Improved eCommerce product previews
Background
Over half a million artists sold their work on Redbubble in FY20201, on one or more of the 110+ physical products available for sale.2
Given the variety of options and evolving customer preferences, it is a challenge to merchandise these unique products, particularly when considering the onsite visual representations.
Sources
Context
Wall art advertised through paid channels (particularly Google Shopping) and sold on Redbubble had a high user acquisition rate, but a disproportionate number of those users were not converting. Based on user feedback about the existing previews, some users were confusing current Google Shopping previews for a generic JPEG rather than a product. As Redbubble was incurring a cost-per-click from Google Shopping with subsequent low conversion from this channel, profitability was low in this space.
Additionally, most wall art products have a variable finished dimension, based on the original artwork uploaded. For example, the majority of posters do not conform to a standard aspect ratio (e.g. 3:4, 2:3), which adds complexity when creating previews that work for all artwork.
Process and actions
In order to create a new previews, there are two major components:
The background of the preview
The technical operation that manipulates the uploaded artwork into the correct context (e.g. re-sizing the image)
I worked with a cross-functional team based in Melbourne and San Francisco to source existing marketing images for the backgrounds, and to create new operations for more robust previews. By re-using backgrounds, we were able to test and release new previews up to one month faster than initially expected.
Before releasing the changes, the team ran an unmoderated user testing, particularly collecting feedback about how easily customers could compare poster sizes. This informed decisions about the order to show the various new previews on the product page.
Outputs
Over the course of the initiative, we updated the dynamic previews for 7 wall art products. Additionally, we identified and implemented 4 other low-risk, high-yield preview opportunities.
See below for before and after images, and a video of the 7 products with new previews.
Poster preview
Before
After
All new wall art previews
As viewed on Redbubble’s iOS app
Impact
Customer feedback about the previews was very positive, in particular users highlighted that the new previews allowed them to understand the size of the product relative to everyday objects
The associated gross profit for wall art through paid channels approximately doubled year-on-year
Additional conversion gains were made with organic traffic, as the new previews appeared throughout the onsite experience; following this initiative, a new team was formed to modernise and improve Redbubble’s previews