{"id":41904,"date":"2019-04-09T12:38:53","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T07:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/?p=41904"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:29:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:59:30","slug":"rover-the-chatbot-that-scaled-cro-through-automation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/rover-the-chatbot-that-scaled-cro-through-automation\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Rover: The Chatbot That Scaled CRO Through Automation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This is a guest post by Gino Renardus, a Digital Marketing Consultant at Merkle, where he is part of the Data, Tech and Optimization team.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experimentation and testing has the power to increase conversions for any business. But for high-growth companies, scaling a conversion rate optimization (CRO) program requires not only building a long-term testing roadmap but also a <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/testing\/\">culture of experimentation<\/a> across multiple teams and stakeholders.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/#guide-download\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Download Free: Conversion Rate Optimization Guide<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As the scope of a <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/interview-conversion-rate-optimization-key-components\/\">CRO program<\/a> increases, so does the difficulty of management and the manual effort required. To overcome these pain points, my agency Merkle, collaborated with HEMA, a leading Dutch retail chain, to create a chatbot by bringing together the power of the VWO REST API and Slack.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"The challenges of scaling CRO\" id=\"the-challenges-of-scaling-cro\" data-menu-id=\"the-challenges-of-scaling-cro\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong><strong>The challenges of scaling CRO<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>For my team at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merkleinc.com\/nl\/nl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Merkle<\/a> and our client <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hema.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HEMA<\/a>, CRO involves constant juggling of interests between <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/how-to-hire-cro\/\">CRO specialists<\/a>, analysts, clients, website developers, and other relevant stakeholders. Each decision and action affects many people, who have to be consulted before and informed after any changes. This can become cumbersome for small businesses but particularly affects larger CRO teams, especially with new tests being turned on and off frequently. This process needed to be automated to bring efficiency and agility to the CRO initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"The birth of Rover\" id=\"the-birth-of-rover\" data-menu-id=\"the-birth-of-rover\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong><strong>The birth of Rover<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>We discovered that the <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.vwo.com\/reference\">VWO REST API<\/a> makes it easy to monitor tests for changes in status, so we sought a way to use this information to make announcements easily. As a result, the idea for a chatbot was born. By linking the VWO API, Slack webhooks and a local database through Python, the chatbot was able to notify the right people about test status changes the moment they occurred. We named the bot <strong>Rover<\/strong>: he would be a dog\/bot hybrid that barks when it needs attention. Rover could also send notifications to relevant parties about when to check the preliminary results of a test. A huge burden was lifted from our shoulders, leaving us with more time to think about the next set of strategic experiments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"Growing the bot\" id=\"growing-the-bot\" data-menu-id=\"growing-the-bot\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>Growing the bot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>As these simple adjustments proved to be quite helpful to us and HEMA, we began <strong>exploring the VWO API<\/strong> to see what else it could be used to do. We came up with a number of areas where the bot could help automate routine tasks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quality control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When running a high number of tests, it is of utmost importance to us and HEMA that everything goes according to plan at all times. We have set up quality control checks internally to limit the risks. There are processes we follow before publishing a test to make sure it\u2019s safe to go live, including double checking right after publication in case anything was missed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, some of the things we checked for on the VWO side include if the traffic has been set to 100%, if GTM integration has been enabled, and whether the campaign\u2019s name follows our naming conventions. Fortunately, the VWO API makes it possible to automate the checking of these kinds of settings, so that we can effortlessly and quickly be more certain a test is ready to be published.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"434\" height=\"241\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/1.png\" alt=\"conversation with the Slack Rover bot\" class=\"wp-image-41906\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/1.png 434w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/1.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Monitoring live A\/B tests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After publishing any <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/ab-testing\/\">A\/B test<\/a>, we monitor events in Google Analytics to ensure nothing was missed and that the test is, in fact, running correctly. Although it allows us to maintain the desired level of quality, this process is also time-consuming, tedious, and prone to human error, much like the announcements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To deal with this, we added the Google Analytics API into the mix, allowing Rover to check the number of VWO events for a particular test and notify us of its findings. The absence of VWO events likely meant the test wasn\u2019t running correctly, which is something we always had to check manually before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"552\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/2.png\" alt=\"reply from the Rover Slack Bot\" class=\"wp-image-41907\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/2.png 552w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/2.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 552px) 100vw, 552px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"#free-trial\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"298\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png\" alt=\"Blog Banner CRO Through Automation\" class=\"wp-image-60500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png 2400w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-1600 1600w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-1366 1366w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-1024 1024w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-768 768w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-640 640w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Blog-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Conversational A\/B test management<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point, Rover was already hugely valuable to the CRO team, but it was limited to only transmitting messages. Rover couldn\u2019t process any received messages. If we wanted a user to intuitively tell Rover to check a test, we\u2019d have to include an element of interactivity.&nbsp;That\u2019s why we hooked up our bot to artificial intelligence using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/watson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IBM Watson<\/a>, allowing it to process natural language. With this integration in place, a user is able to ask \u201cRover, is VWO test 244 ready to go live?\u201d and it will perform the checks. Then, the user can simply publish the test by saying \u201cRover, publish 244\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"192\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/3.png\" alt=\"Rover Slack bot sharing the update for the A\/B test \" class=\"wp-image-41908\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/3.png 512w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/3.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rover has truly become part of the CRO team, both of Merkle and HEMA. His contribution to the speed and quality of our <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/\">conversion rate optimization process<\/a> is well recognized. We included even more functionalities such as the ability to pause the manual activation tags we built in Google Tag Manager to trigger VWO tests, thereby linking VWO and GTM together.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But we\u2019re not finished yet!<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"Scoring points: building a CRO culture through gamification\" id=\"scoring-points-building-a-cro-culture-through-gamification\" data-menu-id=\"scoring-points-building-a-cro-culture-through-gamification\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>Scoring points: building a CRO culture through gamification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Although the effectiveness of CRO and <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/ab-testing\/\">A\/B testing<\/a> are well established, building support for it throughout the organization still remains a difficulty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To combat this, we found yet another role for Rover: <strong>quizmaster!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, we pull basic information about the test and its variants from VWO. We then use this data to extract more detailed information about the experiment from our project management board. This includes background information, <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/plan\/hypotheses\/\">hypotheses<\/a>, descriptions of the control and variants as well as screenshots.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From this knowledge, we dynamically generate polls on Slack where users vote on the landing page variants they think will outperform the rest. These users, generally members of the client organization, then battle each other in a <strong>CRO tournament<\/strong> where it is determined who knows most about the website visitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"321\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/4.png\" alt=\"CRO tournament conducted by the Rover Bot in the Slack channel\" class=\"wp-image-41909\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The gamification element has made CRO more exciting to those not generally involved in it, making our efforts more visible throughout the organization and also highlighting the successes we have. Furthermore, it builds team spirit and generates more ideas for future testing. All because of our data-driven quizmaster: Rover!&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/#guide-download\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Download Free: Conversion Rate Optimization Guide<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"To sum up:\u00a0\" id=\"to-sum-up\" data-menu-id=\"to-sum-up\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong><strong>To sum up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a quick summary of the benefits we have already achieved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7 Notify stakeholders of starting\/stopping of tests;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7 Notify stakeholders to check preliminary results;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7 Check Google Analytics for presence of VWO events;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7 Perform quality control checks;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7 Pause Manual Activation tags in GTM;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7 Start\/stop tests through chat;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b7&nbsp;Perform the role of quizmaster, allowing stakeholders to vote on which variant they expect to outperform the others.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"Future plans\" id=\"future-plans\" data-menu-id=\"future-plans\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>Future plans<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re working with VWO to expand the abilities of the REST API even further to make Rover more powerful. This collaboration is a very exciting one to us. The API has already proven to be invaluable in our current operations which are now running more smoothly than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level2\" data-menu=\"About Merkle\" id=\"about-merkle\" data-menu-id=\"about-merkle\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>About Merkle<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Merkle is a leading digital marketing, analytics and optimization agency in the Netherlands. Based in Amsterdam, its team of experts provide leading brands with digital marketing services aimed at utilizing customer data in the best possible way to achieve the highest returns. The company has partnered with VWO since 2012 to test and optimize some of&nbsp;the most popular websites of the country for their clients.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level2\" data-menu=\"About HEMA\" id=\"about-hema\" data-menu-id=\"about-hema\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong><strong>About HEMA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Since 1926, HEMA has made the everyday life of its customers easier and more fun through products that positively stand out: due to their quality, design and price. HEMA offers over 30,000 of its own products and services, has over 750 stores in nine countries and 19,000 employees. As consumers move more towards online, HEMA recognizes the importance of developing a digital strategy as progressive as the brand is. HEMA\u2019s webshop is widely recognized to be one of the best of The Netherlands, with a top position in the Twinkle 100 and by frequently receiving awards such as Best Department Store Webshop.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"#free-trial\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1256\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png\" alt=\"End Banner Meet Rover The Chatbot That Scaled Cro Through Automation\" class=\"wp-image-60502\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png 2400w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-1600 1600w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-1366 1366w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-1024 1024w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-768 768w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-640 640w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/End-Banner_Meet-Rover_-The-Chatbot-that-Scaled-CRO-through-Automation.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the scope of CRO projects increases, so does the difficulty of management and the tediousness of the manual efforts required. To overcome these pain points,  digital marketing agency Oogst &#8211; a Merkle company collaborated with HEMA, a leading Dutch retail chain and created a chatbot  by bringing together the power  of the VWO REST API and Slack, to scale CRO efforts at HEMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":253,"featured_media":55799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"post_read_time":8,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1850],"tags":[],"feature":[],"industry-type":[],"product":[],"role":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-41904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conversion-rate-optimization"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meet Rover- Chatbot that Scaled CRO through Automation | VWO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this 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