An-Hacking : episode 7 🐸

A new Shopify app medley, a focus on Desktop vs. Mobile, the economics of return management with a new guest, the Grafikr agency, and a deep dive into the new La Belle Boucle website!

Sep 24, 2024

A new Shopify app medley 😎
Desktop vs. Mobile: The battle of the year?!
My guest talks about return management 🚚
Musical interlude 🎶
3 Shopify agencies outside France: Episode 2 🫶
The new La Belle Boucle website is live 💙
Bonus: 2 events to attend this week!

Let’s go! 🚀

1. A new Shopify app medley

I don’t know about you, but my summer has been quite unique: first, because on June 16 I became a dad, and second, because after a 4-week paternity leave, I decided not to take any vacation and instead dedicate the month of August to deep-dive topics and constant monitoring.

As usual, I spent a lot of time exploring the Shopify App Store and discovered several new applications that were completely unfamiliar to me. To kick off this new season, I wanted to share a new medley featuring 3 apps that I found particularly interesting to explore and test:

🔹 SupaEasy : this is one of the latest apps released by the brilliant Nextools lab (creators of HidePay, HideShip, Formify...), and it’s a true game-changer for ALL Shopify merchants, regardless of their plan.

SupaEasy is the logical continuation of Nextools' "Hide" series and supports Shopify merchants in transitioning from Scripts ➡️ Functions.
Here’s why it’s a standout:

Migrate scripts to Functions with a simple copy-paste.
Use an AI assistant to generate custom functions tailored to specific needs (discounts, display, payment, shipping, etc.).
No Shopify Plus restrictions—you can leverage SupaEasy’s power on any Shopify plan!

🔹 Rapi : with an average rating of 5/5 (based on 580+ reviews), Rapi is one of the best-rated apps on the Shopify App Store. Created by Royal Apps (also behind the widely-used CartX for post-purchase upselling in France), Rapi focuses on the intricacies of BOGO (Buy One Get One or Buy X Get Y) offers.

What makes it special is its ultra-intuitive interface, which allows merchants to manage:

BOGO strategies (Buy X Get Y).
Upselling tools, such as quantity breaks.
3 types of discounts: variable, fixed amount, or fixed price.
4 customizable template designs (including color and font personalization).

All this with full no-code functionality, making it incredibly easy to use!

🔹 Dialog : we’ve discussed Dialog in a previous episode, but this time I’m highlighting the fact that it’s now officially available on the Shopify App Store.

Dialog is redefining the shopping experience with its plug-and-play AI-driven tool. It delivers personalized, real-time answers directly on product pages. For example, imagine a complex product with intricate components or usage instructions—Dialog helps simplify the messaging, reassure consumers at key moments, and ultimately increase conversion rates.

The ultimate feature (in my opinion)

Dialog can automatically generate FAQs based on your consumers’ behavior and questions. AI at the service of customer experience!

2. Desktop vs Mobile : le combat du siècle ?!

It’s one of the major topics of the past decade that has seen the considerable rise of mobile in our consumption habits: the duel between mobile and desktop - this point 2) is to be read as a complement to point 2) from Episode 5, where we revisited the Digital Explorer Benchmark 2024 by Contentsquare (read it again here 👈).

If we must continuously optimize the mobile experience (as it represents the majority of sessions), desktop MUST NOT be overlooked!

I’ll explain why 👇

In 2020, for the first time, mobile became the primary device in terms of session numbers, accounting for nearly 70% of global traffic and 77% for the Retail sector alone in 2023 🌐.

And while the trend of recent years is clearly toward mobile-first, I personally believe in the importance of a good mobile/desktop mix within a broader CRO strategy, for several reasons 👇

a) Desktop x Mobile = Unpaid x Paid

In 2023, Paid accounted for twice as many sessions on mobile (39.6%) as on desktop (19.3%)* - driven by mobile browsing between social media ads and e-shops.

Sessions are increasingly expensive, yet paradoxically, time spent per session is decreasing overall: this may give the impression that what costs more is of poorer quality 🤬.

The 2023 figures for paid traffic are striking:

Search Paid: ~44% bounce rate with a CVR in line with the average (2.55%).
Paid Social: A bounce rate of over 61%, with a CVR of just 0.61%*!

b) CVR on desktop is higher ! 🔥

Compared to point a, desktop sessions convert better, particularly because desktop is the preferred device for certain key steps in the purchase journey, such as:

Comparing product prices,
Searching for additional information,
Contacting customer service,
Reading reviews and ratings.

Desktop sessions are generally much more comprehensive:

6.1 pages per session vs. 4.8 pages on mobile.
While the bounce rate on mobile increased between 2022 and 2023 (to an average of 50.3%), desktop’s bounce rate decreased by more than 2%, with a CVR exceeding 4% (compared to 2.2% on mobile, nearly half!).

These numbers can be explained by longer session durations, during which consumers take the time to verify information before purchasing, as well as a better repeat rate on desktop compared to mobile.

The optimization of the desktop experience must be part of a broader CRO strategy: desktop is simultaneously your B2B storefront, your top source of repeat traffic (which I see as the north star metric in the coming years), as well as a much less expensive channel (primarily organic, with lower bounce rates) that converts better.

*Source: Digital Explorer Benchmark 2024 by Contentsquare.
**Source: Survey M-Commerce & Q-Commerce 2023 by Capterra.

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3. Let’s Talk about the “Economics of Return Management”

It’s Become a Ritual Since Episode 2 of An-Hacking - every month, I hand over the pen to a friend from the retail/e-commerce ecosystem to tackle a topic where I know they’re a far better specialist than I am.

Return management is one such topic! And to dive into it from a PnL and cost-management perspective, who better than Raphaël from Baback to share his insights?!

Here’s a super comprehensive and insightful article 👇

Return management is fundamentally about addressing customer dissatisfaction with the products they’ve ordered. In the realm of online shopping, the gap between what customers expect based on the product page and their own projections versus the reality of the product can create friction. This misalignment may lead to disappointment and, ultimately, a return.

While the focus of e-commerce merchants, agencies, and solutions like PSPs was traditionally on the purchase itself, the post-purchase customer experience has evolved into a critical battlefield. The stakes are now measured in tens of thousands of euros every month.

The average return rate in e-commerce is around 20%, but there are significant variations across verticals:

Apparel, footwear, and accessories: Over 25%.
Cosmetics and food products: Less than 5%.

Return management has become a complex equation involving several cost variables:

👉 The cost of transporting a returned package.
👉 The cost of processing returned items.
👉 The cost of storing returned products.

It also involves calculating key ratios, such as:

🔹 Customer acquisition cost (CAC) versus the cost of offering exchanges or store credits (including covering return shipping costs).
🔹 The cost of free returns versus requiring customers to contribute to return shipping costs.

The end of free returns is increasingly a systematic discussion in e-commerce. Once a hallmark of convenience, free returns are now viewed as a relic of unsustainable practices in the e-commerce industry, incompatible with achieving financial balance in return management.

At Baback, 100% of our clients with an average order value (AOV) between €100 and €200 now require their customers to contribute to return costs, with an average fee of €5.50 (incl. tax).

For orders with an AOV below €100, the situation is more divided: only 50% of our clients in this segment have opted to charge for returns. Free returns remain a tool to incentivize purchases for brands seeking to drive significant sales volumes. However, this is increasingly seen as a short- to medium-term strategy, with paid returns becoming the standard.

Achieving balance in the PnL for returns hinges on controlling transport and logistics costs. Additionally, offering retention options, such as store credits and exchanges (including upsells, where customers exchange for higher-priced items—a feature offered by Baback), consistently proves more profitable than maintaining a policy of refund-only returns.

In conclusion, while customer satisfaction remains key, ensuring the sustainability of return management requires a careful blend of cost control and strategic retention solutions.

And you can find Raphaël on LinkedIn, or simply click here to learn more about the amazing Baback solution 👇

More about Baback !

Interlude musical : UR003 🪐

For this back-to-school season, I want to take a step further in sharing something personal by introducing a track that holds a special place in my heart. It means so much—not just for electronic music in general, but for me personally. The track is called The Final Frontier.

When it comes to music, techno is and will always remain the great love of my life. Although the word has sadly become an overused catch-all, I feel deeply connected to its original meaning and the movement it spawned—I could spend four hours just scratching the surface of this idea, but I’ll spare you that digression so early in the day…

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the city of Detroit gave birth to a musical and social movement (or societal?)—the Techno movement, spearheaded by a discreet collective formed by Mike Banks, Robert Hood, and Jeff Mills: Underground Resistance (UR). Much like Public Enemy, UR conveyed a political and activist message through electronic music, set against the backdrop of growing social inequalities and the desertion of urban centers in post-Reagan America.

In 1992, The Final Frontier was released—an EP produced by Mad Mike (aka Mike Banks), still considered today as one of the most important records in the history of electronic music. To my ears, the track The Final Frontier encapsulates everything techno music is meant to be.

Enjoy the track 🖤

« Now imagine listening to it in a time when there is no internet. It's Friday in 1992, and you've just got back home from the record store with a copy of UR003 in your hands. »

4. Three agencies outside France : Grafikr 🖤

Remember Episode 6 of An-Hacking, where we kicked off a new series dedicated to 3 outstanding Shopify agencies outside France whose work I particularly admire? Today, we continue the series with the agency that led the redesign of the Rains website: Grafikr.

Launched in 2016 in Denmark, Grafikr is one of those agencies that made the early decision to fully dedicate itself to the Shopify ecosystem, becoming experts in Shopify POS and Shopify Plus while specializing in the Clothing & Lifestyle segment.

Recently, the agency Grafikr stood out with the realization of the new website for the iconic brand Rains, in collaboration with Good City for the UX/UI part and Obsidian Digital on marketing—we talked about it here 👈.

Shopify projects are global and go beyond borders.

In addition to Rains, Grafikr’s portfolio includes projects for brands like basicapparel and Dermalogica (upcoming site). The agency supports brands with migration/redesign projects, CRO strategy, and design work.

In my opinion, one of their most impressive achievements is the website for the brand Hairlust, which offers haircare products. The site includes nearly everything that makes a website a conversion model for online shopping:

👉 Ultra-sticky "add to basket" CTA
👉 Well-placed reviews (powered by Trustpilot)
👉 Dynamic product visuals
👉 Prominently featured recurring model
👉 Clear product benefits
👉 Dynamic banner
👉 Sticky menu
👉 Markets integration

Check out a deep dive right here 👈

5. La Belle Boucle new e-shop is live ! 💙

It’s one of my favorite activities: exploring new sites and noting the hacks and must/nice-to-haves that brands and agencies have worked on.

The new La Belle Boucle website was one I was eagerly waiting for, and for several reasons.

First, because I’ve had a special relationship with Laureen and Alexis, co-founders of La Belle Boucle, for several years. I have immense respect for their journey and vision—we regularly consult each other, talk often (both even gifted a pair of Crocs to my daughter when she was born—if that doesn’t show how well they know me, I don’t know what does!) 🐊

Second, because this project is the result of a collaboration with an agency I admire greatly (for almost all the same reasons mentioned above): Axome.

Naturally, a deep dive was in order, and you won’t be disappointed. This site incorporates nearly all the best e-commerce practices:

👉 Stories with embedded product pages: Stories have become a staple of onsite experiences, and embedding product CTAs in these stories has become a real conversion driver, especially on mobile.

👉 Multi-product selector on a single photo: This is a hack I noted during the Bonnegueule site deep dive—adding a multi-product selector directly onto an image (like below).

👉 Omnichannel referral and loyalty program: One of the big challenges of the past and coming months is figuring out how to work on customer retention—getting consumers to come back and turn them into micro-ambassadors via a referral program. Here, it’s built on the Loyoly stack.

👉 Cross-sell strategy: Encouraging product complementarity to increase AOV (and thus, mathematically, reduce CAC). For example, if I buy a shampoo for €15, I’m offered the option to add a comb for €9.

👉 A complete blog to boost SEO strategy: We highlighted the benefits of Bloggle in a previous episode, and here the strategy is similarly SEO-focused—detailed blog articles with embedded product CTAs to drive cart additions, spotlights on brands offered by La Belle Boucle, and helpful tips.

👉 A plethora of must-haves: Scrolling header, sticky menu, trust-building elements (secure payment, shipping policy), and prominently displayed reviews to boost social proof.

Bonus : events you should attend !

I just returned from the 2024 edition of Paris Retail Week, and it’s already time to hit the road again for two events I’m super excited about—both happening this week!

1️⃣ Omnicanal is the New Normal

This Wednesday, September 25, I’ll be at the Digital Native Club to discuss omnichannel strategies, unified commerce, payment trends, and retail experiences.

I’m thrilled to be sharing the stage with Mickael Pan, co-founder of the amazing brand Flotte, starting at 1:30 PM 🔥.

The day will also feature:

Laureen from La Belle Boucle & Joseph from Loyoly talking about loyalty programs,
Aurélie from Soi Paris and the Klaviyo team hosting a workshop on omnichannel marketing automation.

2️⃣ NES - Nosto Experience Series

This is a series of events I’ve been admiring for some time now. A few months ago, the Nosto team launched the NES: a series of breakfast events hosted in stunning venues, designed for retailers. These sessions feature e-commerce and retail experts sharing their insights alongside brand leaders.

I’m incredibly proud to announce that I’ll be representing Payplug at this next NES session happening this Thursday, September 26 (just two days away!).

There are still a few spots left, and I’d love for the brands reading this to take advantage of the opportunity.

It kicks off at 8:30 AM at the Lutetia ✨

If you’ve made it this far, you’v read it all - a huge thank you for that! 🙏 I’ll see you in October with a big announcement in store.

In the meantime, you can help An-Hacking grow by sharing the newsletter, leaving a review and/or comment…

Have a great week, friends 💙

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