Strategy
Part of A store conversion plan built on a defined journey and predeclared stop rules
Building a conversion framework around one journey problem and a reversible decision
Build a store conversion framework for England around one journey problem, comparable evidence, customer protections and reversible decisions.
What to take away
- Start with one merchant-owned journey problem, not a preferred tactic or an uplift target.
- Define the measurement contract before any customer is exposed to a change.
- A projected commercial gain cannot offset a failed customer protection gate.
- Predeclare allocation, outcomes, guardrails and stopping events, and keep the old route so you can reverse.
Record the operating case
Use this framework for one merchant-owned problem, such as an unexplained failure between delivery selection and payment. Do not begin with a favourite tactic. The first record describes the problem, not the fix.
Name the legal seller, product or service, England segment, channel, period and timezone. List the order states that apply: browse, basket, checkout, payment authorisation, capture, confirmation, fulfilment, cancellation, return, refund, dispute and support.
Then identify the troubled transition. State what is observed and what is only interpretation. Keep the two apart in the record, because a later reviewer must be able to see which claims rest on data.
Illustrative example: lost delivery choice
A shop offers standard and next-day delivery at checkout. The shopper picks next-day, reaches payment, and the payment provider resets the session to the basket. The delivery choice is lost and the basket value changes.
- Legal seller
- the trader named at checkout.
- Start event
- checkout view with next-day selected.
- Completion event
- paid order with next-day retained.
- Observed evidence
- the session log shows a reset to basket with no error code.
- Interpretation
- the payment integration drops the delivery state.
- Gate check
- PECR consent for any session replay.
- Option
- persist the delivery choice through the payment return.
- Baseline
- the current payment flow.
- Stop event
- payment mismatch or corrupted allocation.
Write the measurement contract
Define the eligible unit, start event, completion event, numerator, denominator, identity rule, timezone and source version. Say how late records, duplicates, bots, staff visits and test orders are treated.
The observed rate is eligible completions / eligible starts. Leave the target blank. This describes recorded behaviour under the definition. It does not show customer benefit, attribution or causality. Agree the key metrics and the measurement and reporting rules in writing before the first exposure.
Protect the customer before choosing an option
Create a separate gate for each protection and give each its own owner. A gain in one gate cannot pay for a failure in another. The table lists the rules that bind an online seller, each taken from the pages named in the last column.
| Gate | Rule to check | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The price must include all taxes and be shown before an order | GOV.UK distance selling guide |
| Optional charges | No extra payment without express consent; a pre-ticked box is not consent | Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 40 |
| Cancellation | Customer can cancel up to 14 days after delivery | GOV.UK distance selling guide |
| Missing notice | If not told of the right, customer can cancel at any time in the next 12 months | GOV.UK distance selling guide |
| Delivery | Deliver within 30 days unless agreed otherwise | GOV.UK distance selling guide |
| Tracking | PECR rules on storage and access were updated after the Data (Use and Access) Act | ICO storage and access technologies guidance |
The online and distance selling guidance lists the price including all taxes, and the delivery arrangements and costs, among the information a seller must give before an order is placed. It also sets the 14-day cancellation window.
On optional extras, regulation 40 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 provides that no additional payment is payable unless the trader obtained the consumer's express consent first. Consent cannot be inferred from a default option such as a pre-ticked box. Reject any option that depends on a pre-ticked extra or hidden information.
Describe options and the mechanism
Keep the current route as the baseline. For each alternative, state what changes, why it could address the problem, who is affected, dependencies, cost fields and a condition that would disprove the explanation.
A wording change, a state repair and a support intervention are different options, even when they touch the same page. Record customer observation, system evidence, supplier claim, legal requirement and editorial inference separately.
Predeclare the controlled comparison
Before exposure, add these fields to the store conversion plan: the allocation unit, eligible population, intervention, comparison, primary outcome, guardrails, analysis window, exclusions and missing data. Write down how you will report uncertainty.
Sample size depends on the baseline rate, the smallest effect worth detecting, power and available traffic. Do not copy a figure from another store. If traffic cannot support a comparison, record that, and use the observed rate only as a description.
Approve, pause or reverse
Predeclare the events that stop exposure: misleading price, impaired cancellation, unsafe product information, inaccessible control, unapproved tracking, payment mismatch, security incident or corrupted allocation. Name the person who can roll back and the evidence needed to restart.
Preserve the old version, the decision log and a recovery test. Proceed only when the comparison is interpretable and every gate is clear. The planning template gives the record to complete, and the UK regulations article maps the rules behind each gate. This framework is not legal advice, an England benchmark or evidence of expected improvement.
Before you act
- Name the legal seller, geography, channel and period.
- Define the eligible unit, start and completion events.
- Create separate gates for price, optional charges, cancellation and tracking.
- Keep the current route as the baseline option.
- Predeclare the controlled comparison before exposure.
- Name who can roll back and the evidence needed to restart.
Common questions
What should the first record describe?
The promise, seller, population, segment, channel, period, timezone and order states. If a field is unknown, record it as unknown and note who will supply it.
How is the observed rate calculated?
Eligible completions divided by eligible starts, with the target left blank. Keep numerator and denominator from the same source version. Do not use the rate to claim customer benefit or causality.
What events should stop exposure?
Misleading price, impaired cancellation, unsafe product information, inaccessible control, unapproved tracking, payment mismatch, security incident or corrupted allocation. Log the evidence and time for each event, and name who can roll back.
