@CROguy_
@elevate_ab
@joshtCROWhat counts as product images
This collection covers the product gallery on the product page (first image, thumbnails, image order, overlays and infographics), images on collection cards, hero images on the homepage and landing pages, and image tiles in menus. Video is covered on the UGC and video page.
The answer first: win/loss record
37 measured tests, 37 reported wins, no reported losses. Dave Diederen ran 15 and Oliver Kenyon ran 14, with five from Milos, two from Kasper Dolk and one from Elevate A/B Testing.
Where product images were tested
Product page (18 tests)
Gallery navigation is the clearest theme. Besides the thumbnail strip, Dave Diederen showed image thumbnails under the gallery (+6.06% conversion rate, +7.34% revenue per visitor), and Oliver Kenyon added mobile thumbnails alongside a moved urgency bar (+$24,000/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.
The first image matters too. Dave Diederen tested a new first product image and reported +10.26% conversion rate and +10.44% revenue per visitor. Putting selling points into the images also won: Dave Diederen's images with USPs, testimonials, guarantees and delivery info (+7.17% conversion rate) and Oliver Kenyon's USP images in the gallery (+$10K/month).
Collection page (5 tests)
Letting shoppers see more images without opening the product won every time. Dave Diederen's swipeable galleries on collection cards reported +10.49% conversion rate and +11.60% revenue per visitor. Kasper Dolk reported +€96,350 from swipeable collection images at 97% confidence.
Homepage, menus and elsewhere
Milos added a carousel of popular collections to a homepage (+6.8% conversion rate, +17.88% revenue per visitor). Oliver Kenyon ran five menu tests, including a text-only megamenu turned into a visual panel (+$13,192/month).
Biggest wins and their numbers
- Static image instead of a homepage hero video: +52.67% revenue per visitor (Dave Diederen).
- Product page redesign with a lifestyle image, benefit headline and bundles: +81% conversion rate (Milos). Images were one of several changes.
- Popular collections carousel on the homepage: +17.88% revenue per visitor, +$117,797/month (Milos).
- Thumbnail strip instead of gallery dots: +15.10% revenue per visitor (Dave Diederen).
Tests that lost or were flat
None of the 37 was reported as a loss, but two results are worth reading closely. In Dave Diederen's model swap test, the blonde model won at 9.55% conversion rate against 9.32% for the control, while the brunette variant fell to 9.01%. A new image can lose as easily as it can win.
Oliver Kenyon's best menu result went the other way: the mega menu that made $151,192/month had no product images at all. In that menu, words worked better than pictures.
Design patterns that won
- Visible thumbnails instead of dots, especially on mobile.
- A first image chosen by testing, not by habit.
- Images that carry benefits, guarantees and delivery info.
- Swipeable images on collection cards.
- People in the images who match the buyer: Dave Diederen's older-audience images won +6.47% revenue per visitor.
How to add or change product images on Shopify
Image order and the first image are set in the product's media list in the Shopify admin. Thumbnail layout and collection-card swiping depend on your theme settings or a small code change. See product page image tests and collection page image tests for more examples.
How to test it on your store
Hypothesis: shoppers cannot see enough of the product before deciding, so showing thumbnails instead of dots will lift revenue per visitor. Test one change at a time: the first image, the gallery navigation, or image content.
Measure revenue per visitor, not just add-to-cart. Use the sample size calculator; the blonde vs brunette gap was a fraction of a percentage point, which needs a lot of traffic to read.
Ideas not yet tested
- Dave Diederen suggests swapping a white-background first image for a lifestyle shot, and adding infographics for size and specs.
- Kasper Dolk suggests ordering slides as hero shot, how-to, benefits, specs, use cases and a review, and adding a before/after slide.
- Milos suggests putting a product video inside the image gallery.
Questions
Which product image changes increased conversion rate?
In these tests, gallery navigation and the first image did the most. Dave Diederen's thumbnail strip instead of dots won +10.71% conversion rate, and a new first product image won +10.26% conversion rate.
Should the first product image be a lifestyle photo or a white-background shot?
No test here compares the two directly. Elevate A/B Testing found that promoting the second photo to first raised revenue per visitor from £3.32 to £3.60, and Dave Diederen's model swap showed one variant winning and another losing. Test your own first image.
Do swipeable images on collection pages help?
Yes in every test here. Dave Diederen reported +10.49% conversion rate, Kasper Dolk reported +€96,350 at 97% confidence, and Oliver Kenyon reported two wins of about $12,400/month.