Category icons and best sellers in mobile menu: +$0.276 per session
Test run byOliver KenyonConversionwise
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding category images and a Best Sellers block with product photos to the mobile menu raised revenue per session by $0.276. Oliver Kenyon ran this test for a store selling bags, straps and accessories. Their team forecast about $42,736 a month in extra revenue.
- Revenue per session: up $0.276. The baseline was not shared, so the percentage lift is unknown.
- Monthly revenue: about $42,736 extra, based on the team's forecast.
- Yearly revenue: about $512,832, a forecast rather than measured revenue.
- Conversion rate and average order value were not shared.
The change
Text links are replaced by image category tiles and a best sellers block.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A plain text menu with Shop, Events and About, some collapsible rows, a login link and social icons. Nothing showed a product.
Variant
The menu opened with a search field, then image tiles for Bags, Straps, Accessories and Gift Cards. Below them sat a Best Sellers block with two product photos and Shop Now links.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- images make categories quicker to scan than plain text labels.
- best sellers give undecided shoppers a safe starting point in one tap.
- putting categories at the top level removes a step that hid them under "Shop".
Caveats: Several menu changes shipped together, including a visible search field. Sample size, test length and baseline revenue per session were not shared, and the revenue figures are forecasts.
Who ran it
Oliver Kenyon (@oliverkenyon) shared this test on X. The numbers and screenshots are theirs.
View the original post on X
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we add category images and a best sellers block to the mobile menu, then revenue per session will rise because shoppers can find proven products in fewer taps.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per session
- Guardrails
- Menu click-through rate
- Conversion rate
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Stores with a few clear categories and a handful of products that sell far better than the rest. Stores with huge, deep catalogs may need a different menu structure.
Questions
Should you show products in the mobile menu?
In this test, adding a Best Sellers block with photos to the menu was part of a change that lifted revenue per session by $0.276.
Do images help in navigation menus?
Here, category rows with images replaced plain text links. Images let shoppers recognise a category without reading.
How many best sellers should a menu show?
This menu showed two products side by side. Keeping it small leaves room for the category links.
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