4 Digital Experience Pivots to Improve Holiday Sales Performance

The wild ride of holiday retail has spun through COVID uncertainty, supply chain challenges, and now inflation and fears of a looming recession. While the only reliable prediction retailers can make about the 2022 shopping season is that it's bound to be unpredictable, early data indicates that a focus on digital excellence and efficiency can make the difference between holiday humbug and success.

New consumer research from FullStory finds that more than half of American consumers (51 percent) are researching purchases online more carefully than previously, while 42 percent are using coupons and discount codes, and 33 percent are switching to lower-priced or discount brands.

Not only are shoppers scrutinizing their selections more closely, but they’re discerning when it comes to digital experiences: 75 percent will abandon a transaction when they experience site problems, and the majority (55 percent) won’t give brands a second chance after a bad site experience. The damage to brand reputations can be lasting, with 54 percent saying they lose trust in retailers whose sites are glitchy.

Given the high stakes of the season, retailers need to use Digital Experience Intelligence (DXI) solutions to recognize and respond to changing digital behavior patterns that indicate important opportunities or struggles — or risk losing trust and sales. Key areas to monitor and improve before holiday shopping kicks into gear include the following:

Site Speed

Slowdowns caused by spiking holiday traffic are commonplace, but they’re potentially damaging: 57 percent of consumers in FullStory’s survey said sluggish load times prompt departure from websites or mobile apps — their top reason for leaving. In addition to monitoring site and app performance, retailers should watch for landing page, cart, and checkout abandonment rates that may signal stalling processes.

The problem is especially critical to address on mobile sites and apps, given that mobile shopping now accounts for 43 percent of e-commerce revenue during the holidays, according to Adobe Analytics. Mobile’s influence is growing, Adobe found: mobile purchases accounted for more than half of all online sales on six days during the 2021 holiday season, compared with a single day in 2020.

Loops and Dead Ends

Glitchy navigation aids are among the top peeves for shoppers, with 47 percent of survey respondents saying they’ve left sites after encountering broken links. Thirty-eight percent departed after clicking on a broken button. Given that shoppers are spending more time researching than ever, retailers should use DXI to test and re-test digital tools — from product comparison matrices to custom configurators and buyer reviews — to eliminate loops and dead ends. Can shoppers add products to their cart at any time? What happens if they use the “back” button rather than following the tool’s recommended sequence?

Digital automotive marketplace TrueCar has used FullStory to make major improvements in its product research features. The product team confirmed that forcing visitors to view only new or only used vehicles matching on-site search criteria was less effective than a combined results set displaying both; the change boosted monthly leads by 3,000. Following over three months of monitoring and iterative improvements, the team boosted engagement by 50 percent for a configurator tool that connects shoppers with dealers whose vehicles match the selected specifications.

In addition, retailers can watch DXI trends for products languishing in online shopping carts, a signal that price-sensitive buyers may have added items in order to view and compare total order costs. Real-time detection of this behavior can trigger discount or gift-card-with-purchase offers to entice shoppers to complete the purchase.

Discount and Promo Codes

More than a third of consumers (37 percent) report leaving a site after encountering problems with an online form. Therefore, fields in the cart and throughout the checkout process must work perfectly. Given that shoppers are relying on coupons and promo codes to combat inflationary pricing, retailers should spell out policies for redemption and test such functionality as applying discount codes directly from email campaigns, sharing referral codes, and using promo codes for sale merchandise.

Retailers should not only test coupon and promo code performance on a straightforward “path to purchase” that progresses from the product page to cart to checkout, but they should also ensure that more complex buyer journeys work flawlessly. Adding items and applying discounts from wish lists or gift registries, moving saved cart items back into the order, and adding accessories and other upsells should be easy on any device.

Checkout

The checkout experience is one of the most important elements of any e-commerce store. The product team at Younique, a $1 billion peer-to-peer cosmetics company with a mission to uplift and empower women around the world, was aware that one element on its cart page — an unclickable bar labeled “Update” that looked like a button — was causing confusion for visitors, but they were unable to quantify its impact. After implementing FullStory, Younique discovered that the “Update” bar was one of the most highly "rage clicked" elements on the entire website and prioritized removing it from this critical point in the buyer journey.

Gauging success in a fast-changing environment is especially challenging because it’s hard to know what to measure before it happens. As retailers head into the peak holiday season, DXI can continue to help lay the groundwork to detect, prevent and proactively address new digital situations as they arise — earning trust and sales in the process.

Kirsten Newbold-Knipp is the CMO of FullStory, a leader in digital experience intelligence for more than 3,100 companies across the globe.