Garmundo – Webshop – Funnel Test

In this project, we worked together with the Online Marketing Company Tomahawk. Their expertise lies in conversion rate optimization of webshops for different target countries. They make extensive use of online analytics but in this case they wanted to dig deeper. One client in particular was interested in using our techniques to make the next jump in conversions.

Garmundo is a well known online webshop for plants. Their webshop exists in many different countries and this was the part where our testing came in. In collaboration with Tomahawk, the goal was to find out how the same design impacts different cultures.

Specifically, how do Dutch customers experience the webshop and how do Germans experience it?

We often hear that culture impacts our decisions and buying habits and that webshops should be optimized. But in what way and what exactly does each culture prefer or dislike in a webshop?

We tested the funnel with Dutch and German customers to see where optimization is specific to their culture.

How we test prototypes

Prototype / Print Screen

Testers see a scrollable page

Funnel is presented in the right order

Metrics

60 Testers

2 day turn-around

Results

Let’s go through the results step by step. To get a good overview of the differences between Dutch and German customers over the entire funnel we are interested in seeing:

  • Step 1: The Summary comparison
  • Step 2: Maps
  • Step 4: Exact over time development

The first will already tell us the general difference for each customer group. We can then also select pages that stand out to directly compare their individual results between Dutch and Germans.

These specific results can be found on the Summary Comparison Page (explanation), which has the overall scores of each page next to each other. Then, we select pages for comparison, we use the Valence Maps to see the differences directly in one go. For the more in-depth comparison of the scanning behavior we check the Heatflow (explanation) and the Swarm (explanation) analysis of those pages.

We analyzed the entire funnel but here we only present the cultural optimization results

Score Comparison

The Valence Score comparison across the entire funnel makes it already very clear that Germans react more negatively than Dutch customers.

Looking at the emotions of the Germans, it is driven by confusion and skepticism. To improve conversions, it is important to then improve the funnel already at the beginning.

Regular analytics would just tell you that customers don’t go to the next part of the funnel, now we know why and also what we need to improve (see next).

There are two pages that stand out based on their Valence Scores. The product page and the shopping cart have both a positive Valence for the Dutch but a negative for the Germans.

We look at those two pages in more detail to see WHY these differences are so strong.

Product page and shopping cart are quite different between groups

Maps – Valence

The Valence Map gives a good overview of what on the page evokes a positive or negative reaction. This makes a side-by-side comparison very easy.

Product Page

Overall, the Dutch react very positively to the Product Page, whereas the Germans react strongly negative.

The Germans are particularly confused about the product image and its text. The product is supposed to be a fig tree, but they see only a fig and below they see trees again.

The Dutch are not confused by this and show positive reaction to text, image, and Call to Actions.

Text and image create confusion for Germans

Shopping Cart

The Dutch show confusion on the product image and the Germans as well. On the product page it was the image of the fruit and now it is a tree. This inconsistency leads to confusion in both groups.

The Dutch orient themselves and resolve the confusion quickly. They also show a positive reaction to the Call to Action button.

The Germans stay confused and are scanning the entire page.

Different product image creates confusion for both

Heatflow

The Heatflow video gives a quick overview of the viewing behavior of the groups. It makes it easy to see a general pattern.

Product Page

The Dutch quickly understand what they are looking at. Like the Valence map indicates, they are not confused. They scan the product image and the text, they then scroll down and look at the rest of the page.

The Germans see the product image and then read the text. They jump back and forth in between those two, trying to clarify their confusion. Only then they start scrolling down.

The Dutch see much more of the page than the Germans.

Germans get confused and scan slower

Shopping Cart

The Dutch quickly look at the product image and then read the text. Their visually look directly at the summary of the shopping cart and at the Call to Action button.

The Germans also look at the product image and read the text but they remain confused. They start to look at the order process and the menu to understand where they are. They also scroll down and look for more indications in the footer. Almost on attention is spent on the Call to Action.

Product image confuses Germans – they look for orientation at the order process

Swarm

The Swarm analysis supports the overall pattern already indicated by the Heatflow analysis.

Here it’s also easy to see individual tester’s viewing behavior. Scanning goes very fast. Based on individuals, the Dutch start viewing the entire page much faster than individuals in the German group.

The same holds for the Shopping Cart page. The Dutch find the Call to Action much faster than the Germans.

The Dutch see more of the page than Germans

Conclusion

These results make clear that Dutch and German customers react differently to the exact same funnel. Overall, the text and images create a lot of confusion and the text specifically causes skepticism. The Dutch seem familiar with webshops. They scan quickly and get to the next step, inconsistency doesn’t bother them as much as Germans. The Germans get stuck trying to read all the text. If something small is not in order, they get confused and try to read more or they leave the website.

The good news is that these things are all easy to fix. All that is required to increase the Conversion Rate in this funnel for the Germans is to:

  • consistently use the same product image
  • update the text to fit the product and reduce skepticism

Culture makes a big difference in relation to how the web funnel performs.

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