The Challenge

The Ernest Jones ecommerce team noticed a pattern of visitors reaching the basket but not completing a purchase. Many returned to earlier pages, revisited product details or restarted their journey. It’s a challenge familiar to many ecommerce brands, especially those providing higher-value, considered purchases where confidence matters more than urgency.

This backtracking suggested doubt, or a need for more reassurance. But without real-time insight into intent, the team couldn’t distinguish between visitors who simply needed a confidence boost and those who were unlikely to convert. Between those who needed reassurance to complete their purchase and those who were still comparing options. They wanted a more targeted way to understand and intervene.

The Hypothesis

By showing different types of social proof messaging in the basket, we will give visitors more confidence to progress and prevent backtracking.

The team believed personalised reassurance, based on actual behaviour, could help nudge visitors forward. Rather than pushing all basket visitors with urgency messaging, the goal was to identify hesitation and offer reassurance at just the right time.

In our The Intent Gap report, 63% of online shoppers feel that many ecommerce tactics are manipulative or inappropriate. This highlights the importance of using tools like social proof respectfully, especially during moments of uncertainty. Ernest Jones wanted to ensure their basket experience was shaped by behavioural signals, not assumptions.

The Solution

By creating a custom segment in our portal, Ernest Jones targeted visitors indicating backtracking behaviour once entering the basket. This included leaving the basket and returning to a previous buying stage. Our AI agent then matched relevant visitors to this segment in real-time and delivered a targeted social proof message.

For these visitors, a tailored in-basket message surfaced relevant reassurance, such as flexible delivery and payment options. Each message was designed to build confidence and reduce friction without feeling pushy or intrusive. And by only showing to the relevant segment, it didn’t add undue pressure or distraction to other visitors.

The entire experience was managed through their Bloomreach setup, ensuring smooth triggering and brand consistency.

The Impact

Without Intent, every visitor to the Ernest Jones basket received the same experience, regardless of their hesitation or uncertainty.

With Intent, the team identified signals of backtracking behaviours in real-time and delivered reassurance before a backward step occurred.

Key Results: 25% increase in conversion rate

This Play proved that, timed right, a little relevant reassurance can go a long way. By focusing on visitors showing uncertainty during checkout, Ernest Jones improved performance at a critical moment.

With intent already embedded in their ecommerce strategy, the Ernest Jones team is rolling out a similar approach to other segments and other brands in the group.

Hesitation happens. For retailers, the difference comes in knowing when and how to respond to it. Made With Intent makes adapting your basket experience to the needs of each visitor simple.

Want to support your visitors with more impactful social proof? Explore more about Features with Intent.