Investigating the Sephora App Experience: Can Short-Form Videos Lead to Higher Conversion Rates?

 

The Sephora company is a huge beauty brand that has a really solid digital presence. Investigating strategies to increase conversion rates with creative solutions is an exciting prospect. To add, working for a large beauty brand that I admire would be an absolute dream, therefore, this research proposal seemed like a fun opportunity to exercise the concepts learned across this graduate course with creative solutions. When I buy products from Sephora, it is usually a result of one of two options: 1) I ran out of a “holy grail” makeup or skincare product that I have been using for years, 2) I saw a video on social media that prompted me to add the item to my cart. Although it may not come as a surprise since my graduate major focuses on topics that require a lot of visual literacy, I am a visual learner. Something about seeing a product in use moves me across the marketing funnel from a considering customer through conversion, and often leads to my becoming a loyal buyer. Imagine if Sephora had short form videos for products on the page of each item. This may have the similar implications on purchase of products as I highlighted earlier in my own experience with social media. The best part of all is that individuals would not need to shift from social media platforms to Sephora app to consume the content. I use the Sephora app to make purchases often, so it got me to thinking, do short form videos boost user experience, impacting conversion rates? The topics addressed across this research proposal will include the brand, the goal(s) of the research, three research questions focusing on a data driven method, survey method, and experimental method, and finally, research methods and analytic plan for each question. 

Review the link here for the full slide deck containing description of methods and analytical plans tackling each research question!

Research Proposal: 

Sephora's In-App Digital Audience Research: Do short form videos boost user experience impacting conversion rates?

Goal(s) of Research:

The goal of this research is to evaluate how short-form instructional videos on the product page of Sephora’s app impact digital audience behavior, specifically relating to user engagement and purchase patterns. Additionally, the research aims to explore opportunities to bridge the gap between the app/brand, and the customer as determined by digital data, surveys, and experiments as a means of tailoring future Sephora marketing strategies.

Three Research Questions:

For this research proposal, three research questions will be addressed. These questions will focus on the following topics: digital data, survey, and an experiment. Each will focus on whether short form videos elevate the in-app experience at Sephora and produce higher conversion rates.

1. Digital Data-Driven Method Research Question:
When focusing only on the in-app digital experience, how do short-form instructional videos on product pages impact user engagement and conversion rates when compared to product pages without short-form instructional videos?

2. Survey Method Research Question:
When focusing only on the in-app digital experience, how do Sephora app users internalize or perceive short-form instructional videos, and do these perceptions have an impact on adding an item to the cart or purchasing it?

3. Experimental Method Research Question:
When focusing only on the in-app digital experience, can the short-form videos on the product pages impact app user behavior, such as increasing the time spent on page, increasing conversion rate, and increasing user satisfaction/ratings after the product has arrived (are they likely understand how the product functions as a result of the short-form video)?

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