# Making Smarter A/B Testing Decisions with Event Tracking and Session Replays

DevFeed: [Making Smarter A/B Testing Decisions with Event Tracking and Session Replays](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/making-smarter-a-b-testing-decisions-with-event-tracking-and-session-replays-30796.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://devblog.kogan.com/blog/making-smarter-ab-testing-decisions-with-event-tracking-and-session-replays>)

Author: Ryan Barker

Published: 2024-09-12T23:31:33Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Kogan.com](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/kogan-com.md>)

Topics: [A/B Testing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/a-b-testing.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [User experience (UX)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ux.md>), [Website](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/website.md>)

Tags: [a-b-testing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/a-b-testing.md>), [conversion](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/conversion.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [e-commerce](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/e-commerce.md>), [sensitive-data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sensitive-data.md>), [tracking](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tracking.md>), [ux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux.md>)

## AI overview

The article explains how event tracking and session replays can improve A/B testing decisions in e-commerce. Event tracking shows user actions and variant behavior, while session replays provide context about friction points, drop-offs, and usability issues.

## Source excerpt

A/B tests are theoretically simple but sometimes offer challenges when insufficient data or events are tracked. In e-commerce, conversion rates are often highlighted as a key metric but what causes it and why. By leveraging additional tools that enable event tracking and session replays such as FullStory we can attach context and understand what users are actually doing, allowing us to make data-driven decisions which is crucial in modern business. Event Tracking: What Happened When it comes to e-commerce, every click matters, which is why we need to have an event-tracking mechanism. Event-tracking enables tracking user actions across your website, such as adding an item to the cart, hitting a call to action button, or proceeding to checkout. This data is essential in understanding the different behaviors that exist among your A/B test variants. For example, if you're testing two versions of a product page, event tracking helps you see: Click Rate: Which of the two gets more clicks on the 'Add to Cart' button? Engagement: How long do users spend on the page and how many elements such as images, product descriptions, or reviews do they interact with? Form Submissions: What user feedback method leads to the best uptake for optional benefits? This approach is beneficial because it allows you to understand what's happening behind the scenes, beyond just looking at the final sales numbers. Session Replays: Why it Happened While event tracking shows what happened, session replays reveal the why. Watching a replay of a customer's experience (with sensitive data masked) often uncovers behaviors and friction points you, as the developer, didn't anticipate or encounter during testing. It's an insight you simply can't get from final sales numbers, and it's invaluable when trying to identify behavioral patterns or usability issues. For example, if event tracking shows a significant drop-off with Variant A users who aren't reaching the checkout page, session replays might reveal