Speed Wars: Rebuy Versus Feature Apps in Epic 1-on-3 Showdown

Key Takeaways

• Unified platform triumphs over feature apps: In a head-to-head speed test between Rebuy and three feature apps, Rebuy emerged as the champion, showcasing consistent speed performance.

• Performance insights and cost-effective solutions: The experiment highlighted the challenges faced by those relying on multiple feature apps.

• The need for speed and revenue connection: There is a critical link between site speed and revenue in the ecommerce landscape, underscored by statistics such as a 2% increase in conversion rates for every second of improvement in website load time.

  
  

This is ecommerce, baby. Where success and failure is determined by the speed of customer experience.

In this game, every second counts. The difference between a sale for you — and a sale for your competitor — comes down to mere milliseconds.

At Rebuy, our mission is to create intelligent shopping experiences for your online store. But if your site loads slowly, it’s all for naught.

So we asked ourselves: All else equal, how does Rebuy — an all-in-one personalization platform — perform against the competition?

In a thrilling showdown, we dive into the results of a head-to-head site speed race between Rebuy and three apps sporting comparable features. Who will emerge victorious in this winner-take-all battle of the ages?

Let's find out.

On Your Marks: Pain Points

This site speed test aims to address three significant pain points that ecommerce merchants often face.

Pain Point #1: High Costs Associated with Ecommerce Personalization

Providing personalized experiences to customers has become crucial for driving engagement and increasing conversions. However, the costs involved in acquiring and implementing the necessary technologies and tools for ecommerce personalization can be quite substantial. By offering this site speed test, we aim to alleviate this pain point by providing ecommerce merchants with insights on ways to maintain top site speed performance without breaking the bank.

Pain Point #2: Cumbersome Tech Stack

As your business grows and you implement various tools and technologies to enhance your operations, it's easy for your tech stack to become complex and difficult to manage. This can negatively impact your site speed and overall performance. 

Pain Point #3: Impact of Speed on Revenue

The undeniable link between speed and revenue is a key consideration for ecommerce success. Our analysis of Google Lighthouse results validated that Rebuy understands this connection and consistently delivered a competitive speed performance in our trials.

"Time is money." - Benjamin Franklin

Get Set: Time is Money

Page load time can significantly impact user satisfaction and, more importantly, customer retention. You don't have to search far to find stories about how website load times affect conversion rates. But to save you time, consider the following:

• Bing found that a 2-second improvement in website load time led to a 4.3% increase in revenue per user.
• Walmart saw a 2% increase in conversion rates for every second of improvement in website load time.
• Amazon found that a 100-millisecond improvement in website load time led to a 1% increase in sales.

As you know, time is money. But do you know if you're losing money due to slow site speed?

If you are, here's a follow-up question: Is your tech stack slowing down your site? 

Savvy ecommerce founders, marketers, and managers keep these questions top of mind. Many agencies keep a shortlist of must-have Shopify apps; the shorter the better to ensure fast load times. 

Note: How Lighthouse calculates your overall performance score.

For our test, we took a brand new Shopify Dawn theme and tested performance with Google Lighthouse under the following three scenarios.

1️⃣ Scenario 1: Default Shopify Dawn Theme, No Apps Installed

We started by testing the speed of the Dawn theme with zero apps installed. This gave us a clean baseline for our comparison.

2️⃣ Scenario 2: Three Feature Apps Installed

We installed three feature apps to the theme and again tested with Google Lighthouse. In this context, we define a "feature app" as: a specialized app offering only a few tools (often specializing in one or two main functions). The three apps in this scenario were selected to offer a similar feature set to Rebuy's setup in scenario #3.

• App #1: A post-purchase upsell app: While this app offers multiple features, we only enabled post-purchase offers for this test. It's important to note that this app automatically loaded JavaScript on every page to help with their post purchase product. 

• App #2: A shopping cart and upsell app: We equipped the Dawn theme with App #2's cart flyout to compare against Rebuy Smart Cart™.  

• App #3: Gift with purchase (GWP) app: This is a single-function GWP app, so we set up a GWP to run in App #2’s cart flyout. This app also automatically ran JavaScript on every page.

The question remained: Would this tech stack enhance or hinder site speed?

3️⃣ Scenario 3: Rebuy Installed with Smart Cart Enabled

In the final scenario, we installed Rebuy and enabled Smart Cart.

Note: To account for variations in testing, we ran the same test three times for each scenario and calculated the average.

Who would hit the chequered flag first?

Would the Shopify store load faster with no apps at all installed?

Go! Unified Platform V. Feature Apps

Google Lighthouse grades on four criteria: Performance (speed), Best Practices, Accessibility, and SEO. Since we tested for speed, we'll focus on the results of the Performance test.

The Performance score is colored according to these ranges:

• 0 to 49 (red): Poor
• 50 to 89 (orange): Needs Improvement
• 90 to 100 (green): Good

🚙 SCENARIO #1 RESULTS:  A Clean Shopify Dawn Theme Sets the Pace

Delving into the default Shopify Dawn Theme (with no apps installed), we meticulously examined and compared Google Lighthouse test scores. This groundwork became our canvas for future revelations.

The app-less Dawn theme produced the following scores for scenario 1:

🟢 Average Speed Performance Score: 92.6 — Good

Google Lighthouse flagged the performance in this scenario as “good,” meaning customers will have a good user experience.

🚗 SCENARIO #2 RESULTS: The Feature Apps Hit the Gas 

Repeating the process with the three feature apps installed, we see the influence a larger tech stack can have on load times. The results speak volumes about the challenges faced by those who seek speed amidst complexity.

The Dawn theme equipped with the three apps from Scenario #2 generated these results:

🟡 Average Speed Performance Score: 83.3 — Needs improvement

Google Lighthouse flagged the performance in this scenario as “needs improvement.” According to Lighthouse, performance needs to improve in order for customers to have a good user experience.

🏎️ SCENARIO #3 RESULTS: Rebuy's Unified Platform Opens the Throttle

The finale of our experiment unfolded in Scenario 3. With only Rebuy in play and Smart Cart enabled, no impact on speed was detected. In fact, Rebuy perfectly matched the load times of the unhindered Dawn theme in Scenario #1. The speed and prowess of Rebuy in delivering an exceptional customer experience was on display in this final scenario.

Here are the results:

🟢 Average Speed Performance Score: 92.6 — Good

As in Scenario #1, Google Lighthouse flagged the performance in this scenario as “good,” meaning customers will have a good user experience.

Post-Race Analysis

Summarizing the average test scores across all scenarios, Rebuy stood tall, showcasing speed performance that, according to Lighthouse, supports a “good” user experience.

Under the unique conditions of this experiment, we found no measurable difference in overall speed performance after installing Rebuy. Whereas installing three feature apps to accomplish similar functions reduced speed performance considerably.

“Consolidating multiple apps with Shopify Plus and Rebuy not only enhances the speed of the website but also simplifies management, streamlining the entire process”

CEO & FOUNDER, ALINGA AGENCY Adrian Judd

Why Choose Rebuy

Cost-Effective and Speed-Conscious

On the open roads of ecommerce, where success is measured in both cost-effectiveness and speed, Rebuy emerged with a led foot and a speeding ticket. Thanks to recent speed enhancements, our platform is faster than ever. And with pricing plans for every store, Rebuy is a reliable partner in your ecommerce journey.

Key Competitive Advantages

Rebuy excels where others fall short. White-glove customer support. Done-for-you launch packages. An industry-leading shopping cart. And a fully-integrated suite of omnichannel personalization solutions, with more leading-edge product releases slated for 2024.

All-In-One Unified Personalization Platform

With Rebuy, you don't need to juggle multiple tools and single-function apps to achieve your personalization goals. Our unified personalization platform is all you need to create a seamless and personalized shopping experience. From the moment a customer lands on your website to the checkout page and beyond, Rebuy gives you the power to provide a memorable customer experience to every visitor. 

The Need For Speed 🏁 

As the dust settles on this exploration of speed and revenue, we extend an invitation to every reader and decision-maker in the ecommerce game.

Consider Rebuy as your partner in the pursuit of ecommerce speed and personalization ⚡️

Request a demo and discover why so many top brands trust Rebuy to grow their business with intelligent shopping experiences.

Interested in partnering with Rebuy? Let's do it.

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