How Conversion Rate Optimization of Review Pages Boosted Natural Wellbeing's Sales

Customer reviews are valuable to any e-commerce site, but what review sorting methodologies produce the best results? To find out, NaturalWellbeing approached Cardinal Path. Using conversion testing, we helped them discover the settings that boosted conversion rates by 14%.

The Challenge

Customers need to know that NWB’s products are safe and effective. NWB believes the most effective way to boost credibility is through customer ratings and reviews.

By early 2011, NWB had optimized their product pages to the point of diminishing returns. They approached Cardinal Path for a “fresh look” at these critical pages and for new test ideas.

The Solution

Power Reviews allows users to sort customer reviews by any of six criteria:

• Newest
• Oldest
• Highest Rating
• Lowest Rating
• Most helpful
• Least Helpful

Site owners select which criterion appears by default. NWB believed that defaulting to “Highest Rating” would decrease credibility. They believed that “Most Helpful” would be the most credible default format.

We had two alternative hypotheses:

1. Many visitors only want to see positive reviews. They have essentially made the decision to buy and are simply looking for validation. “Highest Rating” provides the strongest validation for their intended purchase.
2. To some visitors, review recency will be critical. Old reviews will lack relevance. Also, reverse chronological order may appear to be the credible format. “Newest” may therefore perform best.

With three competing hypotheses, there was an obvious route to uncovering the truth: Conduct an A/B/C test using Google Website Optimizer.

The Results

GWO Revealed that our hypothesis #1 was in fact correct – and that our hypothesis #2 was incorrect. The results were as follows:

• “Most Helpful” (Original/Control)
• “Highest Rating” +14.5%
• “Newest” -3.5%

The client was both surprised and delighted by the results. They have reset the default review display to “Highest Rating”.