Now that My Event Décor has been live for 12 months, it’s time to compare its key performance indicators against the first year of My Wedding Décor.
Sales growth
Both My Event Décor and My Wedding Décor took several weeks to obtain the first online sale — the former recorded its first online sale within 37 days of launch, the latter within 21 days.
From months six through 12 (after launch), sales for My Event Décor sales grew by 372 percent while My Wedding Décor increased by 348 percent.
Both websites started from zero sales. But My Event Décor had several advantages. It benefitted from My Wedding Décor having been online for 21 months. It launched with more than twice as many products as My Wedding Décor. And it could market immediately to My Wedding Décor’s corporate event clients.
Visits
Visits to My Event Décor grew by 156 percent in the second six-month period. My Wedding Décor grew by a more modest 94 percent.
My Event Décor visits started to grow in the second half of its launch year once the website appeared on Google Maps, and following the renaming of social media accounts for both companies to My Event Décor.
Bounce rates
The bounce rates to My Event Décor’s website have fallen from 67 percent in its first six months to a current rate of 49 percent.
My Wedding Décor remained virtually unchanged at 46 percent and 47 percent in its first six and twelve months, respectively, of operation. (It is much improved today, with bounce rates for January 2018 at, incredibly, 1.22 percent.)
My Event Décor bounce rates dropped once I eliminated virtually all products that were also available on My Wedding Décor. This also eliminated duplicate content, which greatly assisted search engine optimization.
Conversion rates
Conversion rates for My Event Décor increased by 127 percent in the second six-month period over its first six months, compared to a 100-percent increase for My Wedding Décor.
This rise in conversion rates for My Event Decor was largely due to a change in product naming convention, which I described in “New subcategories increase sales and signups.” Conversion rates were also helped by emphasizing décor items for store openings, product launches, corporate events and expos, and an overall increase in the product range.
For My Wedding Décor, its conversion rate increase came from the improved home page and product page redesign in its second six months as well as its increasing brand awareness from social media, blog posts, and directory listings.
Order value
The average order value for My Event Décor increased 7 percent in the second six months (to $378.52), compared to a 16 percent rise (to $191.11) for My Wedding Décor.
Corporate event average order values are twice as much as bridal events. Corporate clients have less price sensitivity. They comprise 69 percent of my total business.
Of the 332 products for My Event Décor, 48 percent are priced under $AUD100, 35 percent cost $AUD100 – $AUD499, and 17 percent are listed at over $AUD500.
The average order value for the My Wedding Décor likely rose somewhat as I introduced higher priced products.
Today, 60 percent of My Wedding Décor’s 257 products are priced less than $AUD100, 33 percent at $AUD100 – $AUD500, and only 7 percent are more than $AUD500.
Repeat customers
My Event Décor had 3 percent fewer repeat customers in its second six months, while My Wedding Décor increased its repeat customers by 89 percent during the same period.
My Wedding Décor launched in April 2015 and almost doubled its rate of repeat customers in months six through 12 (October 2015 – April 2016), as that period encompassed the wedding season in Australia.
I use Shopify for both sites. Shopify’s statistics show a small drop in repeat customers for My Event Décor over its second six months. However, many of these corporate clients now purchase directly, outside of Shopify, and pay with direct bank payments.