Ecommerce Leader Sees 67% Higher Add-to-Cart with Transformative Competitive Edge

A major ecommerce pioneer, known for using technology to improve the online & mobile shopping experience for its millions of customers, analyzed purchasing patterns on 12M+ products from 10K+ brands, to discover:

• Consumers are gaining confidence in the quality of flat-packed products
• Freight & handling charges are a significant deterrent to purchase
• An increasing number of products are being reengineered to ship more efficiently — but those products often require some assembly at home by the consumer
• Products requiring complex or intricate assemblies are daunting to consumers and can also be a deterrent to purchase
• Returns are costly to both vendor & consumer

Discovering the Competitive Edge

As the analysts examined the data, one brand seemed to buck several trends, performing well above average. The outlier was the world leader in charcoal, gas & electric outdoor grills.

The retail team quickly realized the best performers in the category featured BILT, an app that provides 3D interactive assembly instructions for thousands of consumer products. With voice & text-guided self-pacing instructions, users can zoom, rotate and see each part of the product from every angle. The BILT platform enables customers to be efficient and successful at even the most complex assembly.

The retailer examined customer reviews for the best-performing grills, and found consumers specifically mentioned the ease-of-assembly with the BILT app. These empowered customers described the grills as “high quality and easy to assemble,” even though the flat-packed version came in more than 60 pieces, required upwards of 60 steps, and took almost two hours to complete.

The Test

Data analysts at the retailer’s headquarters designed a test to measure the impact of BILT’s 3D interactive assembly experience. They assigned 30 gas grills with BILT assembly instructions to a test group. On those grills’ product information pages, the retailer included images and videos that demonstrated the BILT interactive instructions. The belief was that these digital assets would inspire consumer confidence, assuring shoppers that the grill company had put the customer first with regard to product design and ease of assembly.

Transformative Results

Within one month, the 30 BILT-empowered test grills showed an 11% jump in add-to-cart over all other products and delivered a 67% higher add-to-cart than comparable gas grills that did not feature BILT.

The gas grills with BILT information on product detail pages experienced a 27% higher conversion rate than other gas grills in the category.

Analysts concluded that BILT instructions inspired consumer confidence, transforming product assembly from a deterrent to purchase into a positive customer experience that actually highlighted product quality.

In order to manage customer expectations & mitigate returns, the retailer decided to provide customers with a manpower, assembly time & instruction step estimate for each grill in their product mix. Standardized in the BILT customer experience icon, the retailer realized they could include these images as well as BILT 3D assembly overview videos on product information pages for other brands that partner with BILT, including Delta, KidKraft, Whalen, Backyard Discovery, iFIT, Yale, Lifetime Products, Whalen, and more.

“We want our customers to have confidence that we carry fantastic products that will exceed their expectations — and that these products will arrive at their doorstep and be easy to use. With BILT, not only have we seen a lift in top-line revenue, but so have our manufacturers. BILT has also reduced assembly-related returns.” says the merchandising executive who led the initiative. “We now recommend BILT to all our vendors with products requiring assembly, installation, set- up or programming. It significantly improves customer experience and satisfaction with the purchase overall.”