In the world of e-commerce, even small adjustments can lead to dramatic results. We recently encountered a situation that perfectly illustrates this point, demonstrating how a simple tweak in our checkout process not only improved customer retention but also doubled our return on ad spend (ROAS).
The Challenge: A Massive Checkout Drop-Off
Our analytics revealed a significant issue in the checkout process: nearly 50% of potential buyers were abandoning their carts at the final step. This massive drop-off was a clear indication that something in the process was deterring customers from completing their purchases. After reviewing the data and gathering customer feedback, it became apparent that shipping costs were a major conversion killer.
The Simple Tweak: Introducing Free Shipping
To address the issue, we decided to test a straightforward change—offering free shipping on orders over $100. This tweak was based on two key insights:
- Higher Average Order Value (AOV) Leads to Better ROAS:
Encouraging customers to reach a higher spending threshold by offering free shipping not only increases the average order value but also makes the overall purchase more appealing. - Shipping Costs Are a Major Conversion Killer:
Unexpected or high shipping fees often cause customers to abandon their carts. By removing this barrier, we aimed to reduce the friction at the final step of the checkout process.
The Impact: Doubling Our ROAS Overnight
The results of this simple change were immediate and impressive. With free shipping on orders over $100, the abandonment rate at checkout dropped significantly. This adjustment led to a higher average order value and, as a direct consequence, our ROAS doubled overnight.
This outcome underscores an important lesson in conversion rate optimization (CRO): sometimes, the smallest tweaks can have the most significant impact on overall performance.
Conclusion: The MVP of CRO
The success of the free shipping initiative serves as a reminder that effective CRO often comes down to understanding and removing the pain points in your customer’s journey. By identifying a major obstacle—shipping costs—and addressing it with a simple, strategic solution, we were able to turn a potential weakness into a major strength.
In the competitive world of e-commerce, taking a close look at the customer experience and being willing to test small changes can yield extraordinary results. This experience proves that sometimes, one simple tweak is all it takes to achieve a breakthrough in performance.
