Healthspan drives up revenue by 11% with Sitecore

Healthspan started as a mail order business, and although still significant, it has been superseded by its online presence. But it needed to improve its website to keep pace with customer expectation and a highly competitive market. Navigation was difficult and finding products was based on company department rather than customer need. For instance, an A-Z search meant customers needed to know products beforehand. Because of the website set up, customers learned ‘bad’ behaviors—80% of MyAccount customers selected products based on purchase history, limiting opportunities to offer new products or cross-sell based on search criteria.

One of the main challenges, especially for new customers is trust. Elis Bebb, Change Manager at Healthspan, says, “When it comes to vitamins and supplements, the main thing is how do people trust them to make that purchase. Our brand reputation has been boosted by selling through well-known high street shops. But we want customers to buy direct, so as well as quality products and service, a smooth and efficient customer journey is essential.”

Healthspan’s websites needed to be mobile-first, support more channels, improve the user journey, and maximize marketing opportunities.

Using a suite of Sitecore solutions, the new websites went live in July 2020. Front-end design was improved, a sales and promotional functionality added, and customers could subscribe to products and self-serve. Following a Sitecore XC upgrade, further enhancements included payment options, an improved UX design and multilingual and multi-currency capability. Machine learning and AI improved the search experience and addressed the content gap issue, cutting nil return results to just 2%. The marketing team now uses Sitecore to automatically build pages with products and associated information based on user behavior and search patterns. Online chat and co-browsing sessions with customer reps support new customers with product information and existing ones with website usage.

The solution was implemented by Sitecore business partner, Nemetos. The next phase will see a roll out of country-specific sites to international expansion. Other plans in development include a B2B site and a call center frontend platform.

With help from Sitecore, Healthspan and Nemetos have delivered a solution that improves the customer experience and makes it easier to discover and learn about products. Greater personalization helps to meet customer needs better. For example, removing content like subscriptions that are not a priority for mobile users. The digital, customer-focused, and mobile-first solution is already helping Healthspan achieve significant business results. Revenue over the first eight months increased by 5.92% and peak sales have risen sharply. Black Friday 2020 vs. 2019 had 110% more transactions, a 29% higher conversion rate, and 91% more revenue. Average load speeds have improved by 46.27%. (4.75 seconds, first half of 2020 compared to 2.55 seconds 2021). All thanks to the improved digital experience.

Healthspan’s marketing teams use personalized homepage banners for specific marketing campaigns. A personalization impact A/B test showed a 7.2% increase in order volume and an 11.6% increase in gross revenue. HealthspanElite.co.uk has achieved a 6.17% conversion rate and 34% higher average order value than Healthspan.co.uk. AI-based searches have increased click-to-product rates from 43.6% to 69%.

Healthspan has 1 million satisfied customers and over 130,000 5-star Feefo reviews from customers. It is also a Which? Recommended Provider and in 2021 came top of the Which? review of Beauty & Wellbeing Retailers.