As the operator of an online store, you constantly have your hands full: customer support, supplier management, stock management and much more. Last but not least, of course, marketing. Optimization through A/B testing plays a special role in a company's marketing mix. 

A/B testing is one of the most important tools for advanced stores to find out exactly where hidden potential lies. In this article, you will find out what A/B testing is all about, who it is important for and how you can best implement it.

What is an A/B test?

A/B testing is a method of finding out which website design, content or functionality is most successful with visitors to your website. This allows you to test a variation or element of your site that can influence the behavior of your customers.

Common examples of A/B tests include changing the color of a button. Imagine you want to know whether your store visitors are more likely to buy something if the "Add to cart" button is green or red. In an A/B test, you test both colors for a while and then see which one works better. In this way, you can gradually make data-based optimizations in your store that are precisely tailored to your target group.

However, many e-commerce companies do not know how to carry out A/B tests effectively. Yet A/B tests, when done well, are an effective way to improve your company's key performance indicators.

Why are A/B tests important?

Did you know that, according to Statista, 44.5% of companies worldwide consider customer experience to be the most important differentiator from the competition? However, creating a good customer experience is not just about using your intuition to predict what will attract and convert potential customers. Rather, you need tangible insights into what your target group actually wants.

Entrepreneurs always make the same mistake at this point: they rely too much on their gut feeling. Especially when you're self-employed and running a complex e-commerce project, you sometimes have to listen to your intuition. When it comes to store optimization, the more promising way is definitely an A/B test.

A/B tests not only bring your store to success faster, they also save important resources such as time and money. With carefully designed tests, you can quickly achieve meaningful results that will help your online store move forward.

Probably the most prominent example of successful testing and optimization is Amazon. The US company has developed from an e-commerce store that only sold books into the largest online retailer in the world. Much of this success is due to constant testing, experimentation and the development of innovations.

These innovations are now world-famous. Online stores are constantly trying to emulate Amazon's optimal customer experience. These developments are no coincidence - they are the result of continuous testing and measures based on reliable data. 

It's inevitable that you'll make changes to your e-commerce website at some point. Be it to your wording, your SEO tactics or your checkout process. If you want to make the right changes and convert more of your existing traffic, A/B testing is the best way to go. This way you can gain meaningful insights and get your store on the right track.

How do A/B tests work?

A basic distinction can be made between two types of A/B tests: customer-side and server-side.

Customer A/B test

During customer-side testing, each visitor is sent exactly the same version of a website. This is changed in the visitor's browser using JavaScript before they see the page.

Server-side A/B test

During server-side testing, your web server shows visitors different versions of the page and changes them on the server before they are sent to the visitor's browser. No changes are made to the page in the browser.

For example, you can send 50% of your visitors to variant A and 50% to variant B. Then you analyze the performance of each page variant to determine whether variant A or variant B is more effective in terms of a specific goal. The specific goals can be very different, such as signing up for an email newsletter, clicking on a link or making a purchase.

You can also test in the following ways:

A/B tests for native iPhone or Android apps

A/B tests are somewhat more complex for applications. This is because it is not possible to present two different versions once the app has been downloaded and deployed on a smartphone. There are workarounds that allow you to update your app immediately. You can easily change your design and analyze the impact of this change directly.

Split tests or redirect tests

Split testing redirects your traffic to one or more different URLs. This can be an effective approach if you are hosting new pages on your server.

Multivariate tests

The multivariate test measures the effects of several changes on the same page. For example, you can change fonts, the color of your text, call-to-action texts and many other elements

Enough traffic is the key

To be sure that the results are correct and not due to measurement errors, a certain number of visitors must be reached. If this threshold is not reached, multivariate tests can be inaccurate. In the worst case scenario, this can lead to you making changes that can damage your store.

If your website is not generating enough traffic, you should consider investing in paid advertising or SEO first to increase your visitor numbers. Once you have reached the necessary traffic level, you can still run A/B tests to get the most out of your store visitors.

A/B tests with low traffic: what you need to watch out for

However, increasing traffic in your store can be a lengthy undertaking. Especially if you focus on SEO , it can take several months before you notice any noticeable differences. So what should you do if you want to optimize your store using A/B tests despite low traffic?

The good news is that you can use this tool even with relatively few store visitors. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind when optimizing your site with low traffic through A/B testing.

Test your top pages

Avoid testing areas of your website that only have a few visitors. It's much better to test the sections of your store that are used and seen everywhere. This includes website-wide tests, for example of the navigation bar, the announcement bar or the footer. This allows you to make ideal use of the existing traffic and achieve meaningful results in less time than if you were to test just one specific product page, for example.

Test changes with a big impact

Sometimes small changes have a big impact on the conversion rate (CR for short). However, it is more likely that testing a large adjustment will have a more drastic effect. Focus your tests on the sections of your website that are important to visitors. Then you will most likely have a greater impact on the CR than if you test very small changes on niche sites.

Choose goals wisely

Your main goal may be to increase the conversion rate or the number of newsletter subscriptions. However, with low website traffic, it can take an extremely long time until you have collected enough conversions to validate the results.

Alternatively, you can take a step back in the funnel and compare add-to-carts or click rates, for example. This allows you to generate the amount of data you need to achieve statistical significance more quickly.

You should still exercise patience, but if you follow these basic rules, you can carry out effective A/B tests in your store even with low visitor numbers.

Which store elements should you test?

We've already talked a lot about what A/B testing is, how it works and how you can use A/B testing for your store optimization even with low traffic.

But what exactly can we optimize with the help of A/B tests?

Titles and headings

Font, text color and content are the essential components of titles and headings. You can change these to see how your website visitors react to different visual impressions and varied approaches. For example, you could test whether warm colors work better than cold ones, or modern fonts against serif fonts. Another option is to try a personal, humorous approach versus a factual, direct one.

Call-to-actions

Call-to-actions are an essential part of every store. The specific call to action usually provides the final "push" that your visitors need to sign up for a newsletter, watch your video or add a product to their shopping cart. Testing different call-to-action texts can significantly increase your conversion rate in the long term.

Pictures

As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words, which is why high-quality product images are a core element in every store. However, you can test which type of image works best for you: Images that use your products. Images in which real people can be seen. Or very minimalist: a photo of the product on a light background.

Landing pages

It can make sense to create extra landing pages for certain promotions, specials or products. You can A/B test these to see which layout, design, page structure and texts are most popular.

Product prices

Testing the prices of your products is a bold step. Nevertheless, it can provide you with important insights, as price is one of the key factors influencing purchasing decisions. When testing prices, you must be careful not to alienate your community and customers if it becomes known that you are selling the same products at different prices. To avoid this, you can, for example, create offers that are almost identical but differ slightly in terms of benefits, accessories and service.

Forms

Clarity and clarity are extremely important for forms. You can change the title of a field, remove irrelevant fields, swap the placement of individual fields or customize the design.

Navigation

Navigation is at the heart of your store. As the name suggests, it is used by users to navigate through your website and find their way around. With A/B tests, you can ensure that your navigation is sensibly structured and intuitive to use. This lays the foundation for a positive user experience.

Conclusion - Why you need to A/B test in your store 

Let's recap at the end: You now know what A/B tests are and why they are important for online store operators. You've also learned about the variety of A/B tests, that sufficient traffic is crucial and how you can benefit from A/B tests even as a "low-traffic store".

Last but not least, we discussed the many different website elements that you can test in your store. Be it the navigation, call-to-action texts or your store images: With A/B testing, you can recognize untapped potential in your store and exploit it like never before.