A/B Test Design: 10% Discount Impact on Conversion
Scenario
An e-commerce retailer wants to evaluate whether offering a 10% sitewide discount increases conversion rate and overall business outcomes.
Task
Design and analyze an A/B test to measure the discount’s impact. Provide:
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Hypotheses (null/alternative) and test direction.
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Metrics:
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Primary outcome.
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Secondary and guardrail metrics (business and technical).
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Randomization and exposure:
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Randomization unit and assignment.
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Eligibility/exposure rules to minimize dilution and contamination.
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Sample size and power:
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Assumptions (baseline, MDE, alpha, power).
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Formula and a worked numeric example.
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Experiment setup:
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Bucketing, ramp plan, duration, traffic splits.
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Concurrency controls, QA, and data quality checks (e.g., SRM).
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Analysis plan:
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Estimation and significance testing.
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Variance reduction, clustering, sequential monitoring.
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Handling novelty effects and dilution (ITT vs. TOT).
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Segmentation and heterogeneity:
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Which segments to pre-specify; multiplicity control.
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Interpretation and decisioning:
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How to interpret results across conversion, revenue, and margin.
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Actions for positive/neutral/negative outcomes.
Hints to consider: randomization unit, power, guardrails, significance testing, segmentation, dilution, and novelty effects.