The holiday season is in full swing and with it comes a slew of potential digital challenges that retail teams across the globe manage everyday. During Cyber 5 alone, Quantum Metric’s team helped leading global brands analyze over $56B in global sales, identifying customers’ frustrations and opportunities to exceed expectations.

Let’s take a look at a few examples of challenges overcome and errors solved during the biggest shopping week of the year. 

Autocorrect auto-shoots-you-in-the-foot

There’s nothing worse than having to type and retype your shipping address when you are trying to checkout, right? Well during Cyber 5, Quantum Metric found that 13% of customers had an issue with delivery or address prompts.

In one example, after customers entered a shipping address, customers ran into an issue where their shipping address was auto-updated for improved deliverability, but no longer matched the address their bank had on file. As a security precaution, the transaction was blocked, leaving customers with a long running spinner and no solution. 

Recommended solution: Remove the auto-update for the shipping address and include language that notes only the shipping address has been changed. 

Optimizing promo codes to delight shoppers.

Promo codes are the stocking stuffer of Cyber 5. But, when a code doesn’t work, it’s like finding coal on Christmas morning. We found this was the case for 19% of customers during Cyber 5. 

In one instance, the Quantum Metric platform uncovered that when a customer had not added an ‘eligible product’ and tried to use a promo code, they received an error. Customers who experienced this converted less than 20% of the time. 

Recommended solution: Change the language of the promo banners to highlight possible limitations and or specify when a product is not eligible for a major promotional sale. 

But what if the promo code doesn’t exist? 

Another example found that more than four thousand customers were trying to use “Cyber” as a promo code in hopes of a deal. Since it wasn’t one, they were out of luck, immediately leading to a 26% drop off rate and a significant loss in potential sales. In this case, there was no error, but an opportunity for the retailer to add a promo code that could boost conversions and sales. 

Recommended solution: Sometimes you need to follow the customer’s lead on promo codes. 

Checking your third-party integrations, twice. 

With in-the-moment purchases on the rise, it’s critical to have visibility into every aspect of your checkout experience, including third-party integrations. In fact, during Cyber 5, Quantum Metric found that one in five customers had an issue with a third-party payment service during checkout. 

One retailer used Quantum Metric to uncover that users attempting to checkout were getting an error message and unable to complete their order, caused by API timeout from Paypal. Sessions with this issue had a 60% conversion rate drop, a major hit during the peak of holiday shopping. 

Recommended solution: Outside of identifying what caused the API issue, make sure you have needed visibility into how your third-party integrations may be impacting your checkout experience. 

A major typo.

404 pages are like Christmas fruitcakes – we know they serve a purpose, but most of us can’t stand them – especially when they are tied to a Cyber 5 marketing campaign.

After launching a new marketing page & linking it to a banner at the top of every web page, one retailer discovered that an accidental extra character in the URL path was directing mobile users to 404 pages. The typo may be small, but the impact is big, with the retailer seeing almost a 75% decline in potential conversions through this campaign! 

Recommended solution: Get the URL updated, fast and build in redirect links to save the day. 

How can Quantum Metric help your peak moments? Browse the Quantum Metric demo library to learn how the platform can empower your team to turn insights into action.