• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, June 21, 2017

Qubit on Wednesday released results from a study analyzing more than two billion user journeys and 120 million purchases to determine the potential revenue uplift that ecommerce businesses can expect from specific optimization techniques. The company categorized 29 different site experiences that marketers and brands try to optimize to determine what works and what doesn't. The company also brought in PricewaterhouseCoopers to audit the methodology.

Most of the objectives on marketers' lists to optimize sites and content have little influence on revenue, according to Jay McCarthy, VP of product marketing for Qubit.

The findings suggest that ecommerce businesses could add as much as 6% to their revenue, representing tens of billions of dollars globally, by focusing on optimization and personalization techniques such as displaying stock levels or alerting shoppers when a sale ends.

According to the survey, around three-quarters of respondents said they do the majority of their shopping on up to just five sites. Only 16% said they would remain loyal to those stores if they fell behind in quality and value of service.

Nearly half of consumers said other shoppers don't influence their decisions, but Qubit's analysis shows that influence by others is the second most effective technique, achieving an average revenue per visitor (RPV) increase of 2.3%.

The survey of nearly 250 marketers reveals that 26% of brands spend more than $51,000 on Web site testing and optimization tactics, and of those, 8% spend more than $100,000 annually. Still, many of these basic tactics are highlighted in the report data as having limited effectiveness.

The report highlights areas where ecommerce businesses may allocate resources to lower as well as increase performance strategies. The top techniques measured in the report include Scarcity, Social Proof, and Urgency, along with several more common, yet less effective ones like page redesign, button changes, and navigation changes.

Programmatic and personalizing experiences that tap into customer, product, or business data provide anywhere from two to 14 times more incremental revenue per visitor (RPV) versus traditional optimization efforts, which focus mainly on cosmetic changes such as colors and location of buttons.

Businesses that engage in targeted personalization based on user behaviors and preferences can expect a three times better result than untargeted marketing tactics.

The survey of nearly 250 marketers reveals that 26% of brands spend more than $51,000 on Web site testing and optimization tactics and, of those, 8% spend more than $100,000 annually. Still, many of these basic tactics are highlighted in the report data as having limited effectiveness.