How I Improved Conversion Rate for
How I Improved Conversion Rate for
A bit of Background
A bit of Background
“ Healthsocho is an online marketplace for alternative medicines like Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, naturopathic medicines. When i joined Healthsocho the main issue they were facing was the very low conversion rates. Due to the huge ad-spending there were visitors to the site. But it rarely converted to a sales.”
“ Healthsocho is an online marketplace for alternative medicines like Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, naturopathic medicines. When i joined Healthsocho the main issue they were facing was the very low conversion rates. Due to the huge ad-spending there were visitors to the site. But it rarely converted to a sales.”
Research
Research
The Initial Investigation
The Initial Investigation
Healthsocho being a very early stage startup my work spanned more than just design. We had a problem and i was out to figure out the why and how it can be solved.
I began investigating what was happening. I started out with a lot of questions.
Healthsocho being a very early stage startup my work spanned more than just design. We had a problem and i was out to figure out the why and how it can be solved.
I began investigating what was happening. I started out with a lot of questions.
Is this really a UX issue?
The UX of the portal was rather poor. But is the bad conversion rates truly due to the bad UX alone?
Are there gaps in the business model? And even more than that, is there a proper need for these products in these markets?
Is the marketing properly targeted and reaching the right segments?
Who are the users visiting the site? Out of them who could turn out to be Customers?
Are there any bottlenecks for the users in purchasing the products?
Is this really a UX issue?
The UX of the portal was rather poor. But is the bad conversion rates truly due to the bad UX alone?
Are there gaps in the business model? And even more than that, is there a proper need for these products in these markets?
Is the marketing properly targeted and reaching the right segments?
Who are the users visiting the site? Out of them who could turn out to be Customers?
Are there any bottlenecks for the users in purchasing the products?
The Research Plan
The Research Plan
My Research plan to fix conversions focused on 3 things - User Experience, Products and Marketing. I decided to start with my forte - User Experience first.
My Research plan to fix conversions focused on 3 things - User Experience, Products and Marketing. I decided to start with my forte - User Experience first.
Its all about analytics
Its all about analytics
My first plan of action was to ask developers to implement google analytics in the portal. I wanted to understand who were the current users and how they behaved in the portal.
Going through the analytics reports i came to know
Some demographics data of the targeted users which helped to build personas.
most of the users were dropping off at the product pages.
Ads were directly targeted to these product pages. So users rarely went past more than 1 page.
This Suggested users were curious about the products. But they didn’t trust the product enough to get into the purchase flow.
My first plan of action was to ask developers to implement google analytics in the portal. I wanted to understand who were the current users and how they behaved in the portal.
Going through the analytics reports i came to know
Some demographics data of the targeted users which helped to build personas.
most of the users were dropping off at the product pages.
Ads were directly targeted to these product pages. So users rarely went past more than 1 page.
This Suggested users were curious about the products. But they didn’t trust the product enough to get into the purchase flow.
Fixing the impression : Heuristics
Fixing the impression : Heuristics
Trust issue could stem from a number of reasons. But it could also stem from the poor quality web portal we had and the overall impression it gave to the user. To understand the issues I decided to run a heuristic evaluation on the existing website.
Trust issue could stem from a number of reasons. But it could also stem from the poor quality web portal we had and the overall impression it gave to the user. To understand the issues I decided to run a heuristic evaluation on the existing website.
Finding the bottlenecks: Guerrilla Testing
Finding the bottlenecks: Guerrilla Testing
Next we wanted to see if there are any bottlenecks or issues in the user flows in existing website. We ran it through a few test users and gave them some tasks to fulfill. Apart from web portal being a bit slow and some CTA not that distinguishable there weren’t much flow issues reported.
Next we wanted to see if there are any bottlenecks or issues in the user flows in existing website. We ran it through a few test users and gave them some tasks to fulfill. Apart from web portal being a bit slow and some CTA not that distinguishable there weren’t much flow issues reported.
Validating the Product Market fit : Competitor Analysis
Validating the Product Market fit : Competitor Analysis
Next I decided to validate the product.
Having competitors in the space is a good way of reassuring our product has a place in the market. Luckily we were able to find a handful of companies working in the same domain - healthkart ,1mg, luckyvitamin
We also checked the offerings from our competitors to figure out how they were building the conversions. Healthkart and 1mg weren’t truely for alternative medicine marketplaces. Their value proposition was delivering medicines to your footstep. Luckyvitamins was focused on all things related to holistic health. They also included services and all sorts of holistic health stuff. Since our stakeholders were focused only on alternative medicines due to supply constraints, luckyvitamins emerged as the ideal direction.
Next I decided to validate the product.
Having competitors in the space is a good way of reassuring our product has a place in the market. Luckily we were able to find a handful of companies working in the same domain - healthkart ,1mg, luckyvitamin
We also checked the offerings from our competitors to figure out how they were building the conversions. Healthkart and 1mg weren’t truely for alternative medicine marketplaces. Their value proposition was delivering medicines to your footstep. Luckyvitamins was focused on all things related to holistic health. They also included services and all sorts of holistic health stuff. Since our stakeholders were focused only on alternative medicines due to supply constraints, luckyvitamins emerged as the ideal direction.
Understanding Marketing Target
Understanding Marketing Target
Next i got in touch with Marketing leads and tried to figure out what kind of persona they were targeting for ads.
I came to know they were targeting
30 - 60 years old, Indians, considering purchase power capacity and openness to holistic medicines.
ads were selling transformation, personalized care, and offers as value propositions.
Next i got in touch with Marketing leads and tried to figure out what kind of persona they were targeting for ads.
I came to know they were targeting
30 - 60 years old, Indians, considering purchase power capacity and openness to holistic medicines.
ads were selling transformation, personalized care, and offers as value propositions.
Ideal User and Ideal User Flow.
Ideal User and Ideal User Flow.
To set as a goal we also mapped an ideal user persona and an ideal user flow. This would also help our digital marketing leads to properly target the users.
To set as a goal we also mapped an ideal user persona and an ideal user flow. This would also help our digital marketing leads to properly target the users.
Ideation & Design
Ideation & Design
Based on the research we started exploring possible next steps. After discussing with the leadership we decided to go ahead with the following measures:
Using the research done as base redesign the marketplace. Designs should convey trust.
Improve performance of the portal by migrating it from Wordpress to an independent server.
Based on research, modify ads and experiment targeting different demographics that could have a higher possibility to convert.
Based on the research we started exploring possible next steps. After discussing with the leadership we decided to go ahead with the following measures:
Using the research done as base redesign the marketplace. Designs should convey trust.
Improve performance of the portal by migrating it from Wordpress to an independent server.
Based on research, modify ads and experiment targeting different demographics that could have a higher possibility to convert.
Healthsocho Redesign
Healthsocho Redesign
Based on the research i started sketching wireframes for the new Healthsocho Portal using pen and paper.
I explored various solutions based on research to improve the conversion which would be discussed in the final design section.
Based on the research i started sketching wireframes for the new Healthsocho Portal using pen and paper.
I explored various solutions based on research to improve the conversion which would be discussed in the final design section.
New Styles
New Styles
To improve the visual appeal we reworked the styling for the e-marketplace. Our old portal had inconsistencies throughout the portal. We tried to standardize the styling across the platform.
To improve the visual appeal we reworked the styling for the e-marketplace. Our old portal had inconsistencies throughout the portal. We tried to standardize the styling across the platform.
Switching colors
Switching colors
We wanted to convey trust. But at the same time should convey it is a safe and natural health product. So a mix of blue and green - Teal color was selected as the base color. To contrast it CTA’s were changed to yellow. Since our target was primarily Indian markets and to complement with the teal an slight orange tint was added to the neutrals in palette, which was used for other backgrounds.
We wanted to convey trust. But at the same time should convey it is a safe and natural health product. So a mix of blue and green - Teal color was selected as the base color. To contrast it CTA’s were changed to yellow. Since our target was primarily Indian markets and to complement with the teal an slight orange tint was added to the neutrals in palette, which was used for other backgrounds.
Restyling the text
Restyling the text
For a broader selection of font weights Open Sans was selected as the main Text Font. For the hero section alone we decided to use a separate decorative text.
For a broader selection of font weights Open Sans was selected as the main Text Font. For the hero section alone we decided to use a separate decorative text.
Final Solution
Final Solution
After exploring various options and solutions we finally discussed with leadership and finalized our design. In this section i would be describing our solutions in detail.
After exploring various options and solutions we finally discussed with leadership and finalized our design. In this section i would be describing our solutions in detail.
Back to the old question
Back to the old question
So, how did we improve the conversion rates? Here are the solutions we came up with :
So, how did we improve the conversion rates? Here are the solutions we came up with :
Building Trust : Healthsocho Blog
Building Trust : Healthsocho Blog
What we were trying to sell were alternative medicines. User’s barely know about them. So we won’t be able to sell them with offers alone like in a traditional E-Marketplace. If a user comes across an offer like “Shilajit 50% off” unless he is familiar with the product he might not be interested in it.
We also wanted an alternative way to loop in convertible users. The solution was to introduce a blog section in our website. The blogs on health benefits of certain health products, health issues they are facing, etc. could nudge the user into trusting what they are buying.
We also designed a different marketing - sales funnel as well centered on the blog articles. We would try to promote our blog articles in social media. For anyone interested the links would be leading them to those specific blogs in Healthsocho which would have hooks to specific products.
This would greatly improve the quality of traffic we are getting and could ultimately improve conversion.
What we were trying to sell were alternative medicines. User’s barely know about them. So we won’t be able to sell them with offers alone like in a traditional E-Marketplace. If a user comes across an offer like “Shilajit 50% off” unless he is familiar with the product he might not be interested in it.
We also wanted an alternative way to loop in convertible users. The solution was to introduce a blog section in our website. The blogs on health benefits of certain health products, health issues they are facing, etc. could nudge the user into trusting what they are buying.
We also designed a different marketing - sales funnel as well centered on the blog articles. We would try to promote our blog articles in social media. For anyone interested the links would be leading them to those specific blogs in Healthsocho which would have hooks to specific products.
This would greatly improve the quality of traffic we are getting and could ultimately improve conversion.
Product Page Enhancements - Peer Reviews, more information
Product Page Enhancements - Peer Reviews, more information
Our old product page was a template page from wordpress. It lacked a few major elements that could build the trust in product.
Reviews - We decided to add user reviews as well as Healthsocho reviews to the section. When there are input from peers the cloud of doubt reduces and user starts trusting the product more.
Better description - Providing a better description of the product, calling out ingredients etc. would help the user understand the product more.
Dosage and effects section - Calling out how the product should be used as well as possible results of this positive and negative would help the user trust the product more.
Our old product page was a template page from wordpress. It lacked a few major elements that could build the trust in product.
Reviews - We decided to add user reviews as well as Healthsocho reviews to the section. When there are input from peers the cloud of doubt reduces and user starts trusting the product more.
Better description - Providing a better description of the product, calling out ingredients etc. would help the user understand the product more.
Dosage and effects section - Calling out how the product should be used as well as possible results of this positive and negative would help the user trust the product more.
Consultation Services
Consultation Services
While we were looking into how we could improve the trust one thing i thought of was bringing in endorsements from some credible sources ran into the idea of why not we add services in the portal specifically booking consultations to alternative medicine practitioners. I had previously hard time finding Ayurvedic practitioners for one of my close relative.
The idea would be the virtual consultation would result in prescriptions that could be delivered directly from Healthsocho.
Accordingly our CEO hired an experienced a sales head and started roping in alternative medicine practitioners to the portal. This opened up a new vector for us and services section was launched in Healthsocho.
While we were looking into how we could improve the trust one thing i thought of was bringing in endorsements from some credible sources ran into the idea of why not we add services in the portal specifically booking consultations to alternative medicine practitioners. I had previously hard time finding Ayurvedic practitioners for one of my close relative.
The idea would be the virtual consultation would result in prescriptions that could be delivered directly from Healthsocho.
Accordingly our CEO hired an experienced a sales head and started roping in alternative medicine practitioners to the portal. This opened up a new vector for us and services section was launched in Healthsocho.
Introducing COD & improving support
Introducing COD & improving support
Initially we had Pre-paid mechanisms only for sales. But for a budding platform the goodwill is something that should be earned.. So even though it felt a bit risky we introduced Cash on Delivery payment mechanism for the sales. Our CEO also hired a few resources to provide proper support for purchases and keeping in touch and gathering feedback from customers.
Initially we had Pre-paid mechanisms only for sales. But for a budding platform the goodwill is something that should be earned.. So even though it felt a bit risky we introduced Cash on Delivery payment mechanism for the sales. Our CEO also hired a few resources to provide proper support for purchases and keeping in touch and gathering feedback from customers.
Constant Monitoring
Constant Monitoring
To understand the impact we were making, we utilized user analytics itself. We kept monitoring user behaviour in the website and experimented with small small changes to accomplish desired results.
To understand the impact we were making, we utilized user analytics itself. We kept monitoring user behaviour in the website and experimented with small small changes to accomplish desired results.
Outcome
Outcome
Due to the changes we made we were able to increase the conversion rate considerably. Previously we barely had a handful of orders per month. After the changes we were able to boost it 20 to 30 orders per month. Moreover it started scaling.
We had a better idea of possible customers and how to target them. Our ad spendings started becoming more efficient.
We also had a decent e-commerce portal. that could be scaled.
Due to the changes we made we were able to increase the conversion rate considerably. Previously we barely had a handful of orders per month. After the changes we were able to boost it 20 to 30 orders per month. Moreover it started scaling.
We had a better idea of possible customers and how to target them. Our ad spendings started becoming more efficient.
We also had a decent e-commerce portal. that could be scaled.
End-Note
End-Note
Even though the business started scaling eventually our founders started being more interested in the service vertical we incorporated.. It was later converted to a medical secondary opinion provider startup stripping away the ecommerce front.
Even though the business started scaling eventually our founders started being more interested in the service vertical we incorporated.. It was later converted to a medical secondary opinion provider startup stripping away the ecommerce front.
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