Our Conversion Optimisation expert, Marcello Pasqualucci, has analysed the IKEA website conversion funnel and details here the positive aspects as well as areas that would benefit from improvement.

1. Marcello Pasqualucci
CRO Director
Online Persuasions Insiders 2016
How does IKEA
optimise conversions?

2. 19 neuroscience ✔
principles 17 mistakes ✘
to correct 9 improvements
to make
An analysis of IKEA’s conversion
process
I reveal what’s working, what’s not working quite so well, and
propose some changes to help increase the site’s income…

3. I’m looking to buy a desk lamp so I decide to turn to
the Swedish giant IKEA.
As a Conversion Optimisation Consultant, I take note
of both the positives and the areas for improvement on
the site.
Join me on my user journey and discover some of the
most relevant neuroscience principles for this site.
The context

4. A path in 10 steps
Homepage
1 2 3 4
Product ListCategory Subcategory
Basket
6 7
Address
8
Delivery Info
9
Login Payment
10
5
Product

5. Homepage
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

6. Homepage
I tried to read all the content
on this carousel but I couldn’t;
the slides change every 5
seconds and there’s no Call to
Action on any of them!
Homepage
Paradox of Choice ✘

7. Homepage
Nice images but what are
they for? I can’t be bothered
to read all the content (like a
lot of Internet users, I’m lazy)!
Picture Superiority Effect ✘
Homepage

8. Picture Superiority Effect ✔ I just clicked on “All departments”
and they have icons next to all the
category names, that’s a great
help.
Homepage

9. The search bar features dynamic preview,
but when I type ‘desk lamp’, no suggestions
come up. Am I the only one looking for a desk
lamp?!
Homepage
Illusion of Control ✘

10. Here are the results for my “desk lamp” search.
There are only 2 products and neither are really
what I’m looking for. Maybe I’ll get luckier
searching via the categories…
Single Choice Aversion ✘
Homepage
‘Other results’ leads to
this unpleasant page:

11. Category
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

12. High quality images that
present the product category
content clearly and in a
visually effective way.
Category
Picture Superiority Effect ✔

13. Category
Categories are a bit messy.
It would be better to make
the text clearer and easier
to read.
Proposal
for improvement

14. Subcategory
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

15. Subcategory
Hmmm… I’m in the lighting
category, I’d rather see
lighting suggestions and
inspiration.
Commitment & Consistency ✘

16. Products List
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

17. There are 3 menu bars! It’s
a bit too much…
Product List
Paradox of Choice ✘
Products List

18. I’m not sure about this “Buyable
online”… I am here to buy online.
anyway
Product List
Products List
Processing Fluency ✘

19. Paradox of Choice ✔
I can sort by:
- relevance
- name
- price
- or release date
Having just a few well-chosen options
is very efficient.
Product List
Products List

20. That’s a lot of empty space. It’s
nice and clean but I can’t even see
any products above the fold line.
Products List
Processing Fluency ✘

21. Products List
Proposal
for improvement
I’ve replaced the category bars with a
breadcrumb trail placed on the same
line as the search tools so I can see
some products above the fold line.

22. I assume it is something
positive but what does
‘A++’ mean?
Curse of Knowledge ✘ Product List
Products List

23. Product List
IKEA shows the more expensive
products first. It’s a good way to set a
high price standard in the mind of the
user so that the following prices seem
lower.
Anchoring Effect ✔
Products List

24. The presentation of the products is
uniform, the layout is clean, it's
easy to browse and scan over the
products
Product List
Products List
Cognitive Fluency ✔

25. Product List
available in
other colours
This lamp is available in different colours
but I can’t see the variations on the
category page and I don’t want to go in
to a store. I would add an icon to provide
this information.
Single Choice Aversion ✔
Products List
Proposal
for improvement

26. Pain of Buying ✔
Hovering over the product allows me to add
it to my basket in one click. It speeds up the
process and thus makes the act of buying
less painful.
Product List
Products List

27. Product
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

28. Product
Where are the main product details
like the material, the size and the
type of bulb required? I actually have
to scroll down and find the “Product
information”.
Information Bias ✘

29. Product
The layout of the information is not
hierarchical enough: I don’t know
what to read first… It puts me off
reading it at all.
Processing Fluency ✘

30. Information Bias ✔
Clicking on the image allows me to
zoom in closely and get great
visual detail.
Product

31. Product
It would be great to see customer
testimonials and ratings somewhere
on the product page, it would
reassure me of my choice. Top Customer Reviews
By Rick on 14 August 2015
The light emitted is
pretty clear and pleasant and will
light up the room … See more
By Summer on 21 September 2015
The light base is
quite good for setting in different
place with the flexible frame.
However, the bulb is not durable
at all … See more
Bandwagon effect ✔
Proposal
for improvement

32. Basket
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

33. The Call to Action is almost
INVISIBLE (small and blue just
like the menu bar and links).
Von Restorff Effect ✘
Basket

34. Basket
As there is only one
complementary product at the
moment, I would definitely
suggest adding more related
products.
Commitment & Consistency ✔
Proposal
for improvement

35. Login
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

36. This icon looks like a Call to
Action…
Login
Von Restorff Effect ✘

37. Login
Make the wording clearer and
the Call to Action more visible.
Processing fluency ✔
Proposal
for improvement
I would suggest moving the IKEA Family
information and changing the design of
the card itself.

38. Address
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

39. Processing Fluency ✔
Linear, clear form. It looks - and is -
easy to fill in.
Address
marcello@convertize.com
marcello@convertie.com

40. I entered the wrong email and IKEA clearly tells me
what’s happened:
Address
The email addresses entered do not match
Processing Fluency ✔
marcello@convertize.com
marcello@convertie.com

41. I’ve removed the stars and reorganised the
form into 2 sections.
I’ve also replaced the link “click here” with a
more simple tick box.
Address
Foot-in-the-Door Technique ✔
Proposal
for improvement

42. Delivery Information
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

43. These 2 paragraphs are effective
reassurance elements; using symbols would
highlight them more.
Need for Certainty ✘
Delivery Information
marcello@convertize.com

44. A delivery fee has been discreetly
added to my order…
Ambiguity Effect ✘
Delivery Information
marcello@convertize.com

45. Delivery Information
I’ve reorganised the delivery
information section to make it
clearer.
These are actual reassurance elements that I
found on the site, displayed clearly using
visuals and concise text.
marcello@convertize.com
Need for Certainty ✔
Proposal
for improvement

46. Payment
Homepage Product ListCategory Subcategory Product
Basket Address Delivery InfoLogin Payment

47. Payment
Ambiguity Effect ✘
marcello@convertize.com
I can see the prices without VAT
by ticking this box. Not really of
interest to me though as I
selected “private customer”
earlier…

48. Why do I need to be reminded of
this information? It’s
unnecessary and taking up space,
moving the payment section
further away.
Attention Ratio ✘
Payment
marcello@convertize.com

49. Payment
One solution would be to remove the
whole order review from this page and
add it to the previous page instead.
Then only the payment section remains.
Response Efficacy ✔
Proposal
for improvement

50. Thank you for reading!
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Marcello Pasqualucci
CRO Director
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