Verivox sees 70% increase in cross sells through testing

Nimble, efficient optimization strategy helped increase cross-sells by 70%

Verivox is Germany’s largest independent consumer portal for energy, and also offers online comparisons for telecommunications, insurance, and finance products. Their website allows visitors to compare rates among providers with just a few clicks and then quickly switch to the most suitable option. Verivox has helped German consumers exchange more than 8 million contracts, saving them more than one billion euros.

Optimization at Verivox

Verivox’s primary revenue stream comes from commissions earned when customers close a new contract. Thus, the company’s primary business goals are to get as many of the visitors to their website as possible, and then to close new contracts. Optimization helps them drive toward both of these key objectives.

Conversion Architect Frank Herberg has contributed to Verivox’s growth since 2007 with his work in front-end development, usability testing, user experience, and now: optimization. A/B testing and optimization has been Frank’s primary focus since 2013.

Frank works with product managers across divisions to build the company’s testing roadmap and optimization strategy, but he is also able to accomplish a great deal on his own. He regularly uses Optimizely to build and design smaller-scale experiments (such as landing page tests) on his own – even without a knowledge of HTML or CSS. Many of these tests have had a massively positive impact on Verivox’s conversion goals.

For more complicated tests, Frank works in collaboration with the company’s IT team and external service providers. With Optimizely, this collaboration is simple and seamless – allowing Frank to grant the appropriate level of access and permission to each team member involved.

Featured experiment: A 70% lift in cross-sells

Frank recently optimized the "Thank You" page that appears after a new contract is closed. This step originally provided customers with a confirmation only, but Frank hypothesized that offering additional cross-sell options at this step would further boost revenue per visitor. He tested several different designs and messages for the cross-sell offer. Ultimately, the winning variation increased total cross-sells by 70%.

A focus on continous testing

At Verivox, optimization is an iterative process, where test results are constantly used to draw up new hypotheses for the next round of experimentation. In this way, the Verivox team is able to constantly improve their understanding of consumer behavior. As consumer needs and preferences change, Verivox is able to adapt in real time.

Continuous, iterative testing is a crucial element of any successful optimization program.

Looking ahead

Verivox chose to start small – with Frank spearheading the majority of testing efforts – but the program’s proven success quickly gained recognition across the company. After seeing such tremendous impact with limited resources, Verivox plans to spread optimization to more teams and departments across the organization in order to continue driving toward its key business objectives.