Create an A/B Test

A/B tests contain multiple user experiences, one of which is the control group. For each experience (and the control group), you can assign one or more promotions, slot configurations, or overrides to default category sorting rules.

Quotas enforce the following limitation: Maximum of five test segments within a test, including the control group segment, so four user-defined segments total. We recommend that you start by running one test at a time.

When you have created and used an A/B test, you can change it to focus on different metrics, promotions, content, or sorting rules or customer groups.
  1. Select site > Merchant Tools > SitePreferences > A/B Tests. Enable A/B testing for the appropriate instance on the A/B test Preferences page.
  2. Select site > Merchant Tools > Online Marketing > A/B Tests.
  3. On the A/B testing list page, click New to create a test configuration (or double-click an existing test configuration).
    When you open an existing test, you can see an error: Fields are disabled because this test has already started. Click here to enable editing this test. If you click this message, a window opens asking, Are you sure you want to enable editing this test? Editing a test could invalidate its results. Click Enable or Cancel.
  4. On the A/B test details page, enter or modify the following information:
    1. Enter a unique ID or accept the default that was automatically created. This field isn't modifiable if you are editing an A/B test.
    2. Select Enabled (Yes or No).
    3. Enter or modify the optional description.
    4. Enter or modify the optional email notification address. Emails are sent hourly. They occur when a test ends, the results become statistically significant, or a test is paused or resumed.
    5. Enter optional tags into the Tags field (separated by a comma, if entering multiple tags), and click Add to add them. Use tags to group similar tests so that you can find them more easily in a search on the A/B testing dashboard page.
    6. Select a key metric.
    7. Select a participation.

      For a Category Page View trigger, click Edit to select one or more categories.

      For a Pipeline Call trigger, enter a pipeline name.

    8. Select a participant expiration type (Session or Never).
    9. Specify the scheduled start and end dates. You can schedule an A/B test to last up to 90 days.
    10. To make the A/B test effective for certain customer groups, click Edit beside Customer Groups.

      On the Assign Customer Groups page, use search and navigation controls to find the customer groups you want.

      Select one or more customer groups.

      Select Qualifying customer must belong to all the selected customer groups if membership in all selected customer groups is required for the customer to qualify. When this isn't selected, membership in only one customer group is required for the customer to qualify.

      Click Apply.

  5. Scroll down to the A/B test Segments section.
  6. You can delete test segments and test experiences within test segments.
    • Click the delete icon beside a test segment (to the right of the Add Experience button) to delete that test segment.
    • Click the delete icon beside an experience (beside the Enabled column header) to delete that experience.
    • Click the delete icon beside an experience element (beside the item's enabled setting) to delete that experience element.
  7. For each test segment:
    • The mandatory ID is accessible by the Salesforce B2C Commerce API and import/export.
    • The optional description isn't available from the B2C Commerce API because it isn't for use in the storefront.
    • The description isn't localizable and not available from the B2C Commerce API because it isn't for use in the storefront.
    • You can define an allocation percentage that determines the distribution of participants among the test segments, including the control group.
    • You can create a test experience for promotions, slot configurations, and sorting rules.
  8. Click New Test Segment. A panel for the new test segment is added to the page.
  9. In the A/B test Segments section, click Add Experience to add user experience.
    1. Click Add Slot Configuration.
      On the Assign Slot Configurations page, select one or more slot configurations and click Apply.
    2. Click Add Promotion.
      On the Assign Promotions page, select one or more promotions and click Apply.
    3. Click Add Sorting Rule.
      On the Assign Sorting Rules page, select one or more sorting rules and click Apply.
      Note: The selected sorting rule must be linked to a storefront sorting option that is set to display in A/B tests only.
    4. Click Add Keyword Search Sorting Rule.
      On the Assign Sorting Rules page, select one or more sorting rules and click Apply.
    5. Click Add Custom Scripting.

      Developer documentation and reference materials are available in English only. Refer to the English-language Infocenter https://sfcclearning.com/infocenter/ to access this information.

      See A/B Testing for Developers.

  10. Click Apply to accept the changes to your A/B test.
  11. To review a test segment on the storefront, click the Preview Icon.