With Germany representing over 40% of our international sales and German shoppers being notoriously demanding, it was a short stop in Berlin this week to test our German website to analyse the user experience and identify where we can improve, test and learn.
We profiled 10 potential new customers and put them through user journeys we wanted to test both on our desktop and mobile sites over two days – the insight gained has as usual been invaluable and the great things is that there’s lots of little things to test and improve, some that were already testing.
Here’s are my key takeaways from our testing, especially in relation to ensuring new customers convert on your site in Germany:
1) Free returns is the MOST important part of your proposition
German customers expect returns to be free, they really see it as their right (entrenched in the local psyche since the catalogue days) and most won’t even consider buying from you unless you offer it. They’re also increasingly looking to be able to return to a collection point, although Germany is still well behind France and the UK in their take up of this service.
Our big learning on free returns though was to make it as obvious as you can throughout the site if you do offer it – we thought it was clear we offered free returns, but it wasn’t and many new customers either missed it completely or weren’t sure that returns would always be free.
2) Customers will order two of one size, so are less worried about getting the perfect size/fit
In other markets I’ve seen new visitors look extensively through size charts and into customer reviews to better understand about sizing and fit. However, in Germany, customers assume that they’ll order more than one size of something if they’re not 100% sure on size (because returns are usually free & easy) or if they’re ordering with a retailer for the first time. It’s a cultural/legacy attitude and whilst it helps your new customer conversion of course it hits your profitability compared to other markets.
The learning is to do all you can to reduce the impact of ordering more than one size, but still building this behaviour into your model for the German market and reducing your returns costs as far as possible with suppliers.
3) ‘Open Invoice’ is a powerful acquisition tool because it de-risks the purchase for new customers
Same as for point 2) the expectation in Germany to pay only based on what items you keep (paid 28 days after the order by ‘Open invoice’) means new customers put much more in their basket in Germany and convert at a higher rate. They chose to keep what they like (often less than 30% of what they ordered) and just pay you that amount by invoice – which significantly lowers the cost and risk for them compared to paying upfront by credit card.
It’s definitely a challenge as a business to get your head around this but needs to be built into your model and seen as a necessary cost of doing business in Germany.
4) Guest checkout is a must have – especially as they don’t like giving their personal details out
Again this is especially true in Germany, even if it does apply to most other markets too. Any time you ask a German customer for personal information, even something as innocuous as date of birth, there is an immediate defensiveness and a questioning of why they need to give that information to you.
If you can, the easiest way is to remove the barriers or at least perception of barriers by allowing them to guest checkout without registering.
5) Mobile growth is accelerating in Germany – as they start getting comfortable shopping on their mobiles
It’s taken a while but Germans now seem a lot more willing to shop on their mobiles than previously. Our mobile sales growth in Germany is double that in the UK and US this year and testing our mobile site proved generally very positive. We’ve still got work to do on improving the overall mobile experience but as Germany reaches a tipping point on mobile I expect it to power ahead of other markets, especially as checkout on mobile is much quicker when paying by Open Invoice.
6) Free delivery isn’t always expected
So, some good news for you German profitability – customers there don’t expect free delivery like the French or British do, and anything under €5 for delivery costs is seen as acceptable, as long as you deliver in under a week.
Of course you can use free delivery tactically or offer it on orders over a threshold but not having to offer free delivery on all orders will be something of a relief for your P&L.
They also are less bothered about super quick next day delivery than customers in the UK so you might not even need to offer this service to Germany.
7) German customers are far less promotionally driven than many other European markets
More good news! The German market is certainly becoming more promotional than it was a few years ago but is still nowhere near the levels seen in the UK or US. For example 9 out of 10 usability testers in the US said they would leave the website just before checking out to go hunting for a discount code on promo websites. How many German testers did this? No one! Again promotions can be used tactically in Germany and generally perform much better than other markets when you do offer them, because customers there are just not used to always getting 15% off as a minimum.
8) Trust is still a big factor and first impressions do count
British customers are a lot more relaxed about who they buy from online but German customers are looking more proactively for signs that you’re trustworthy, especially as an overseas retailer. Testing and experience shows you probably don’t need a ‘Trusted shops’ logo that you see on lots of German websites (although it certainly won’t hurt) but subtle things like having a phone number on your site, a secure encryption certificate and website copy that is correctly translated (especially on your t’s and c’s) all play a key role in building up trust in your brand and website.
There are lots of small, subtle things that German customers look for when deciding whether they trust you or not – listen to where they have concerns and improve your website accordingly.
In summary we were pretty happy with the feedback we received from our German testers but the insight we received has certainly galvanised our approach to certain parts of the user experience and how we can improve it for German customers, especially following the usability mantra of ‘don’t make me think’.
Despite the obvious challenges of profitability in the German market, driven by the highest returns rate in the world, it’s still an incredibly attractive and strategically important market for most British retailers – just make sure you go into the market with your expectations and business model set accordingly.
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