23:
Persuasive Copywriting
Customer and benefit oriented copy should be
added to the homepage, similar to what is provided
on the top-level men’s and women’s product pages.
The homepage is the first (and maybe the only)
opportunity to appeal to emotional needs of
potential customers.
Recommended Test:
Add benefit and customer-oriented copy to the
homepage such as the following text leveraged and
revised from the men’s top-level product page:
Your Savings, Your Satisfaction - Our Guarantee
“Scentiments.com provides you with the most
affordable perfumes, fragrances and colognes online
- up to 80% less than department store prices! “
“In addition, you are fully guaranteed that all of our
perfumes and colognes are 100% authentic.
Combined with everyday Free Shipping on every
order and our Award Winning Customer Service,
why would you shop for perfume or fragrances
anywhere else?”
30

31. Factor #24: From Google
Analytics
Content
Approximately 70% of the content viewed on the
Scentiments .com site are product pages (this metric
comes from Google Analytics, 5/16 – 6/16/2010 at
right).
An example of one of the top viewed pages is
displayed at below right for dolce & gabbana
perfume.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Revise “About” copy to be more benefit oriented
to the customer. It appears to be just a copy and
paste from the manufactures site.
•Review for grammatical errors.
• Break up “About” copy into multiple paragraphs for
better readability.
•To keep the visitor engaged and to keep them
moving towards conversion consider adding and
testing the following:
•Add links to customer testimonials for the
specific brand and products featured in place
of the FaceBook Like button.
•Add call-to-action (Add To Cart) buttons to
the featured (pictured )products.
31

32. Factor #25: From Google
Headlines Analytics
Headlines should be written and
formatted to provide “stickiness” to
the page copy. This also serves to
increase visitor confidence in the site
as a whole.
Actual headlines from the site’s top -
20 pages as they appear on both the
target page and in the browser’s title
are listed to the right.
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• At minimum each page should have
a brief descriptive headline. In some
cases on the Scentiments site
headlines are completely missing or
incomplete (see the “none” example
at right).
• Headlines should be properly
formatted with correct use of
capitalization (see the dolce &
gabbana example).
• Test the length of headlines. Example
for revised dolce & gabbana: “Dolce
& Gabbana Italian Perfumes and
Colognes”.
32

33. Factor #26:
Readability
Many of the product pages on
the Scentiments site are very
long, requiring a lot of scrolling
by the visitor to scan the entire
page.
Recommended Tests:
• Only list in-stock items under
each sub-heading to help
reduce length and improve
readability of page (what
percentage of customers
actually use the Alert Me
function?).
• As alternate to the first
recommendation, test using
the already available sub-
section bookmarks as the page
default without the expanded
listing. This should help
improve scan-ability of the
page, allowing users to expand
each selection as desired. 33

34. Factor #27:
Color and Images
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Add descriptive Alt tags to all site images.
Some images appear to contain non-
descriptive text , such as default
development scripts or code.
• Test images with and without borders to
gauge any impact to conversion and bounce
rate.
• Test different colors for “Our Price” to make
certain the correct contrast is provided. The
objective is to make certain that
Scentiments’ price is easily recognized as
the lowest price.
• Test for consistency on pages where there
is a mix of bordered and non-bordered
images.
For reference a colorblind check was
conducted of the home page. The full page
test can be viewed from this URL:
http://vischeck.homeip.net/uploads/127698
12552669/
34

35. Factor #28:
Terminology / Jargon
The Scentiments site overall does not
have a problem with excessive jargon or
terminology.
Aspects in this area that could be
leveraged to help improve site
“stickiness” and to better appeal to the
methodical persona type and to help re-
enforce benefits are recommended in the
following tests.
Recommended Tests:
• Add context in product descriptions. For
example “Contains lavender, sage,
jasmine, amber and oak moss.”. For a
man, what does this mean? The
description could be expanded to
explain why these components are
relevant to men’s cologne.
• Add a “Scents 101” section, similar to
Perfume 101 at right from the
Perfume.com site, and hyperlink to
relevant content from product pages.
35

36. Factor #29:
Customer Focused Language
The text from the Scentiment’s Customer Service
page was tested using FutureNow’s Customer
Focus Calculator and scored as follows:
• Customer Focus Rate = 42%
• Self Focus Rate = 58%
A Customer Focus Rate of 60% or greater is
recommended.
Corresponding pages were tested from the
following two competitors for comparison:
• FragranceNet.com
• Customer Focus Rate = 52%
• Self Focus Rate = 48%
• FragranceX.com:
• Customer Focus Rate = 61%
• Self Focus Rate = 39%
Recommended Changes / Tests:
• Rewrite and test copy that is more “you”
focused versus “we” focused.
• Rewrite the price guarantee section to be
more “you” focused and test placing it higher
(above the fold) on the Customer Service
page.
36

37. Factor #30:
Using Reviews
Scentiments.com does a good job of
utilizing product ratings. To potentially
boost conversions the following tests
are recommended.
Recommended Tests:
•Move the Product Rating higher up
on the page, swap positions with the
“Share This” section to see if having
the reviews closer to the call-to-action
button (Add to Cart) and product
image improves conversion.
•Re-label “Product Rating” to read as
“Average Customer Rating” to be
consistent with the all-ratings page,
which also helps to enhance its
credibility.
•Feature any available newer video
reviews – these will typically get more
traffic than text based reviews.
37