Scan Case Study

Scan Computers is a large family run business located in the UK that builds and supplies businesses and consumers with computer hardware, software, and electronics.

The Company offers laptops, hard drives, motherboards, processors, graphics cards, speakers, printers, cameras, multimedia, servers, as well as specialist advice and support.

Scan have spent 30 years focusing on three things – technology, people, and how they bring them together.

Over 300 staff members live and breathe this philosophy by providing customers with the best Specification, Service and Satisfaction, which is reflected by the hundreds of awards Scan has won in the media and over 20,000 positive reviews on Trustpilot.

Many of Scan’s customers build or enhance their own computers using component parts. These can be divided into two different camps; commercial companies and ‘build at home’ individuals.

Whilst commercial companies are competent at assembly, build at home customers are often less so. Therefore, with every qualifying purchase, each visitor is offered ScanProtect, an enhanced warranty protection over and above the standard manufacturer’s warranty.

ScanProtect is designed to reduce the risk of any mishap or damage to components during installation. It was hypothesised that the interest in ScanProtect could be improved by revising the way the offering is displayed.

To encourage further uptake of this insurance, it was recommended that the order and copy of the offering should be modified. The original page design was a little confusing, creating ambiguity and friction that often stalled the buying process.

The aim of modifying the content was to reduce anxiety and to make the decision easier.

The most prominent change was to swap the order of the copy to show the ‘Protect my basket’ column to the right, leaving the visitor with a more positive approach to the value of the offering.

In addition, the column headlines were to be more focused on the items in the basket rather than the existing headlines which could be seen as protecting the basket rather than the contents.

The ‘No thanks’ text was also changed to a more obvious ‘Don’t Protect’ to strengthen the reasoning behind purchasing ScanProtect.

A/B testing was conducted over a 30-day period and the success metrics were based on a reduction of clicks on ‘Don’t Protect’, an increase in clicks on ‘Protect’ and an overall increase in ScanProtect sales.

For such a simple A/B testing experiment, the results showed significant results with an increase of 22.6% clicks on ‘Protect’.

This was further reflected in an increase of 14.3% of visitors reaching the final ScanProtect checkout step and a 3.7% rise in confirmed sales of ScanProtect.

Interestingly this experiment also delivered a marked increase in the Average Order Value (AOV) too, showing a 16.2% lift.

Webtrends Optimize Services Director Chris Kennedy said: "Whist these changes seemed fairly insignificant, altering the layout and making minor wording changes has shown once again that A/B testing even small changes can make a big difference."

Hiten Patel, Web Development Manager at Scan added: “A/B Testing is part of our DNA and we constantly look at ways to improve the visitor experience. In this experiment we couldn’t believe that something that seemed so trivial could have such significance. It just goes to show that continuous testing can still uncover areas of friction that impact the customer journey.”