How eShopWorld Uses Hotjar to Evaluate Conversion Fluctuations

When you notice a change in conversions, where do you start looking for clues? How do you figure out what’s wrong so you can fix it?

For eShopWorld, the first step is to study user feedback submitted through Hotjar’s Incoming Feedback tool. Then they dig even deeper...

How eShopWorld enables global e-commerce brands to maximize conversions

E-commerce companies face all kinds of challenges when growing their business internationally (with customs, currency exchange, fraud prevention, and more), and eShopWorld helps them overcome those barriers... but that’s not all they do!

eShopWorld also helps their clients with Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), and Noelle Smith is the Conversion Analyst on the front lines. When she notices a change in conversion for one of their clients, she turns to Hotjar.

Before they began using Hotjar, however, eShopWorld had one major concern…

Would Hotjar actually do what it’s supposed to do?

Functionality was the top concern for Noelle and the Product Management team at eShopWorld. Hotjar made some bold claims, but could they deliver? In the end, Hotjar’s Incoming Feedback widget, Heatmaps, and Session Recordings delivered the results that Noelle and her colleagues were hoping to see.

How eShopWorld typically assesses conversion fluctuations (in 4 steps)

Step #1: study data from Incoming Feedback

Hotjar’s Incoming Feedback button can be placed comfortably in the margins of any webpage, and it allows website users to leave open-ended comments about their experience.

eShopWorld installs the Incoming Feedback widget on their checkout page (which forms part of their solution to their clients), and whenever there’s a sudden fluctuation in conversion, they look at feedback data first.

Step #2: study Google Analytics + Session Recordings

If Noelle sees a trend of comments from users highlighting an issue, she digs deeper, using Google Analytics and Session Recordings to figure out what’s going on.

First, the team looks at the aggregate data in Google Analytics to pinpoint which customer segments are affected (e.g., customers from certain countries, those using certain browsers, those using specific mobile devices).

Then, once they’ve identified which users segments are in play, they look at individual Session Recordings and see how shoppers behaved. Where did they click? Where did they not? Where was the point of friction?

Step #3: study Heatmaps + make changes

Heatmaps provide further insight into aggregate customer behavior at the checkout, and they help Noelle articulate any changes she submits to the Product team for testing. By seeing the aggregate scrolls and clicks, she can easily demonstrate the nature and magnitude of the problem.

Step #4: return to Heatmaps to see whether the changes worked

The final step is to see the effect of the changes made, so eShopWorld looks at the ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture that the Heatmaps paint. If their changes aren’t having the intended effect, they investigate further.