Tripling Conversions in a Month: A Case Study on Materials Market

Materials Market is a UK-based online platform that connects construction material suppliers with customers. The company was co-founded in 2020 by Andrew and his business partner, Samuel, after they experienced difficulties in contacting construction suppliers. The platform allows customers to enquire with multiple suppliers at once to get the best deal. Despite being a relatively new company, Materials Market has experienced rapid growth, making £500,000 in online sales in their first six months and hiring their first full-time staff member. The company is now making over £1,000,000 a year.

Materials Market, a UK-based online platform connecting construction material suppliers with customers, was facing a significant challenge with their website's conversion rate. Despite the company's rapid growth and impressive sales figures, the site's conversion rate was a mere 0.5%. Andrew, the Operations Director, identified three key areas of concern through Hotjar, a user interaction tracking tool. These included a confusing call to action (CTA), issues in the checkout flow leading to higher than expected drop-offs, and a problematic cookie policy causing visitors to bounce. The CTAs were obscured on mobile and confusing on desktop, and the checkout process was cumbersome and lengthy, causing one in every four visitors to abandon their purchase. The cookie policy was also causing confusion among users, leading to a high bounce rate.

Andrew used Hotjar to identify and address these issues, leading to a tripling of the conversion rate from 0.5% to 1.6% in just one month. He made several changes to the website, including altering the color of the two CTAs to differentiate them, moving the estimated delivery date to before the checkout, raising the CTA higher up the page on mobile, changing the font and design of the CTA to reduce cognitive load, and adding a TrustPilot rating to reduce perceived risk. Andrew also simplified the checkout process by reducing the number of steps and collecting all customer details on one pop-up modal rather than several different pages. He also reframed the wording of the checkout flow from 'Sign up' to 'Secure Checkout' to put users at ease. Finally, Andrew made the cookie banner more user-friendly by making the button 30% bigger, shifting the banner higher up the page, changing the color of the button, and altering the copy.

• The changes implemented by Andrew have had a significant impact on the operational efficiency of Materials Market. The simplified checkout process has not only improved the user experience but also significantly reduced the number of users abandoning their purchases. The changes to the CTA and the cookie banner have made the website more user-friendly and intuitive, leading to a decrease in bounce rates. Furthermore, the addition of a TrustPilot rating has helped to build trust with customers and reduce perceived risk. These improvements have not only led to a significant increase in the conversion rate but also generated tens of thousands in additional revenue for the company. Despite his many responsibilities as Operations Director, Andrew has been able to make considerable improvements to the website, demonstrating the value of user interaction tracking tools like Hotjar in identifying and addressing issues.

• Boosted conversion rate from 0.5% to 1.6% in just one month

• Generated £10,000+ more in yearly revenue

• Decreased exits at the checkout flow by 86%