ABX tests are a very powerful and easy-to-use resource for identifying the strategy that works best in your eCommerce, testing several possible options on a sample of real contacts.
In this article you’ll learn how to create an ABX test for abandoned carts.
How it works
To perform the abandoned cart strategy test, we will create an ABX test in a workflow that compares a simple abandoned cart message with an abandoned cart message with recommendations. Once the testing has been carried out with 1,000 contacts, the most successful branch will continue to be used.
Workflow configuration
STEP 1. "Start" node
(In this node, you’ll set the target audience for the action).
1. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Start” node.
2. Under Select limitation, check "All my list" and select "Contacts with email".
3. Under Select data source, check “All existing and new”.
4. Click Update.
STEP 2. “On cart abandonment” node
(This node will detect the cart abandonment).
5. Click (Edit node settings) in the “On cart abandonment” node.
6. Set a "Total Price" filter for the price to be greater than "0".
7. Under Limitations, uncheck the "Deactivate after triggering" box.
8. In Temporarily disable after event, add a limitation of “1”Days.
9. Click Update.
STEP 3. “Start A/B/X test” node
(This node will start the A/B/X test).
10. Click (Edit node settings) for the “Start A/B/X” node.
11. In Sampling phase, set the Maximum limit of contacts to sample. In this case, "1000”.
12. Click Update.
STEP 4. First “Send email” node
(This node will send the email of the first strategy corresponding to branch A).
13. At the junction of this node with the previous one, click on the circle until "A" appears.
14. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Send email” node.
15. Select the email you want to send and click Next .
16. In the Send to section, select "Contact".
17. Indicate the "Newsletter" type of email.
18. Configure the parameters of "Send to contact" section.
19. Under Google Analytics, click "Enable Google Analytics" then Next .
20. Click Complete .
STEP 5. First “On link click” node
(This node will detect the contact's click on the abandoned cart email sent).
21. Click (Edit node settings) in the “On link click” node.
22. Select the email to which it should react and, at the bottom, choose the button link that leads to the website. In this example, "Checkout".
23. Click Update.
STEP 6. First “Evaluate A/B/X branch” node
(This node will award a point to branch A if the contact’s click is detected).
24. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Evaluate A/B/X” node.
25. Select "Literal value" and type "1".
26. Click Update.
STEP 7. “Fetch products” node
(This node will fetch products that are related to those abandoned in the contact’s cart).
27. At the junction of this node with the “Start A/B/X test” node, click on the circle until "B" appears.
28. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Fetch products” node.
29. To select the use cases, drag “Automatically related to a cart” to the block on the right and "Most visited products" to the additional use case. Click Next .
30. In Main use case settings, select "4" in the Number of products to fetch.
31. Under Select related cart, select “Internal cart ID (On cart abandonment)”.
32. Check the box "Shuffle the fetched products" and click Next .
33. In Additional case settings,select "4" for Number of products to fetch.
34. Under Select the time period of the visits, choose "Most visited of the last month" and check the "Shuffle the fetched products” box. Click Next .
35. In Summary, locate the section Number of products to fetch and indicate “4”. Then, uncheck "Fill with products until selected limit" and check "Exclude the products exported by the nodes before this one".
36. Click Complete .
STEP 8. Second “Send email” node
(This node will send the email of the second strategy corresponding to branch B).
37. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Send email” node.
38. Select the email you want to send and click Next .
39. In the Send to section, select "Contact".
40. Indicate the "Newsletter" type of email.
41. Configure the parameters of "Send to contact" section.
42. Under Google Analytics, click "Enable Google Analytics" then Next .
43. Click Complete .
STEP 9. Second "On click” node
(This node will detect the contact's click on the abandoned cart email sent).
44. Click (Edit node settings) in the “On link click” node.
45. Select the email to which it should react and, at the bottom, choose the button link that leads to the website. In this example, "Checkout".
46. Click Update.
STEP 10. Second “Evaluate A/B/X branch” node
(This node will award a point to branch B if the contact’s click is detected).
47. Click (Edit node settings) in the “Evaluate A/B/X” node.
48. Select "Literal value" and type "1".
49. Click Update.
Keep learning!
To make the most of your Connectif account, we recommend reading these articles next:
- ABX test to optimize newsletter subscription, to compare different popups with subscription forms.
- ABX test to optimize the email subject, to compare several sends of the same email with different subjects.
- ABX test for best send time for cart recovery, to compare between various waiting times before sending the abandoned cart email.
- ABX test to optimize product recommender, to compare two use cases for inline product content.