Recently viewed carousel on home and collections: +44% conversion
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a Recently Viewed products carousel to the homepage and collection pages raised Aeromotive's conversion rate by 44.31% over a 13-day test.
Average order value rose 191.8% and revenue per visitor about 206%, but mobile conversion fell 10.1%.
Blend Commerce ran this test using a Rebuy widget.
- Conversion rate: +44.31% overall, at 92.02% significance. That is below the common 95% bar.
- Average order value: +191.8%, and revenue per visitor: about +206%. Gains this large likely reflect a few big orders.
- Desktop did best, with conversion rate up 125.55%.
- Mobile conversion rate fell 10.1%, even though mobile order value and revenue rose. Flag this before rolling out to phones.
The change
The variant adds a recently viewed carousel lower on collection pages (and near the fold on the homepage)
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The homepage and collection pages had no recently viewed products section.
Variant
A Rebuy Recently Viewed carousel was added near the fold on the homepage and further down on collection pages.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Car parts shoppers often compare several items over a few visits. A carousel lets them get back to what they looked at.
- Shoppers who return to items they already viewed are likely closer to buying.
- On mobile, the carousel took up limited screen space. That may explain the drop in mobile conversion.
Caveats: The test ran for 13 days at 92.02% significance, and sample size was not shared. The very large order value lift suggests a few big orders drove much of the revenue gain.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for Aeromotive and published the results (Blend Commerce A/B test). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Blend Commerce →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show a recently viewed products carousel on the homepage and collection pages, then more returning visitors will buy because they can resume their browsing quickly.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Mobile conversion rate
- Revenue per visitor with outliers capped
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Stores with large catalogs and high-consideration items that shoppers compare across visits, such as parts or equipment. It is less likely to help stores with a few products or mostly one-visit purchases.
Questions
Does a recently viewed products widget increase sales?
In this test, conversion rose 44% overall. Mobile conversion fell 10%, so check each device on its own.
Where should a recently viewed carousel go?
Aeromotive placed it near the fold on the homepage and lower on collection pages.
On mobile, keep it from pushing core content too far down.
Why can AOV jump so much in a short test?
A few very large orders can swing average order value in a small sample.
Run longer or cap outliers before trusting large revenue gains.
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