Following the analysis that led to a newly designed artefact Kontra Coffee could use to improve their e-commerce conversion rate, I will present what changes these findings suggest to theory and practice. Initially, I will explain what changes my results propose to the current literature on CRO.
Secondly, I will present what implications and contributions my findings bring to the local practice of Kontra Coffee.
5.1 Theoretical implications
The results of this study provide a structured and iterative model, which has the potential to help SMEs adopt CRO. While established literature focused on factors that positively affect conversion rates, such as website satisfaction, customer intention, quality- and promotional factors, the Lean CRO Model focused on providing a necessary framework, built around the scientific method, to conduct CRO themselves. The model extends beyond merely focusing on these factors mentioned above and dealing with the inhibitors to adopt CRO successfully.
Furthermore, this study poses interesting contributions to the concept of usability and usability testing. Based on the feedback provided by Teis, the way the usability test was conducted had a significant impact on an employee’s ability to carry it out independently. Teis expressed that it would
Page 55 of 75 be hard for him or any employee from Kontra Coffee to get similar insights as I did from the tests. He feared the test subjects would not be as honest towards them as they would towards me.
This could lead to an outcome known as the ‘Hawthorne effect’, where test subjects behave differently, as they know they are being observed. As a usability test is far from a natural setting, such an effect is likely to occur no matter who conducts the test. However, it could be interesting to investigate if the affiliation to the object under investigation amplifies the ‘Hawthorne Effect’. While the researchers in the literature review stress the importance of using minimal probes throughout the usability test to avoid increasing the level of verbalization, they do not mention the potential impact the affiliation of the moderator has (Hertzum, Hansen, & Andersen, 2009). If affiliation amplifies a
‘Hawthorne Effect’, one can question the validity of the data gathered through this method unless proper measures that guard against it are introduced.
Another factor that could reduce the validity of the findings is the occurrence of the ‘Social Desirability Bias’, which explains the tendency for test subjects to please the evaluator. During this thesis, I ensured to state both verbally and in writing that the goal of the usability test was to test the website of Kontra Coffee and not the test subjects. Further, I emphasized that they could not do anything wrong and could not hurt my or Kontra Coffee’s feelings. While this approach seemed effective, further investigation is required to understand what approach evaluators closely connected to the investigated object should do to reduce the impact of such a bias.
5.2 Practical implications and contributions
This study revealed several practical implications that stand between successful adoption of CRO.
These implications should serve as guidance for SMEs who want to adopt CRO to fit with the e-commerce strategy.
As this study was carried out as a single case study on Kontra Coffee, I acknowledge the current artefact is only valid in their context. However, I firmly believe the findings are of value for SMEs in general. Specifically, the results can be generalized to SMEs within the retail industry that sells goods or services directly to consumers through their website.
The results of the problem explication activity revealed the need for management to understand the importance of and prioritize resources towards adopting technology that makes their company data driven. If the management of the SME does not have a clear vision for the adoption in the first place, the subsequent adoption is highly likely to fail, as presented in the literature (Nguyen, Newby, &
Page 56 of 75 Macaulay, 2015). The findings from this study further strengthened the claim for the concept of the
‘Technology Champion’ to be a strong driver towards successful e-commerce adoption. I closely collaborated with Teis from Kontra Coffee throughout this study, who possessed high technical capabilities and a clear vision of being data driven. Although he was the only person who had the required skill set to successfully adopt a demanding technological artefact such as the Lean CRO Model, it was sufficient to adopt it at Kontra Coffee. This should encourage other SMEs who are in a similar position of not having many employees who possess technical competencies, and issues which literature highlight to broadly occur among SMEs (Fatta, Patton, & Viglia, 2018). The findings from this study could positively impact the take-up rate of CRO among SMEs.
The results from this study indicate that companies who increase onsite usability are likely to increase their conversion rate. The data from the two experiments conducted increased the conversion rate.
However, companies must carefully create a narrow problem statement and subsequent hypothesis and follow the scientific method to gain valid results throughout the experiment. By narrowly framing the problem statement to only include a specific change on a particular page, the company is likely to increase its chance of drawing the correct conclusions.
A key finding from this study was the discovery of company inertia that existed within the case company. The employees had a lot of ideas, which they wanted to bring to life, but they had a perfectionist culture, which inhibited them from trying in the first place. If such a culture persists and the company does not actively adopt a culture open to experimentation, the Lean CRO Model is not likely to succeed.
The literature stated that SMEs needed to adopt new technology efficiently and effectively due to time and money constraints (Fatta, Patton, & Viglia, 2018). The Lean CRO Model provides a cheap option within any money-striped SMEs budget, as the tools all come in a free edition through the Google Marketing Platform. Additionally, the usability tests can be conducted for as little as 389 Danish crowns, as was the case in the tests I conducted for Kontra Coffee. This provides practitioners in SMEs with a highly effective technique for increasing their conversion rates for a nominal price.
Furthermore, the method required no hard coding skills, as the changes could be applied through the built-in drag and drop functionality in Google Optimize. Thus, any SME interested in increasing their conversion rate can do so through the Lean CRO Model.
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