The popup examples with the strongest tested results do one of two things: they give a better offer than a plain "10% off" (a dollar amount, a pictured free gift, a quote sent by email), or they make the popup easier to say yes to (a yes/no first step, a single field, a timed trigger).
Convertibles' free-gift and dollar-off popups, CleanChoice Energy's timed pop-in and an insurer's "Email My Quote" popup are the top picks.
Popups lost when they blocked a buy button or sat on a high-intent product page, yet removing one sitewide also lost.
How we picked: all 21 examples are tests from the LiftArchive database, covering ecommerce, lead gen and SaaS, with the published number, who ran it and the evidence type.
We have not run these tests ourselves, and we flag before-and-after results and tests that fell short of significance.
For the strategy behind these, see our guides to email capture and exit-intent popups, or browse every popup test on the popups hub.
All 21 popup examples at a glance
| # | Example (brand or page) | What they did | Result | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adult wellness brand | Swapped 15% off for $30 off $150 with product photos | +43% email capture, +$45,000/month | Ecommerce |
| 2 | Dog treats brand | Three named free gifts on a $60+ first order vs 15% off | +26% email capture, +$60,000/mo | Ecommerce |
| 3 | illCurrency | Same 15% offer, split into a yes/no step then email | +76% email sign-ups | Ecommerce |
| 4 | NuBest | Asked a health-goal question, then 15% for email, 20% for phone | +20.87% orders vs no popup | Ecommerce |
| 5 | Sassy Scents | 15% off vs 10% off in the same sign-up popup | Lost: sign-ups fell from 29% to 21.6% | Ecommerce |
| 6 | Ecommerce store | Hid the email popup for half of visitors | Lost: -20.51% revenue per visitor | Ecommerce |
| 7 | Litehouse | Removed the auto email popup from the best-selling product page | +9.80% conversion rate | Ecommerce |
| 8 | Shopify store | Same promo popup shown after 60 seconds instead of on arrival | Flat: +7.9% conversion, inconclusive | Ecommerce |
| 9 | Shopify store | Removed both the discount banner and popup on mobile | +20.1% add-to-cart | Ecommerce |
| 10 | Plants brand | Exit popup offering a discount for sign-up vs one pointing to content | +4% AOV | Ecommerce |
| 11 | IMB Bank | Exit popup offering to save or continue a loan form | +52% applications saved | Lead gen |
| 12 | CleanChoice Energy | Email pop-in within 15 seconds instead of a footer button | +204% email sign-ups | Lead gen |
| 13 | Health and life insurer | Popup offering to email the quote after 20 idle seconds | +340% emails | Lead gen |
| 14 | Broomberg | Free consultation popup after 100 seconds on blog posts | +72% relevant blog leads | Lead gen |
| 15 | Mercantil Bank | Replaced a multi-field form with a phone-only popup | +5.5% submissions, -23.6% CAC | Lead gen |
| 16 | Truckstop.com | Popup demo form on the broker load board page | +26% conversions | SaaS |
| 17 | Encyclopaedia Britannica | Changed the subscription popup button text | Lost: click-through down up to 20% | SaaS |
| 18 | Clarins | 24-hour spin-the-wheel promo code game | About 4x orders vs 2019 | Ecommerce |
| 19 | Faherty | Loyalty sign-up popup after 30 seconds instead of a dedicated page | +209% loyalty sign-ups | Ecommerce |
| 20 | TimberTech | Dismissible free sample kit toaster after a short pause | +73% sample orders on mobile | Ecommerce |
| 21 | Shopify store | Moved chat off add to cart, cart and checkout; turned off another popup | +44.5% conversion | Ecommerce |
The 21 popup examples
1. Adult wellness brand: $30 off $150 beat 15% off in an email popup
What they did: Replaced a sitewide 15% off email popup with a $30 off orders of $150+ offer, pictured hero products, community-only framing. Offer, images and copy changed together.
Why it works: A dollar figure is easy to value at a glance, and the $150 minimum gave shoppers a basket target.
Result: Email capture rose 43%, average order value rose 21%, and revenue rose about $45,000 a month.
A/B/n test by Convertibles; a free-gift version at the same threshold lost. See the test.
Copy this: Test a fixed dollar-off offer set a little above your average order, with real products shown in the popup.
2. Dog treats brand: Three pictured free treats beat 15% off
What they did: Tested a control plus four offers.
The winner said "These three gifts are FREE" and pictured two chews and a bully stick, free on a first order over $60.
Why it works: Low-cost gifts looked far more valuable than a percentage, and a $60 minimum felt reachable.
Result: Email capture rose 26%, order value rose 25%, and revenue rose about $60,000 a month.
A/B test by Convertibles. The offers ranked three gifts, then one gift, then $10 off $60, then 15% off. See the test.
Copy this: Name and picture a cheap, wanted gift instead of a percentage, and set the minimum spend at a few items.
3. illCurrency: A yes/no question before the email field
What they did: Kept the 15% offer but asked "Would you like 15% off?" first, then showed the email field after a yes. The thank-you step showed a bestseller.
Why it works: One click is easier than typing an email, and people who said yes tend to finish.
Result: Mobile sign-ups went from 3.83% to 6.75% and desktop from 1.04% to 1.83%, +76% overall.
Reported by OptiMonk; before-and-after, not a split test, and the popup tool changed too. See the test.
Copy this: Add a yes/no first step to your current popup before you raise the discount.
4. NuBest: A question-first popup vs no popup at all
What they did: The popup opened by asking the visitor's main health goal, then offered 15% off for an email and an upgrade to 20% off for a phone number.
Why it works: An easy first question makes the email ask feel like the next step, and the extra 5% gave a reason to share a phone number.
Result: Orders rose 20.87% against a holdout group that saw no popup, with a 7.58% email sign-up rate.
Reported by OptiMonk; the holdout method was not explained. See the test.
Copy this: Keep a random no-popup holdout so you can see what the popup adds in orders, not only sign-ups.
5. Sassy Scents: A bigger discount got fewer sign-ups
What they did: Ran the same full-screen, multi-step popup with 15% off against 10% off.
Why it works: On low-priced wax melts the cash gap between 10% and 15% is small.
Result: The 15% offer lost: 1,219 sign-ups from 5,656 views (21.55%) against 1,659 from 5,717 (29.02%) for 10%.
A/B test reported by OptiMonk; order counts were not given in the text. See the test.
Copy this: Before raising your popup discount, test the smaller one.
Judge it on revenue per visitor, not sign-ups alone.
6. Ecommerce store: Removing the email popup lost revenue
What they did: Hid the store's email signup popup for the test group. Nothing else changed.
Why it works: The popup's offer gives undecided visitors a reason to buy now, and email capture brings them back later.
Result: Removing it lost: revenue per visitor fell 20.51% (from €2.60 to €2.07) and conversion fell 12.18%.
A/B test by Dave Diederen, who says it also lost on a second store.
The confidence ranges include zero. See the test.
Copy this: Fix the offer, timing and close button before you switch a popup off, and test removal rather than assuming.
7. Litehouse: Removing a popup from the top product page won
What they did: Removed the email popup that opened on every visit to Litehouse's best-selling product page. Copy, layout and offer stayed the same.
Why it works: Product-page visitors already show intent, and small close buttons caused mis-taps on mobile, where paid traffic landed.
Result: Conversion rose 9.80% and revenue per user 7.46% at 93.1% confidence, below the usual 95% bar.
A/B test by Oliver Kenyon; the loss in email sign-ups was not reported. See the test.
Copy this: Exclude your highest-intent product pages from the popup and test it, while keeping it elsewhere.
8. Shopify store: Delaying a promo popup by 60 seconds
Clean CommitWhat they did: Showed the same promotional popup only after visitors had spent 60 seconds on the page.
Why it works: A delay lets people look around first.
But mobile conversion rose 15.0% while desktop fell 10.1%, so timing may differ by device.
Result: Flat: conversion +7.9% with only a 66.6% probability of beating the original, on 23,328 visitors and 24% power.
A/B test by Clean Commit. See the test.
Copy this: If you test timing, read mobile and desktop separately and run long enough to reach real power.
9. Shopify store: Removing a mobile discount banner and popup
What they did: Removed the discount banner and the discount popup on mobile.
Product grid, filters and navigation stayed the same.
Why it works: On a small screen, a popup plus a banner can bury the products.
Result: Add-to-cart rose 20.1% and click-through 12.1%, but on only 1,647 mobile visitors over 13 days, with no order data.
A/B test by Clean Commit. See the test.
Copy this: Count how much of the first mobile screen your overlays cover, and test a lighter version on mobile only.
10. Plants brand: An exit-intent discount beat a content redirect
Blend CommerceWhat they did: Swapped an exit-intent popup that sent leaving visitors to site content for one that offered a discount for an email sign-up.
Why it works: A leaving visitor needs a reason to stay or come back.
An offer gives one; a link to more content mostly does not.
Result: Average order value rose 4%, conversion 2.9% and popup button clicks 37%.
A/B test by Blend Commerce; sample size was not shared. See the test.
Copy this: Give your exit popup a concrete offer, not a "read our blog" link.
11. IMB Bank: An exit popup to save the application for later
What they did: When a user's mouse moved to leave the personal loan form, a popup asked them to save the application or carry on. About 84% of starters had been leaving.
Why it works: On a long form, "save for later" keeps the work someone has already done, which is a more useful exit offer than a discount.
Result: Saved applications rose 52%, but completed applications showed no clear effect during the test.
A/B test by IMB Bank, published by VWO. See the test.
Copy this: On long lead forms, make the exit popup a save-progress option and measure completions, not just saves.
12. CleanChoice Energy: A timed pop-in vs a footer sign-up button
What they did: Showed an email capture pop-in within 15 seconds of landing on three paid-traffic pages.
Before, the only sign-up was a button at the bottom of the page.
Why it works: Most visitors never scroll to the footer.
A pop-in puts the offer in front of everyone.
Result: Email sign-ups rose 204% on average across the three pages.
A/B test by CleanChoice Energy, published by VWO; it counted sign-ups, not later customers. See the test.
Copy this: If your only sign-up sits in the footer, test a timed pop-in on your paid landing pages.
13. Health and life insurer: "Email My Quote" for idle mobile visitors
What they did: Mobile visitors on a dental insurance page who had not scrolled after 20 seconds saw a popup offering to email them their quote.
Why it works: The offer is useful to someone who is hesitating, and it gives them a way to come back without starting over.
Result: Email addresses collected rose 340% with no change in applications.
A/B test by the insurer using AB Tasty's EmotionsAI, published by AB Tasty; it targeted idle mobile visitors only. See the test.
Copy this: Offer to send the visitor their quote, cart or results by email instead of asking for a newsletter sign-up.
14. Broomberg: A timed free-quote popup on blog posts
What they did: Added a popup after 100 seconds on painting and flooring blog posts, with a single phone field and a photo of the salesperson who would visit.
Why it works: Readers who stay 100 seconds are interested.
A scroll trigger was tried first and dropped because readers scrolled up and down.
Result: Relevant blog leads rose 72% in two months against the two months before.
Before-and-after by Broomberg using Unbounce popups, not a split test. See the test.
Copy this: On content pages, time the popup to engaged readers and offer the service the article is about.
15. Mercantil Bank: A phone-only popup form for loan leads
What they did: Replaced a multi-field lead form with a popup that asked only for a phone number and explained what the loan simulation would show.
Why it works: One field is easy to fill, and the explainer copy answered why to share it.
Result: Submissions rose 5.5%, qualified leads 15.8%, and customer acquisition cost fell 23.6%.
A/B test by Mercantil Bank using Croct. See the test.
Copy this: If you need a callback, ask for the phone number alone and explain what happens next.
16. Truckstop.com: A demo request popup on a SaaS product page
What they did: Added a popup demo request form to the broker load board page, which had no highlighted demo form before.
Why it works: Visitors on a product page are close to a demo decision.
Result: Conversion went from 64.96% to 81.71%, a 26% lift.
A/B test by Truckstop.com in 2018, published by VWO; the conversion is not defined and is likely a narrow step. See the test.
Copy this: On SaaS feature pages, test a demo popup aimed at people already reading about that product.
17. Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Become a subscriber" lost to "Start your free trial"
What they did: Swapped the subscription popup button "Start your free trial" for "Become a subscriber" and "Become a member".
Why it works: "Free trial" says what you get now at no cost. "Subscriber" sounds like a commitment.
Result: Both versions lost, with click-through falling by as much as 20% in some cases.
A/B test by Britannica's team, published by VWO.
Britannica kept the free trial wording. See the test.
Copy this: Keep the popup button about what the visitor gets now, not what they become.
18. Clarins: Spin to win on Singles Day
What they did: For 24 hours on Singles Day 2020, every visitor saw a spin-the-wheel game that landed on one of six promo codes, applied to the basket automatically.
Why it works: A game makes a sale feel like an event, and auto-applying the code removes a step.
Result: Orders were about four times Singles Day 2019 and conversion rose 89.34%.
Before-and-after by Clarins' EMEA team, published by VWO; pandemic traffic and the discounts likely drove much of it. See the test.
Copy this: Save spin-to-win for a short sale event, and apply the code automatically.
19. Faherty: A loyalty popup instead of a separate page
VisuallyWhat they did: Replaced the separate loyalty sign-up page with a popup on the current page after a 30-second delay, timed so it would not clash with the email and SMS popup.
Why it works: People join where they already are.
Result: Loyalty sign-ups rose 209%. A/B test by Visually; effects on conversion and revenue were not shared. See the test.
Copy this: If you run more than one popup, give each a different trigger so they never stack.
20. TimberTech: A small free sample toaster
SurefootWhat they did: Showed a small, easy-to-dismiss "Starter Kit" toaster offering a free sample kit on decking pages, after a short pause.
Why it works: For a big-ticket product, a free sample is the natural first step, and a small toaster does not block the page.
A scroll-up trigger lost to the short pause.
Result: Sample kit orders rose 73% on mobile and 12% on desktop.
A/B test by Surefoot, reported as significant. See the test.
Copy this: For high-consideration products, use a small corner toaster offering the first step, not a full-screen takeover.
21. Shopify store: Moving a chat popup off the buy buttons
What they did: Moved a chat popup that covered add to cart, the mini cart, checkout and menu buttons, used a smaller mobile icon, and minimized it by default.
Another site popup was turned off at the same time.
Why it works: An overlay that covers the buy button blocks the sale directly.
Result: Conversion rose 44.5% and revenue per visitor 55.9%.
A/B test by Clean Commit over 11 days with 28% power, so the true lift is likely smaller, and two changes were bundled. See the test.
Copy this: Open your site on a phone and check that no chat, cookie or promo overlay covers a button.
Patterns across the winners
A better offer beats a bigger discount
Three pictured free treats (example 2) and $30 off $150 (example 1) both beat 15% off, and 15% lost to 10% at Sassy Scents (example 5).
If you only change one thing, change what the popup offers, not the percentage.
See the free gifts and pricing and discounts hubs for more.
Make the first step tiny
A yes/no question (example 3), a health-goal question (example 4) and a phone-only field (example 15) all lifted results.
Offer something useful to the visitor, not only to you
For lead gen, the best popups give something back: the visitor's own quote by email (example 13), a saved application (example 11), a free consultation (example 14).
For more lead form tests, see our lead-gen form examples.
Trigger on behavior, not page load
The winners waited: 15 seconds (example 12), 20 idle seconds (example 13), 30 seconds (example 19), 100 seconds (example 14), or exit intent (examples 10 and 11).
Scroll triggers lost twice, at Broomberg and TimberTech.
Examples that lost (what not to copy)
- Covering the buy button. Moving a chat popup off add to cart and checkout lifted conversion 44.5% (example 21).
- A popup on your best product page. Removing one from Litehouse's top product page lifted conversion 9.80% (example 7).
- Raising the discount to fix sign-ups. 15% off got fewer sign-ups than 10% (example 5).
- Commitment words on the button. "Become a subscriber" lost to "Start your free trial" by up to 20% (example 17).
- Switching the popup off without a test. Removing a store's email popup cut revenue per visitor 20.51% (example 6). Removal can win or lose, so test it.
Examples 6 and 7 point opposite ways. The likely difference is placement: sitewide vs one high-intent product page.
Watch out for
Stacked popups and page speed. Several popup apps plus chat and a cookie banner can cover most of a mobile screen and slow the page.
Check your apps against our page speed guide and our mobile CRO guide.
Discount dependence. A welcome discount on every first order trains shoppers to wait for a code.
Track margin per order, not only sign-ups, as the dollar-off and free-gift tests did with order value.
How to test this on your own site
- Pick one variable: the offer, the format (one step vs two), the trigger or the pages it shows on.
- Use revenue per visitor (ecommerce) or qualified leads (lead gen and SaaS) as the main metric, with sign-up rate as a secondary one.
- Read mobile and desktop separately, since timing results flipped by device in example 8.
- Keep a no-popup holdout now and then, and run to your planned sample size.
On Shopify, most of these changes can be made in a popup app; compare options in our Shopify popup apps roundup.
For more test ideas by page, see the cart popup tests and our full list of examples.
Real results
@oliverkenyon
ConvertiblesConvertibles
@DaveDiederen
OptiMonk