The Secret to Delivering a Truly Fan-First Homepage
By Jen Lau, Senior Product Manager & Kat Escudero, Global Head of Merchandising
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Every company’s homepage should serve as a window into its business, and the StubHub homepage is no different. It represents how we want our customers to see us. But, just as importantly, our homepage reflects how we at StubHub see ourselves.
In the nearly two decades since our founding, StubHub has become the world’s largest ticket marketplace, with tickets available for over 10 million live sports, music and theater events in more than 40 countries. But it took us until fairly recently to lean into our identity as a leading e-commerce site. As recently as 2017, our homepage was an agnostic platform that was essentially a tile board of popular events. It showed customers a thin slice of what we had to offer and did not reflect our standing as a leading authority in the event industry.
As we embraced the identity of e-commerce powerhouse, we recognized that our homepage would have to evolve to reflect the fundamental change in how we saw ourselves. We wanted to create a best in class merchandising-based page that highlights what we have to offer fans — displaying items that are relevant to an individual, but also showcasing the breadth and depth of the tremendous number of events that StubHub has to offer. However, we didn’t want to overwhelm fans with the number of options presented. Instead, we wanted to inspire them.
Creating a Store That Appeals to Fans
Making the right changes meant thinking about our homepage as a store where we paid close attention not only to what was on our shelves, but also shelf signage and how we displayed our merchandise. In its earlier iteration as a tile board, our homepage was a jumble, with little attention dedicated to where items were located or how they appealed to customers. It was more of a corner bodega than a highly-curated store.
But as our homepage evolved, we began focusing on curation — taking our inspiration from the metaphor of an in-store shopping experience by thinking about how we could create the online equivalent of end-of-aisle displays or eye-catching special offers. At the same time, we set out to optimize our use of pixels available on the homepage just as a store owner would optimize their use of inventory per square foot of store space.
This drive for optimization led us to add features that now include a jumbotron carousel, event pillars, subcategory navigation and a section for trending performers. Together these elements allow us to reveal our expertise in the event space: we can display a wide range of our offerings while still making the most of our limited pixels and maintain the flexibility that will allow us to increase personalization in the future.
The Freedom to Explore New Possibilities
When we began the process of transforming the homepage, we relied heavily on user research and industry standards, but we also tapped into the incredible knowledge and excitement that exist within our own walls at StubHub. After all, people who work here love events with the passion of true fans, and we used that passion to inform the curated experience we created for our customers.
Fortunately, our team also enjoys a tremendous amount of creative freedom, and we were encouraged everyone to think big. Instead of starting off by focusing on elements like placements, modules, or features, we thought holistically about any and all changes we could dream up to make the homepage experience as exciting as possible for fans.
This freedom inspired us to explore ways to get offerings as diverse as Elton John’s latest tour, the start of the MLB season, and Cardi B’s appearance at the Houston Rodeo onto our limited “shelf space” in an eye-catching way. We knew what we were doing was different (even a little weird!), but we also knew we had the license to think big.
The result was a unique process where we were able to think holistically about the homepage without getting bogged down in individual features. We were able to be unabashedly fan-first and focus on sharing the events we felt mattered most to our customers right now.
Accelerating the Pace of Evolution
This right now attitude also applied to the evolution of the homepage. We knew the page needed to evolve faster if we wanted to see our vision come to life. New features were essential to keeping the store looking fresh. As recently as last year, it took up to six months to add a single major feature to the homepage. Earlier this year we managed to introduce four new major features in less than three months, and we continue to develop new features at a rapid pace.
One way we are able to accomplish this is by looking at different metrics to evaluate our changes. Instead of using full end-to-end conversion rates that track homepage-to-purchase as the only way to measure success, we now look at other metrics. Another way we move faster is by testing a number of features at the same time and comparing each feature against the others — rather than testing one feature at a time and comparing it against the entire homepage.
This has sped up the process because we no longer have a backlog of features waiting to be tested, and also provides a clearer view of how users engage with each feature more holistically. These rapid, iterative tests allow us to quickly determine what is successful, learn from our failures and continuously improve the homepage. One concrete result of these new methods? We were able to get a read on four features in two weeks rather than one feature in six weeks.
Being the Best We Can Be
The changes in strategy and process has done more than just allow us to move faster and with more freedom. It also changed our team culture by giving team members a sense of ownership over the homepage. Everyone had a voice in proposing new ideas and was united in wanting the page to come together, not just for themselves, but for the company and the fans.
The fluidity and freeform back-and-forth meant that engineers and product managers felt comfortable suggesting a design idea, and designers felt comfortable thinking creatively about potential engineering and business solutions. In short, we’re a balanced team.
But, just as importantly, we have also turned to the larger community at StubHub. Employees who were not directly involved in the evolution of the homepage now come to us with ideas for how we can use our “shelves” differently. One colleague suggested ways we could capitalize on Tiger Woods’ epic comeback at the Masters to promote other upcoming golf events. Another pointed out the strong Oscar momentum for Bohemian Rhapsody as an opportunity to promote Queen’s 2019 North American tour.
Not all of these ideas could have been found by an algorithm or by our small, autonomous team. Suggestions like these come from the whole company being engaged, and they show that people across the enterprise are now deeply invested in our homepage. Which is the way it should be. After all, we’re all Stubbers, and the homepage is a window into what we do.
Learn more about the authors of this post, Jen Lau and Kat Escudero. Curious about other ways we think differently across Product & Tech at StubHub? Come join us.
