Tripling Conversions with IoT: A Case Study on NerdCow's Web Development Strategy

The client in this case study is The Transport Library, a large ecommerce shop that sells images of rail and bus photos from the past. They have an extensive product database, stocking over 140,000 items in their shop. The Transport Library's user base primarily consists of individuals aged 55 to 65+ who are not particularly tech-savvy. They approached NerdCow with the hope of increasing their sales through a website redesign. The users were facing difficulties in using the search bar, finding new products, and completing their purchases, leading to low sales despite the extensive range of products.

NerdCow, a premium web design agency, was faced with the challenge of improving conversions on a client's ecommerce site, The Transport Library. The Transport Library, a large online shop selling images of rail and bus photos, was struggling with low sales despite its extensive product database of over 140,000 items. The main issues identified were a complicated search bar, difficulty in finding new products, and users not completing their purchases. The search bar was particularly challenging for the site's user base, primarily aged 55 to 65+ and not tech-savvy, due to its multiple fields with filters and joining statements. Users were also spending hours scrolling through the site's product database without clicking into any actual products, indicating a struggle to find new items. Lastly, despite adding products to their carts, users were not finalizing their purchases.

NerdCow implemented several changes to address these issues. Firstly, they simplified the search bar by removing all fields, allowing users to type in their search and the system would find it for them. Secondly, to help users identify new products, they added an 'uploaded' badge to products released within the past week and a badge to show users which products they had already viewed. This not only helped returning users identify new images but also conveyed to users that the website is regularly updated. Lastly, to address the issue of users not completing their purchases, NerdCow set up an abandoned cart sequence to email people who didn't finish checking out and added a reminder to the website so that returning users would be reminded of items in their cart. These changes were implemented using Hotjar's Recordings and Surveys tools, which allowed NerdCow to understand user behavior and gather direct feedback.

• The operational results of NerdCow's solutions were significant. The simplified search bar made it easier for the site's non-technical user base to find what they were looking for, improving user experience and engagement. The addition of on-page graphics like badges helped users swiftly spot new products and those they'd already viewed, reducing the time spent scrolling through the product database. The abandoned cart emails and site notifications served as effective reminders for users to complete their purchases, leading to an increase in conversions. Overall, these changes not only improved the site's usability but also its efficiency, leading to a significant increase in sales.

• Nearly tripled sales for The Transport Library in just two weeks

• Significant increase in 'adds-to-cart' after implementing the new product badge

• Improved user experience leading to increased site engagement