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Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

candyjapan.com

11–20 of 98 posts

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#11
I don't really think A/B testing something like this, with this size of a sample, on a subscription based niche-product can give you any real insights.

Why not poll your subscribers or (assuming you can get the costs to work out) have an option for anime art. Personally I wouldn't want the anime style box, something custom and simpler would be fine.. but thats my personal opinion.

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#12

Honestly, I think it would have been really bizarre if something as unrelated to the central product as the design on the box, changed something as fundamental as retention of customers.

That works under the assumption that humans are purely rational beings, which we are not. Though I don't necessarily think the design chosen was a great choice based on other comments here. Maybe something a bit more generic, yet still colourful (like the candies in games like candy crush) would have been a better choice.

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#13

I signed up for CandyJapan several years ago when they were just getting things started. I canceled after probably 3 shipments. Each shipment I was only hoping that the next would contain better products and actually be worth the value in which I was paying. Unfortunately that never happened. While a cool concept and very eye catching, that's all it is. Importing candy is expensive no matter how you go about it. Most…

Thanks. Yes it costs much more to send candy in individual boxes from here, so if you want more candy per dollar it is definitely better to visit a Japanese market if there is one near you.

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#14

Have you considered that the new box is too "generic" or "corporate?" (For lack of a better word) In other words, the old box, while plain, adds a certain intimacy. It doesn't look like a huge multinational candy company sent it. The new box, though, looks basically like any other piece of Japanese media.

For me, the plain box gives me cheap Chinese vibes. It brings to mind badly damaged cardboard boxes with dubious electronics inside.

The Japanese illustrated box is innocent and kind of cute (certainly not "rapey" as another commenter put it) and in a Western country, stands out from the things around it. Perhaps if you're in Japan, surrounded by Japanese media it might seem generic but I don't think that's a problem elsewhere.

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#15
post #5

In a past life I founded/operated a conversion rate optimization company. One of our all time most successful tests was related to this story and happened almost by accident. The client had just rolled out new packaging and wanted help validating the change statistically, very similar to this situation. Their metric was measuring upsells to a premium product after a purchase, and like Candy Japan, found statistically…

I wonder if you could have gotten a similar result from the same models holding the old box?

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#16
post #2

I much prefer the plain packaging because: - The anime picture is embarrassing to receive in the mail / at work. - The picture itself is kind of creepy, someone walking past my desk once even described it as 'rapey'. - I can reuse the box. - I am not 6.

It depends on the audience.

Someone who admires Japanese culture will likely not have the same reaction as someone with little exposure to Japanese culture.

The picture is not even on the same planet as 'rapey' Whoever that was either said it to get a rise or they have some distinct issues.

One solution, perhaps, is avail both packaging options to buyers.

The typeface and font, I think, could be improved. It kind of looks like an afterthought. I don't see "branding". It's not Lobster or Comic Sans... but...

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#17
post #6
post #2

I much prefer the plain packaging because: - The anime picture is embarrassing to receive in the mail / at work. - The picture itself is kind of creepy, someone walking past my desk once even described it as 'rapey'. - I can reuse the box. - I am not 6.

"Rapey"? Are you serious? I'm just really having trouble wrapping my head around this. How does that picture convey anything close to "rapey"?

Um... perhaps by sexualising a young girl?

Re: Results from Candy Japan box design A/B test

#18
post #7
post #2

I much prefer the plain packaging because: - The anime picture is embarrassing to receive in the mail / at work. - The picture itself is kind of creepy, someone walking past my desk once even described it as 'rapey'. - I can reuse the box. - I am not 6.

Those are great points. I'm actually hoping to be convinced that I should stop using the new box, because it costs more. Maybe I should start calling this the plain vs. rapey test.

Yeah, pretty sure if customs kept seeing boxes like that appearing they're going to start investigating people...
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