Some ideas to get you started.
What you decide to test ultimately depends upon your business goals and priorities. The following example experiments can help get the creative juices flowing and jump-start your testing program. Please don't hesitate to reach out to support@intelligems.io if you have any questions!
In this article:
Price Test Suggestions
The following are some examples of pricing elements that are frequently tested, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Use it as a starting place to brainstorm on potential experiments for your website!
1. The Straddle.
Increase and decrease the price of every product by 10%. This is a great place to start as it will give you a look at elasticity across the board. If you don't want to start with your entire store, pick a few products or a collection to test first and iterate from there. Check out this case study on a brand who recently ran this type of test on their main collection and found that the lower price group generated nearly a 40% lift in conversion rate which yielded a 15% increase in revenue.
What this test design might look like:
| Control Price | +10% | -10% | |
| Product A | $10 | $11 | $9 |
| Product B | $20 | $22 |
$18 |
✨ The Control Group should almost always be equal to what is currently live on the site - keeping one group consistent will keep your baseline consistent, giving you the most actionable results.
2. The Double Down.
Iterate based on the results from the test above. Let's say you run the test outlined above, and find that you see higher conversion and higher revenue per visitor on Product A at the $9 price point and on Product B you don't see a change in conversion across the three price points, but you see an increase in revenue per visitor on the $22 price point. Because price elasticity is a curve, it may make sense to run another test drilling in further on the price for these products.
What this test design might look like based on the above scenario:
| Control Price | Lower/Higher | Even Lower/Higher | |
| Product A | $9 | $8 | $7 |
| Product B | $22 | $24 | $26 |
✨ Note that this is one scenario where your Control Group is not what has been live on the site, but rather the 'winner' from the previous test.
3. The Strikethrough.
Try out different Compare-At prices while keeping the actual price consistent. Price psychology can have major impacts on conversion - how might a larger perceived discount impact your consumer's behavior?
What this test design might look like:
| Control Price | Control Compare-At Price | Group A Price |
Group A Compare-At Price |
|
| Product A | $20 | $25 | $20 | $30 |
4. The Great Discount Debate.
Similar to how the discount value impacts price psychology in the above, the discount type can also impact consumer behavior - would a 10% or $5 discount that ultimately have the same value be more likely to get you across the line? Checkout pricing strategy #3 in this blog for more details on the psychology behind this.
What this test design might look like:
| % Group Price | % Group Discount | $ Group Price | $ Group Discount | |
| Product A | $50 | 10% Off | $50 | $5 Off |
5. The Volume Discount Duel.
We recently launched a feature for Volume Discounts - you can have these turned on all the time, but obviously Intelligems can also help you test which thresholds and discounts drive the most value.
What this test design might look like:
| Control Discount | Higher Discount | Lower Discount | |
| Product A |
15% off $100 or more 20% off $150 or more 25% off $200 or more |
20% off $100 or more 25% off $150 or more 30% off $200 or more |
10% off $100 or more 15% off $150 or more 20% off $200 or more |
✨ We recommend taking a look at a histogram of your order values for the last month (or more) when deciding what Volume Discounts to test, especially if Volume Discounts will be a new addition to the site. For example, if a majority of your orders come in around $100, you may not want to provide a discount for orders over $100, but rather start around $150.
6. Savings Showdown: Volume Discount vs Price Discount.
Test Volume Discounts in comparison to reduced product prices. Check out this case study on a brand that recently ran a test just like this, and found that reduced product prices perform better than discounts on their site.
What this test design might look like:
| Control Price | Volume Discount | Lower Price | Volume Discount | |
| Product A | $49.99 |
10% off 2+ Units 15% off 3+ Units 20% off 4+ Units |
$39.99 | None |
Shipping Test Suggestions
The following are some examples of shipping elements that are frequently tested, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Use it as a starting place to brainstorm on potential experiments for your website!
1. The Flat Fee Face-Off.
Ever since Amazon made free shipping the norm, many brands have felt like they had to move in that direction. But what if higher shipping rates didn't actually impact your conversion rate and you could put that cost back onto the customer? You'll never know unless you test it out.
What this test design might look like:
| Control Group | Slightly Higher | Highest | |
| Flat Shipping Rate | Free | $5 | $10 |
2. The Threshold Trials.
In line with the above test, some brands have have moved towards free shipping over a certain threshold to keep customers from finding somewhere else that does offer free shipping, as well as increase AOV. If you're not already doing this, you could test a few different thresholds out, and if you do already have a threshold, you could test a higher and lower threshold (or a couple higher/lower) to try to find the sweet spot. Check out this case study on a brand who recently ran this type of test and found a ~6% increase in AOV and ~12% increase in revenue per site visitor!
What this test design might look like:
| Control Group | Lower Threshold | Higher Threshold | Highest Threshold | |
| Threshold | $75 | $50 | $100 | $125 |
✨ We recommend taking a look at a histogram of your order values for the last month (or more) when deciding what thresholds to test. For example, if a majority of your orders come in around $90-$100, but your current threshold is $50, you may want to consider testing out a $100 threshold to push people to add one more item to their cart.
Pricing and Shipping Test Suggestions
The following are some examples of pricing and shipping elements that are frequently tested at the same time, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Use it as a starting place to brainstorm on potential experiments for your website.
1. The Combo Deal.
Maybe you've tested your product prices and your shipping fees, but now you're curious how those two elements interact with each other. If you fold shipping prices into the product and provide free shipping for everyone, do you see an increase in conversion without losing shipping revenue?
What this test design might look like:
| Control | Group A | |
| Shipping Price |
Free Over $50 $3 Under $50 |
Free Shipping |
| Product A Price | $12 | $15 |