When a campaign involves cascading offers, does presenting them in ascending vs. descending order make a difference?

Yes, according to tests done by Alchemy Worx on behalf of cosmetics company Laura Geller. But there was a bit of a surprise plot twist at the end. 

The Test

Alchemy Worx A/B split tested two campaigns that presented three-tiered offers based on order size. The hypothesis was that a multi-offer campaign should present offers in descending value in order to generate the most revenue. 

The team found that the best order depends on the audience’s purchase history. One-time buyers – customers who have purchased once before and then not again – definitely responded better when the offers were presented in descending order of value. Descending orders provided 25% more revenue vs the ascending order email. 

The Plot Twist

Surprisingly, non-buyers and multi-time buyers responded better to seeing the offers presented in ascending order.  Multi-buyers drove 173% more revenue with ascending offers, and non-buyers drove 57% more revenue with ascending offers. 

The results were so surprising, we ran the test again with a different set of offers to be sure. Once again, we found that the 1x buyers responded differently vs the multi-buyers or the non-buyers.

The only difference in the A-and-B creative for the two campaigns was one displayed the offers from low to high, the other from high to low, and the volumes were sufficient to achieve statistical significance. 

The Take-Aways

“It’s really fascinating that there’s this difference between people who have never shopped your brand and people who shop your brand regularly versus people who have only shopped once,” says Allan Levy, CEO of Alchemy Worx. “The results tell us those audiences are different, and changing the creative can drive different results with those audiences.

“That’s why we think it’s important to segment your audience based on purchasing habits in addition to engagement and other things,” he adds.

The standout result of this test is that one-time buyers behave differently than other segments, which gives the team more ammunition to help turn one-time buyers into multi-buyers.

“The one-time buyers are particularly important for our client because it may mean a customer tried the product once and hasn’t thought about replenishment,” says Levy. “You’re trying to develop habits so those one-time buyers are a really important segment.” 

“One-time buyers are not a lost cause. They’re an opportunity,” says Levy.

At Alchemy Worx, we test everything. You should, too. For more information on how to partner with Alchemy Worx, contact us.