Trust bar below the navigation: +55% conversion rate
Test run byRubenTailored Commerce
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a trust bar under the main navigation was followed by a 55% rise in conversion rate, to 1.67%. Ruben made the change after user research showed a market-leading brand looked like a dropshipper. The number comes from a period comparison in store analytics, not a split test.
- Conversion rate of 1.67%, up 55% against the comparison period in the store's analytics.
- The chart shows daily swings between about 1.3% and 2.7%, so the period average hides a lot of noise.
- No revenue, order value or sample size figures were shared.
The change
A trust bar with shipping, patent and customer-count claims sits right under the menu.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The site had no trust messaging under the navigation. Research found visitors did not realise the brand invented its product.
Variant
A bar under the menu stated 1-3 day local shipping, that the product was patented since 2014, and that 34,000+ customers had bought.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- fast local shipping counters the fear of long waits that shoppers link with dropshipped goods.
- a patent year and customer count prove the brand is established, which was the gap the research found.
- the bar sits above the fold on every page, so almost every visitor sees it.
Caveats: This is a before/after comparison in store analytics, not a split test, so seasonality and traffic mix may have played a part. Comparison dates and sample size were not shared.
Who ran it
Ruben (@Rubendgrf) 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 a bar under the navigation that states fast local shipping, our patent and our customer count, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers will see we are a legitimate, established brand.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Bounce rate
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Brands with real proof of legitimacy that visitors miss, such as patents, years in business or local warehouses. It will do little if your claims are generic or the store already reads as trusted.
Questions
What should go in a trust bar?
This one used three specific facts: shipping time, patent year and customer count. Concrete numbers tend to carry more weight than generic claims.
Where should a trust bar go?
Here it sat directly below the navigation, above the fold on every page. That placement means nearly all visitors see it.
How do I stop my brand looking like a dropshipper?
In this case user research found the issue, and the fix was to state local shipping and proof of origin plainly. The store saw conversion rise 55% in the following period.
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