The Saleroom is an art & antique auction marketplace. We saw 49% of organic users started their journey on an item page where the item has been sold. But only 35% would view another page, well below the site's average.
We aimed to understand why users drop off and explore design changes that could encourage them to stay and browse.
Key metrics include:
• Link clicked
• Account created
• Item saved
To see the sold price of the item, the user must create an account. We've been using this to increase the signup rate because we know buyers are very interested in the sold prices, and it's been very successful.
Old sold item page
How we use sold prices to drive the signup rate
I took a look at the sold item pages on other websites and tried to find out how they balance the info ratio between the sold item and available similar items. In the image below, the green area is the info of the sold item, pink area is the info of available similar items.
To validate this, we planned to test different balances between sold and available item content.
We understand the value of the sold item info, but we also want to test if we can improve the retention rate by surfacing the available items without hurting the signup rate.
Before jumping into design, I consulted him about the best SEO practices on this type of page and how we could track the impact of any design changes.
In the new design, I still keep the sold item content at the top, but made it more concise. And I moved similar available items above the fold, increasing their click potential.
• Primary metric: Click rate
• Secondary metric: Signup rate, GMV, bidding rate
Old design vs New design
This project is currently in the backlog due to shifting priorities, but we believe it has high potential to improve organic retention.
If the new design shows a lift in engagement, I’d like to explore how far we can push the ratio between sold and available items.
I'd also like to revisit the impact of hiding sold prices. It’s a key friction point, and it may be costing us more GMV than it’s worth.
Another test to push the ratio even further
