What counts as filters and search
This collection covers collection page filters and filter tags, category sliders, tabs and story bubbles, and search bars in menus and on pages. Menu layout in general is on the navigation menu page.
The answer first: win/loss record
14 measured tests, 13 wins, 1 loss. Five ran on homepages, four in navigation, four on collection pages and one on a landing page.
Where filters and search were tested
Homepage (5 tests)
Category shortcuts on the homepage won four times. Dave Diederen repeated the category filter test with no text above it and reported +6.37% conversion rate, +8.08% revenue per visitor and +A$165,018/month.
Want results like this on your store?
Dave Diederen at Syntra Labs. Dave builds and tests Shopify stores at Syntra Labs, and shares most results in public.
Dave Diederen also moved the most-clicked category to the first tab after a heatmap showed shoppers ignoring the Best Sellers tab, for +14.17% conversion rate and +14.40% revenue per visitor. Oliver Kenyon's story bubbles above the mobile hero, one per category, reported +10.9% revenue per visitor and +$25,440/month.
Navigation (4 tests)
Search in the menu won every time it was tested. Oliver Kenyon added a search bar inside the mega menu (+$81,050/month) and put search at the top of a mobile menu with Clearance first (+$92,000/month).
Collection page (4 tests)
Oliver Kenyon added filter tags like Best Sellers and New Drops (+$82,542/month) and a floating filter bar (+$68,584/month). Dave Diederen's image-based category slider reported +$161K across 1,612 orders and 158,691 visitors.
Biggest wins and their numbers
- Category filter section on the homepage, no text above: +A$165,018/month (Dave Diederen).
- Image-based category slider: +$161K (Dave Diederen).
- Mobile menu with search at the top and Clearance first: +$92,000/month (Oliver Kenyon).
- Most-clicked category moved to the first tab: +14.17% conversion rate (Dave Diederen).
Tests that lost or were flat
Dave Diederen's client wanted to hide the Instagram-style category slider as visual clutter. The control won: hiding it cost -2.9% conversion rate and -2.95% revenue per visitor. Dave Diederen's reading is that the slider is wayfinding, especially for stores with many products.
Some revenue-per-session gains were small even when the monthly totals were large. The mega menu search bar reported +$0.05 revenue per session, so its monthly figure reflects high traffic.
Design patterns that won
- Image category tiles or sliders near the top of the homepage and collection pages.
- Categories ordered by what shoppers click, not by habit.
- A search bar inside the menu, at the top on mobile.
- Filter tags and a filter bar that stays in reach while scrolling.
How to add or change filters and search on Shopify
Shopify's free Search & Discovery app controls collection filters and search synonyms. Most themes include a collection list section for category tiles, while sticky filter bars and story bubbles usually need a theme edit. See collection page filter tests, homepage tests and navigation tests.
How to test it on your store
Hypothesis: homepage visitors are hunting for a category and cannot find it fast, so a row of image category tiles under the hero will lift revenue per visitor. Check your heatmap first, as Dave Diederen did, to see which categories get clicked.
Measure revenue per visitor, not clicks on the new element. Use the sample size calculator; effects around +3% need a lot of traffic.
Ideas not yet tested
- Dave Diederen suggests making collection filters sticky on mobile and adding a category filter directly under the homepage hero.
- Kasper Dolk suggests filters built on the criteria shoppers care about, topic filters such as sleep, focus and mood, and showing applied filters with a way to remove them.
- Milos suggests fixing "no results" searches by mapping top failed searches to product terms with synonyms.
Questions
Do category filters on the homepage increase conversions?
Twice in these tests. Dave Diederen's homepage category filter section won +5.33% conversion rate, and a version with no text above it won +6.37% conversion rate.
Should I put a search bar in my navigation menu?
Both Oliver Kenyon tests that did it won: a search bar inside the mega menu reported +$81,050/month, and search at the top of a mobile menu reported +$92,000/month alongside other changes.
Is a homepage category slider just clutter?
Not in Dave Diederen's test. Hiding the Instagram-style category slider lost -2.9% conversion rate and -2.95% revenue per visitor.