Revamping Torrid’s product copy page to prioritize the user’s needs
A Product Copy Case Study
From a lengthy eye-sore of a product description to something sleek, collapsible, and that prioritizes the customers’ needs. You’re welcome!
IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM
At Torrid, we realized that our product copy was being presented in a way that was overwhelming and confusing to the customer. It led to higher return rates and items sitting in likes without being purchased.
Our UX researchers interviewed a group of Torrid customers and concluded that they felt like they were being overloaded with information that they didn’t necessarily feel was fitting their priorities in what they look for in a product.
Here’s a mockup of our product copy page (PDP) before the changes were implemented:
Looking at data, the analytics team informed us that the customer spends the most time looking at the fit section of the PDP. In the current hierarchy, fit is at the bottom, which can be frustrating for the customer.
Since fit is one of the major things that the Torrid customer looks for and one of the core values of the brand, this is how we should proceed:
Place fit details at the top of the PDP hierarchy
Provide more information aside from measurements because they can vary between sizes
Add additional details about fit such as rise, smoothing features, and more
Another important aspect of product that the customer looks out for is fabric.
Provide a description of the fabric that the product has for a better visual and tactile imagination
Inform on any attributes such as stretch level, hand-feel, and machine washability
We set out to inform the customer better on fit, fabric, and to organize information in a way that made sense to them to make their interactions easier with the PDP.
USER PERSONA
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Solution A) Rearrange the hierarchy of the PDP and add more necessary details. Elaborate more on the fit of the product and the attributes of the fabric. Prioritize fit, then fabric, then details, then romance copy.
Solution B) Apply the solutions mentioned in solution A, but have the fit information be static. Each section will be collapsible so the user can expand what they prioritize aside from fit.
Solution C) Apply the solutions mentioned in solution A, but keep fit AND fabric information static. Fabric care instructions and details are collapsible and can be expanded upon if so desired.
WHAT WE ENDED UP DOING
After some testing and lots of coding from the software engineers (thanks for all your hard work!), the company ended up going with solution A, which is the hierarchy and style you see below.
Personally, I would have gone with solution C. Since the mission statement and values of the company rely heavily on both fit and fabric, I thought it would be best to make those two features more prominent to the customer. While the customer also does spend some time looking at wash instructions, ultimately, they find the feel and stretch of the fabric to be more important.
Unfortunately, solution C wasn’t feasible because of pushback from the programming team. The engineers said that the site would run less efficiently than desired if too many dropdown sections were coded in.
Some copy tweaks we made were to change the word “content” to “materials”, to add a “why we love it” section to give new customers an idea of what the attributes of popular, well-loved products are.
We added more details that the customer would likely want to know in the fit section of PDP like rise and compression levels, and in the fabric section like a short blurb describing the fabric and stretch level.
We also decided to underline the headings and add periods at the ends of each bullet point to add more visual emphasis to them.
THE (DESIRED) RESULTS
As the creative and analytics teams are very siloed off from each other, it’s rare that I get to see quantifiable data and the impact of our work from the product and analytics team.
If I did have access to those metrics, these are the things I would look at to ensure that our revamp was successful.
Lowered return rate and specifically, the reasons why the product was returned
Frequency of online customer service complaint rate on fit & fabric
Heat maps showing what the customer would click on the most
Data showing where the customer would look at or hover on for the longest amounts of time
IN CONCLUSION…
At the end of the day, we want to make sure that our user is having a seamless experience going from PDP to checkout while using the browser on desktop, mobile or the Torrid app.
I understand that especially for plus sized women, it’s much harder to find great clothing that fits well, is just as stylish as straight size brands, and has the qualities they expect in fit and fabric from the brand.
To keep things consistent moving forward, I also took initiative to create cohesive product copy documents with the format, specifications, fabric, and callouts needed for each product. They’re living, breathing documents that are constantly changing due to new additions, updates, and much more, but it ensures that our PDP is consistent across the board!