Because the terms “A/B testing” and “multivariate testing” are often used interchangeably, it’s imperative that you understand the differences. Even though they share some similarities, the two fields are quite different.
Rather than A/B testing, you’ll use multivariate testing if you’re looking for the combination of elements that will lead to the most conversions.
Combinations of changes that improve the user experience and the website’s performance are tested using statistical models. We’ll go over the most essential aspects of multivariate testing below:
Continuous optimization
Automating the optimization of the visitor experience through the use of tests is an option if you can specify a specific business goal in order to determine how visitors should be served the best.
Wide range of elements
Multiple tests are conducted on every aspect of the product or service being offered. This includes everything from images to text to color to fonts to links to CTA buttons to landing pages or checkout processes. There may be as many as fifty possible outcomes in a multivariate test.
Conversion rates
It’s helpful to think about conversion rate in terms of how many people visit an offer and then buy something. Additional metrics, such as revenue per order or click-through rate, are used to evaluate the test. Changes that boost pre-defined metrics or the conversion rate are revealed through analytics.
From hypothesis to conclusion
As with any type of statistical testing, multivariate testing begins with a single hypothesis. The most effective combinations of content changes can be discovered through multivariate testing. Minor or major changes to the user experience can have a significant impact on the overall results.
Can A/B and multivariate tests be conducted on iOS and Android apps?
$2.9 trillion in mobile app ecommerce spending is expected by the end of 2020. An additional $1 trillion is expected to be added by the end of 2021. Retail and e-commerce aren’t the only businesses expanding. In many countries, people can access the internet via their mobile phones, which means that mobile’s share of total online traffic is growing much faster than desktop’s share. Customers are increasingly beginning and ending their purchasing journeys via an iOS or Android app. Due to the smaller screen size of mobile devices, the abandonment rate for shopping carts is 87% higher than on desktops and laptops (73 percent).
Because of iOS and Android app limitations, you’ll have to use specialized tools to ensure that your mobile experience is optimized.
When should you use A/B testing or multivariate testing?
Using a multivariate test is more appropriate if you need to test more than two alternatives in order to find the “best experience.”
A single web page does not reveal how variables interact with each other when testing with more than two options. A/B testing is a simple way to demonstrate the impact of a design change or tweak to those who are skeptical of website and campaign optimization.
Multivariate testing is extremely useful when comparing multiple elements of an asset (website page or email), such as different image and title combinations. In contrast, more options necessitate greater traffic. Consequently, it is recommended that you do not test every element on the page. When the number of elements on the page changes in the tens of thousands or more, permutations become impossible. Ten different elements can generate more than 3.5 million possible permutations. This kind of traffic is unlikely to be handled by most websites or email marketing campaigns.